SEARS ISLAND — Friends of Sears Island will be offering free summer activity kits for children this month. The kits are designed to encourage kids to make the most of their summer through a variety of enriching outdoor experiences. This activity kit will include a summer bucket list journal packed with ideas of things to do, writing prompts, and areas for drawing and journaling. The activity journal will include stickers to place next to each activity item once completed.

Materials and instructions for a sun printing art project will also be included as a way to make something beautiful with natural objects and light from summer sunlight!

To kick off this initiative of encouraging nature-based summer play and exploration, Friends of Sears Island and Carver Library will also host a nature program on Sears Island on Thursday, July 20, from 9 a.m. - 10:30 a.m., which will include hiking along the Homestead Trail and reading a new StoryWalk book together. The StoryWalk will end in a milkweed field, where the group will look for monarch caterpillars and butterflies. The group will hike from there down to the beach, exploring the intertidal zone on the way back to the parking area. Families that have reserved an activity kit can take theirs home that day, or if you are unable to make it to the program on Sears Island, you can still request a kit to be picked up at Carver Library.

This program and the activity kits are free and intended for children ages 5-12.

Donations to Friends of Sears Island are appreciated to allow the organization to continue to offer programming to all at no cost. Activity kit quantities are limited and will be distributed to families on a first-come, first-served basis. To request a kit for your child (and to sign up for the nature program on Sears Island), please email outreach@friendsofsearsisland.org. After receiving a confirmation email, families can either pick up their kits at the in-person program on Sears Island on July 20, or at the Carver Memorial Library in Searsport between July 20 - July 31.

Friends of Sears Island’s children’s programs and activity kits are sponsored by First National Bank and First National Wealth Management. To learn more about Friends of Sears Island check out www.friendsofsearsisland.org or facebook.com/friendsofsearsisland.