Blog: City Blog

Week 4 of Kid A'Riffic: Community Fun at Lakeshore Park

Heather Murray had just moved here from South Carolina about the time the pandemic began. So she and and her family quickly learned about Knoxville's parks.

Parks were her family's safe space. They fell in love with them.

“They’re so big and they are so clean," Murray said Wednesday, attending Kid A'Riffic at Lakeshore Park. "They’re like Disney World to us.”

Murray had been at the very first Kid A’Riffic Fun in the Park event of the summer back on June 2, when it debuted at Suttree Landing Park. (Kid A'Riffic, three hours of games and activities each Wednesday in June and July for children ages 2-10, rotates to a different park each week.)

Murray says what she loves most is "the sense of community and bringing people together."

But the emphasis on summer reading, and the advocacy of Friends of Knox County Public Library, a Kid A'Riffic partner, is also a strong draw.

"The theme of reading, literacy, is very strong around here, and I really love that,” Murray said.

On week 4 of Kid A’Riffic at Lakeshore Park, faces beamed as the children ran from tent to tent to see all that was brought to them this week. Their smiles widened as they jumped in on their favorite activities like cornhole, bubbles, painting, and music making.

The kids had an absolute blast. They played all the different games and activities provided by the City Parks and Recreation KORE program. Home Depot provided the materials for them to make their very own paintings. They could play hopscotch as well.

And they found the tote bags they got at the City tent very useful as they acquired new books to grow their collection.

One of the highlights, though, was making dragonflies out of pipe cleaners, clothespins and fuzzy balls. The young crafters were proudly flying their new creations from tent to tent.

Not only do people bring their children to Kid A’Riffic, but they also bring their dogs. The event is dog friendly, and the fluffy pups also seemed to be having a lot of fun.

Next week, Kid A’Riffic is coming to Ashley Nicole Dream Playground, 620 Winona St. Come on out to share in the fun!

Click HERE for more info about Kid A'Riffic.

And don’t forget to also check out Concerts in the Park on the Special Events page.

- Story and photo by Summer in the City intern Kevin Farmer

Posted by evreeland On 25 June, 2021 at 1:07 PM