WCMU hosts kid-friendly event for Kids and Culture program
Children pose with a "Pinkalicious and Peterrific" cutout as part of an event on Feb. 17 held at WCMU's Public Media
Children ran frantically through the halls of the WCMU Public Media building, crowding around the building’s TV studio for a chance to see the latest addition to PBS Kids programming: “Pinkalicious and Peteriffic."
WMCU hosted the event on Feb. 17 in partnership with the Art Reach Organization in Mount Pleasant as part of their Kids and Culture program. The program is aimed at children, with each event having a different theme around art and culture.
The event is one of 12 Art Reach is coordinating this year under the program, with this being its third year of hosting the program.
Amy Powell, executive director of Art Reach, said she was thrilled with how the event turned out.
“This is a truly community collaboration, and we rely on many partners in order to make this program happen,” Powell said. “The goal is to give kids the opportunity to experience art and culture in ways they might not have otherwise received.”
This was the first time WCMU had hosted Kids and Culture. They volunteered to host an event in February, choosing to tie it to a new show called “Pinkalicious & Peteriffic” that their partner, PBS Kids, is premiering nationwide on Feb. 19.
The show will be airing on WCMU TV at 9 a.m. as an hour-long special. The show is based on a best-selling kids series by Victoria Kann, and is about the character Pinkalicious and her brother Peteriffic. WCMU chose the show because of its focus on creativity, art and music, said Alysia Fisher, the major and planned giving officer of WCMU.
Overall, an estimated 50 kids came to the event. Fisher was very pleased with the turnout.
To help promote the show, the WCMU Public Media building was turned into a pink wonderland for two hours, with pink balloons swaying outside the building’s entrance.
Parents and their kids were guided down the halls of the building by doors covered in pink paper. This leads them to the first activity room, which is centered around coloring. The children are given long and spacious tables to color in packets featuring characters of the show.
“(The show) focuses on cooperation between (Pinkalicious), her brother and her friends,” said Tania Schripsema, one of many WCMU employees who volunteered for the event. “It definitely shows how she’s creative, and how she works through her problems.”
Kevin Davidson, who brought his son Byron, liked that the show appeals to all genders, and that the show features a lot of music.
The final room kids and parents could go to was the bracelet room, where participants could work together to make bracelets out of plastic beads.
Parents are also given a “passport," which is a strip of thick paper with a square for each month of the year. Whenever a child goes to one of the events put on by Art Reach, they can get one of those squares stamped. If they get eight squares stamped, they become eligible for a drawing at the end of the year for a prize basket.
