SMART Kids Club | Thursdays 4-5 PM | Barbee Library, Oak Island NC | No registration required!

It’s a beautiful, 73-degree day on Oak Island in mid-January and kids are out enjoying themselves at … the library!? 

Sure they are, when it’s time for the SMART Kids Club at Barbee Library. 

SMART stands for Science, Math, and the Arts, and it offers weekly activities including games, robotics, arts and crafts, and construction. Open to kids of all ages, SMART is a great way to extend learning and creativity after school. 

While the spring-like weather resulted in fewer attendees, the session attended by your intrepid Roving Reporter offered three construction and crafts opportunities, including some brand new magnetic panels that were quickly turned into a farmhouse, a rocket ship, a castle, and other structures. 

Bright colors, clever imaginations, and space in which to create enable SMART kids to use their minds in ways not offered in a classroom setting. 

There’s no “right answer” to selecting an activity, building whatever comes to mind, collapsing it and turning it into something else, or mixing it with components from other building sets, all the while providing a “color commentary” narrative explaining the creative thought process. 

For parents, SMART Kids Club is a way to watch your kids at play, or to let them do their thing while you do other library research or simply sit and read, knowing that your kids are in a fun and safe setting with adult supervision. 

Another unexpected benefit is enabling your kids to test out new toys without you having to pay for them (or without the perils of stepping on their kit pieces lurking within the carpet at your house!). 

SMART Kids Club meets every week, and requires no registration, just an open mind and a good imagination. Stop by and give it a try!