Summer of Play Returns to River Market with Tiny Crafts
(New Westminster, BC) July 23, 2018 —River Market at New Westminster Quay is popularly known for fostering the hungry and the curious. Since opening, it strives to be a place where the local community can come together to share in fun, inventive experiences. Last year, River Market launched Summer of Play, a series of free, hour-long Do-It-Yourself workshops. The idea behind it was to invite people to pick up skills they’ve been curious about but have never set aside the time to learn. The workshops included knife-sharpening and salsa-making classes amongst others. This year, Summer of Play returns with a Tiny Crafts edition.
Tiny Crafts revisits the idea of play. Often, ‘play’ is thought of as a non-serious activity for children, but adults who infuse their day with creative experiments can find it freeing too. “Tiny Crafts was inspired by simple and fun activities that invite people to experiment with different materials and engage in the process of making,” says Leslie Shieh, the program’s lead.
To that effect, the Tiny Crafts edition is a series of fun, short, free crafting activities that are available throughout the market for the entire summer. Each tiny craft can be done in 15 minutes or less and is available whenever the shop offering it is open. “After trying these crafts, if there’s a particularly enjoyable one, it can always be explored further,” adds Shieh. For example, if making pom-poms was particularly fun, why not give knitting a try? If writing short poems was particularly inspiring, why not craft your poems further and enter it in the PS New West Poetry Contest.?
Summer of Play Tiny Crafts
- At Craft Cafe, craft a postcard to a loved one, and we’ll mail it out for you. Crayons, scissors and fun stationery provided to make your message extra special.
- Colourful yarn makes for colourful pom-poms at Cosy Yarns. Then, turn the pom-pom into a bookmark, a key chain, or decoration for your backpack.
- Choose a scent to make a tiny soap or a tiny button at Jolene’s Natural Soaps.
- Write a beautiful line of verse in 80 characters or less. Share your poem with passers-by by pinning it to the Great Wall Tea poetry board or enter it into the PS New West Poetry Contest at rivermarket.ca/psnewwest.
- The Royal Faerie Mail carries messages to and from the faeries. Write them a letter at The Wylde Wood Collective and wait for a reply.
Infuse your summer with a little bit of creative fun. Get crafty with Summer of Play at River Market. To learn more about Summer of Play, visit rivermarket.ca/summer.
About River Market at Westminster Quay
Feast and fun come together every day at River Market, where the hungry and curious gather to eat, shop, and play. First opened in 1985 at Westminster Quay Public Market, this 75,000-square-foot marketplace on the Fraser River pioneered a food-led revitalization to become a hub for community life. Today, it showcases 20 of B.C.’s best independent restaurants, shops, and schools all under one roof. Stay hungry and curious at rivermarket.ca, and follow along on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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