GOSHEN The monthly Creative Kids Day occurred Saturday at the Old Bag Factory in Goshen, offering stimulating activities from molding clay and exploring virtual reality to mixed media projects and more.

On the main level, Mark Goertzen, of Goertzen Pottery, had his pottery wheel spinning while he molded small clay cups. In the entry sat a table, a little lower for younger artists, with clay ready to work and mold.

"We have clay available for them to build to their own imagination," said Goertzen. "So we've had people making turtles. Someone did a pinch pot, and there have been other creatures made today. It's mainly exploring how clay is wonderfully malleable that you can form into shapes and things, to your imagination's content. It's just trying to get kids' hands dirty, and making something on their own."

While children can be a little timid in their approach, Goertzen said that doesn't usually last long.

"Kids naturally gravitate to clay, because you can just pinch it into any form they want," he said. "There's no right way to do it, and so conversely there's no wrong way to do it, so you don't have to worry about messing up just get messy."

On the second level in the complex, the Elkhart Art League, Second Song, The Train Exhibit and the Robotics Club were ready to interact with curious kids.

"Today's project is charcoals on tar paper, tar paper art," said Vice President of the Elkhart Art League Ellen Ridenour. "You have to start out with a circle, and you can go from there."

A few shop fronts down, a shop front with massage chairs and a virtual reality setup drew inquisitive minds.

Josh Ridenour heads the monthly Robotics Club on site at the Old Bag Factory during the last Saturday of each month, from 10 a.m. to noon. Leading with the virtual reality headset, the projects of the club go beyond designing robotics and navigating digital realities.

"These kids, and a bunch of other kids, have built this computer, this 3-D printer set, and we're starting to get into virtual reality," said Josh.

The virtual reality program allows users to explore the surface of Mars on the Mars Rover, disassemble and reassemble a jet engine and tour the International Space Station. One of the programs Josh uses to demo new users is an underwater exploration, where the user is beneath the sea near a shipwreck, getting acquainted with the wildlife nearby.

"Every kid should have access to this stuff. We make it available to all kids so nobody is left behind," said Josh.

Creative Kids Day is a monthly event at the Old Bag Factory, taking place from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. the second Saturday of each month.

View original post here:

Creative Kids Day activities span clay to virtual reality - Goshen News