Kathriona Devereux: Watching kids so engaged with science makes you wish Cork had a permanent home for it

“You don’t know how lucky you are”. I find myself saying that to my kids repeatedly.

“It was raining at lunchtime so we watched a movie”. “We’re doing archery on the school tour”. “Homework off again - the school team won the final”.

Each time, the same response from me: you don’t know how lucky you are.

I’m saying it even more frequently as we romp through the last few weeks of school, crossing off dates on the calendar to the SUMMER HOLIDAYS!!! In bold. Underlined.

I don’t understand what the rush is to wish away June, it’s the best month for kids in Cork.

I was repeating the line to myself all weekend as I watched kids waft from Cruinniú na nÓg circus and dance events to an extravaganza of science entertainment at the Carnival of Science in Fitzy’s Park. All for free.

As a child of the 1980s, I remember when an outing to Fitzgerald Park to go on one of the 24 swings and one vertiginous metal slide was a big deal. Such was the demand on a fine day that you had to queue patiently and wait your turn. The slide was one you could genuinely “break your neck” off if you fell onto the concrete below - none of this shock-absorbing woodchip back then.

A trip to Fitzy’s Park and a biennial outing to Fota were the height of childhood excitement. However, just this past weekend my kids watched acrobatic performers defying gravity, got shot with a water pistol during a Siege of Ennis set dance, and took part in live science experiments on stage in a mini-Big Top! Again, “you don’t know…etc. etc.”

Saturday marked Cruinniú na nÓg, the national day of creativity and fun for kids and teenagers in Ireland. An opportunity for young people under 18 to see and interact with music, dance, art - any creative outlet you can think of really.

We had planned to spend the day at Elizabeth Fort but the unsettled weather forced a relocation of activities indoors to the Circus Factory on Monahan Road.

There we watched young dancers performing beautiful contemporary dance pieces (bias disclaimer: my daughter was one of the fantastic dancers). We heard the uplifting Voices of Peace Intercultural Children and the Young People’s Choir.

Céilíographer Martin O’Donoghue, a real job title apparently, and a wonderful one, led us through the Siege of Ennis with trad group Damhsa Liomsa and had us singing and swinging our partners and dodging water pistols.

The clown/juggler/escapologist Mr Gusto had all ages squealing with delight as he juggled a toilet plunger, water balloon, and a giant knife while standing on the arms of two dads.

Again, more people got wet, but it was good wholesome entertainment and brilliant exposure for all the young people of the playful side of life.

We went home on Saturday, tired and delighted - and did it all again the next day.

On Sunday, at the Carnival of Science, hiding from the rain, my kids learned about the conservation of angular momentum from a child doing an impersonation of a starfish on a spinning chair.

You had to be there, but it was funny and informative. I hadn’t had my first coffee of the morning so I can’t explain it to you again, but all the children watching were locked in and riveted.

The shows at Carnival of Science are hosted by amazing communicators who have combined their lack of inhibition at being on stage with their knowledge of physics to show us things like fire tornados in a cage and magically appearing wands.

The prospect of being picked as an assistant to go on stage is a source of much enthusiasm.

In a demo to understand the concept of probability, my son got a super soaker that 100% contained water and was given permission to drench the audience. Again, “you don’t know…etc. etc.

There is such an appetite for these family events. Even on a rainy Sunday morning the tents were full with kids in raincoats and wellies, lapping up talk of the potential energy of wands and the prospect of scattering baby unicorns’ wee on volunteers/victims.

The Carnival of Science is the biggest outdoor festival of science in the country and is completely free to attend. There was a time when the government couldn’t spend any money on something as frivolous as playgrounds, never mind ‘Science of Hogwarts’ shows, but nurturing young minds to become creative and innovative and imaginative is an economic imperative. And it is a perfect day out for the whole family.

Watching children that engaged with science, you find yourself wishing Cork had a permanent home for it.

Wouldn’t it be great if we could tap that excitement and engagement throughout the year with a large scale science museum for kids in Cork? It would be a wonderful addition to the city.

W5, Belfast’s science museum, has been going strong for 25 years. Plans for the proposed national children’s science museum in Dublin have been bogged down for decades, but perhaps the soon to be vacated Cork City Library and adjacent site could be repurposed to be a world class science museum?

Could some bright sparks, positive forward momentum - along with major sponsorship by Cork’s pharma and tech companies - give that dream lift-off?

The fun keeps coming in June because the Midsummer Festival is starting with even more cultural events for the family - some free, some ticketed. The festival motto is ‘Time to Play’, and the recognition that play is important for young and old is threaded throughout the schedule.

PlaySpaces is part of the festival, spaces designed by kids for kids, promising secret hideaways and play areas in Cork City Library, Cork Opera House, and the Everyman Theatre. We’ll be investigating.

I can’t wait to see Ten Thousand Hours  in Cork City Hall which should be a jaw-dropping acrobatic spectacle, and the Midsummer Parade is always a joyous and rambunctious affair by Cork Community Artlink on Oliver Plunkett Street to celebrate the approaching summer solstice.

Go this Saturday, June 13, at 3pm to be reminded that play, creativity, music, and dance are core human functions that young people and adults alike need desperately. See you there.

We don’t know how lucky we are.