Summer Events

This story originally appeared in Children's Bookshelf on October 5, 2006 Sign up now!

by Claire Kirch, Children's Bookshelf -- Publishers Weekly, 10/5/2006

“It’s summer, don’t let your brain atrophy!” read the bookmarks handed out to young and old patrons alike at Watermark Books & Café in Wichita, Kans. Booksellers there discovered that organizing short in-store activities for children during the summer months brought in more business from grown-ups. This past summer, Watermark scheduled four different events, in which parents or grandparents could drop off their children while they shopped in the store or relaxed in its café area.

The events were called “Dragon Drop” events, because, according to Sarah Bagby, Watermark’s owner, “The kids are in the house, you want to drag them and drop them off someplace.”

Each event was held on a Friday morning, and then repeated the following Tuesday afternoon. The store charged each participant $3.50, and, for the last event only, also asked participants to buy the book that inspired that last activity.

During the first event, the children participated in a “Land-locked Beach Party” celebrating the release of the latest Junie B. Jones title. The second event was a “Mad Hatter’s Tea Party: Not Your Mama’s Tea Party,” with an Alice in Wonderland theme. During the third event, “Chief Iron Watermark” taught the children to make lemonade and pretzels. And the last event, geared towards older children, ages 8–13, was “Wordplay Café,” during which local author Mike Kline led the children in word games.

According to Bagby, each event attracted 25 participants, with the last event bringing in 10 middle-grade readers. The “Dragon Drop’ also helped the bookstore promote its café’s offerings, as Bagby included food as an integral part of the activities. At the end of each activity, each participant received a homemade cupcake from the café.