Emden's Whistle Stop Library kicks off summer children's program

[June 07, 2025]    

Thursday, June 5, the summer children’s programs at Emden’s Whistle Stop Library kicked off with a program about rocks.

Activities included rock painting for all ages and rock digging for children ages eight and above. Those digging into the brick shaped objects could find several small rocks.

Tables around the room held books about rocks, a poster about rocks and several different types of rocks.

[to top of second column]

Ladonna Gass, with the help of Dottie Russell, also did a program describing the different categories of rocks and showing examples of each type.

First, Gass said there are three types of rocks: igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic. Igneous rocks are formed from cooled lava. Sedimentary rocks are deposited by water and wind and sometimes buried under layers. Metamorphic rocks change their structures because of heat and structure. There were examples of each type of rock on the table.

Next, Gass showed the children the rocks she had brought, which included lava rocks, Satan’s spur, fluorite, basalt, sandstone, coral rock, trauertine, anthracite, granite, onyx, flint and pyrite. She also had fool’s gold and explained that it looks like gold, but it is actually pyrite and not valuable.

There were a few shiny rocks, which had gone through rock tumblers. Gass said tumblers use grit and water to make rocks shiny. The rocks are then tumbled in the “machine” and rub against each other in several grit stages, which can take a week.

Children could get chips and Capri suns when the program was done. Each one was also given a homemade bookmark.

Next week’s program is Jacques Cousteau’s under the ocean discoveries. All programs start at 2 p.m. on Thursdays.

[Angela Reiners]

 

Back to top