March Break kicks off with pi – and pie – at Aurora Public Library

If you're mathematically inclined, you know that this Saturday, March 14 – or, 3/14 – is National Pi Day and, in honour of the occasion, the Aurora Public Library is kicking off a full week of free March Break activities with a chance to show off your math skills while satisfying your sweet tooth at the same time.

“This will be our third year celebrating Pi Day at the Aurora Public Library (APL) and you can come here, do some math trivia, show off your math and arithmetic skills, and you can win yourself a piece of pie!” says Jodi Marr, Manager of Customer Opportunity for APL. “Our plan is to have something every day for people during March Break. We want it to be easy to attend, drop in, whatever – no tickets, no registration. Just come, have fun, and make the best of your week off.

The chance to taste something sweet – or not! – continues on Monday, March 16, when March Break-proper kicks off with a Harry Potter Party from 2 – 4 p.m., suitable for children five and over, accompanied by an adult.

Cast spells, make wands and capture the golden snitch at the party, at which you're invited to wear your best Hogwarts costume.

“One of our most popular features last year was, in the books they have Bertie's Beans, which are jelly beans which can either taste fantastic or disgusting,” says Ms. Marr. “We call it ‘Jelly Bean Roulette.' Do you get a good one, or a bad one like stinky socks, fresh cut grass, or fish flavour?”

Well, there's only one way to find out!

The fun continues on Tuesday, March 17, with a live reptile show from 2.30 – 3.30 p.m. hosted by Reptilia.

Wednesday, March 18, is all about Science, Technology, Engineering and Math at the Library's Super STEM Party from 2 – 4 p.m., with activities ranging from building a bridge, making a volcano erupt, and LEGO arithmetic.

“On Thursday, we're going to try and build an entire city throughout the Library with boxes, cardboard and things like that,” says Ms. Marr. “There will be roads and buildings and whatever else. Whatever somebody wants to bring back to the table to build, we will build and hopefully line it up along the main Living Room space so you can see what people have created.”

The Build A City Activity on March 19 runs from 2 – 4 p.m., and is preceded from 1.30 – 3.30 p.m. by “Let's Do This!”, an activity for youth between the ages of 9 and 14 to create a Set in Stone photo holder.

Mad Science is the order of the day on March 20 with demonstrations taking place in the Library Living Room from 2.30 – 3.15, and the activities conclude Saturday, March 21 with Fairy Gardens, an activity suited to kids four and up, where you can use your imagination and creativity to design your own fairy garden.

“We did this for our Summer Reading Club last year and you get a little pot that you're able to decorate with moss, mushrooms, sticks, twigs and all kinds of little things that you can put in your garden so the fairies who live in your garden will have a place to call their own,” says Ms. Marr with a smile.

“The Library has so many new and amazing things going on. We have our Creative Studio where people are welcome to drop in and talk about 3D printing, laser cutters and all kinds of cool stuff going on during the March Break and any time. We have a huge contingent of people who like to drop by after school and see what's going on and make a project.

“If you haven't been to the Library before, it is a great place to come. There's something happening every day that will make it worth the visit. We make it as easy as possible for you to engage your kids and engage with your kids and to get something out of the time that you spend here that goes beyond the material. Everything just has so much of an added value that people tend to be very happy with the results: spending time with your kids in a way that is productive and seeing your kids interact with animals, technology, art in ways that you never would imagine them interacting with before – especially in a library space.”

By Brock Weir