Trares
For one hour, we were in a maker’s paradise.
Anthony and I were hanging around the house on a lazy after-school, after-work afternoon, trying to figure out the best way to make the most of the rest of the day.
We had already played a board game, and I wanted to get Anthony off the couch. Spying a pile of already-read books, I suggested a trip to our local library. I was given an enthusiastic response.
“C’mon daddy, let’s go!” Anthony exclaimed, jumping off the couch to pull on his shoes.
My plan had been to pick out a few books for both of us, then let him play in the kids’ area for a little bit. Anthony had a few books he’d learned about at school he wanted to look for, and I was always in the mood for a few new novels.
But he threw me a curveball. He wanted to go to the creativity studio in the library’s basement, a place he had learned about as a kindergartner. His teacher at the time would plan voluntary after-school meet-ups at the studio, where the classmates could interact and cooperate outside of the classroom space.
Known as Ignite, the studio featured bins and bins of crafts, robotics and other projects. If you wanted to learn basic coding, there was a kit for that. If you wanted to practice knitting, there was a kit for that.
Among the LEGOs and Spyrographs and stop-motion animation kits, Anthony knew what he wanted. He wanted to play with modeling clay. We found the bin, checked it out at the desk, and settled into our seat.
Anthony went right to work, kneading and rolling the ball of gray clay. But then he stopped.
“I’m not sure what to make,” he said, scrunching his face up.
We went through some options: a smiley face, a cube, a mini-sword. Anthony agreed that those were all bad ideas from dad.
“Well, what about a cat?” I asked him.
His face lit up. He laid out his plan — first the body, then the tail. Using a small ball of clay and a pointy tool, he made a head with two triangles for ears. The first hurdle came with sticking the head to the body; it kept rolling off.
My natural instinct was to offer my help. But I held my tongue and waited to see if Anthony would come up with a solution. Then, the lightbulb went on. Taking extra clay, he made a “collar” to connect the head to the body. It worked like a charm.
With the addition of four small legs, the creation was complete. Anthony said it looked like our cat, “Olaf,” and he carefully cradled it as we left the library.
“I’m glad we came here — I like it here,” he said as we walked out.
We had started out with an afternoon that had no direction. We ended up making something with our own hands — gaining a work of art in the process. Not bad for a Tuesday.
Ryan Trares is a senior reporter and columnist for the Daily Journal. Send comments to [email protected].
