Welcome Steampunk Symposium Parents! I am very excited to tell you more about the children’s program at this weekend’s Symposium. We have some amazing volunteers to lead the program and they all work professionally with children as their day job so you can be assured that the kids are being left in good hands. We have also arranged to have some of our guests visit with the children so they will get a taste of the weekend’s activities themselves, including a visit from Steampunk Boba Fett and a musical performance by Frenchy and the Punk. The weekend’s highlight will be an original play that will be written, directed, and preformed by the kids themselves. This will be a short (probably no more than 15 minutes) skit that the kids will be working on all weekend and which will be performed for everyone at 11am on Sunday morning.
There are some important pieces of information that you need to know. The kid’s program is in the Hyde Park room off the of the Atrium Ballroom. The children’s program runs from 4 pm until 8 pm Friday, from 10 am to 8 pm Saturday and from 10 am to 2 pm Sunday. Many of the panels from 8-10 pm each night should be PG-13 so younger teens who wish to attend with their parents should be fine, although please read the description and use your own judgement. Activities of the con after 10 pm will not be appropriate for those under age 18. Snacks will be provided but you are responsible for feeding your young charges. There is not a scheduled meal time in the kid’s program so it will be up to you to come and collect your kids whenever you are ready to take them to eat.
Many of the participants in the children’s program are in the middle school or even high school age range. If your child falls into this category and you wish for them to be able to leave the children’s program to attend other con activities during the day please negotiate this with your child and make your wishes known to the wonderful ladies running the children’s program.
Emilie P. Bush will be reading her steampunk bedtime story to the children’s program at 6pm on Saturday. Copies of her book will be available for sale at the convention and she would be thrilled to autograph a copy for you child. Ms. Bush is also giving a panel of interest to parents called “Growing up Steampunk” noon on Saturday. Another author, this one more suited for young adults, Leanna Renee Hieber, will be selling her books and giving a talk for the older kids on Saturday at 5 pm and Frenchy and Punk will be performing at 12 pm on Sunday for the “after party” of the play. All of these individuals would love to autograph copies of their work for their young fans.
The complete schedule for the children’s program can be found here. Contact me, Ginny Tonic, at ginny @ pandorapromotions.com if you have any questions.