Event List

All Ages: Slow down and give your senses your full attention as you step into a sensory meditation marking the kickoff of 2026 NEA Big Read.

Ages 13 & Up: Design your cookbook from scratch with Canva, an easy online design tool where you choose the layout, colors, and style that fit your food and vibe.

Sample familiar treats from different decades and explore how they became favorites in the first place. Food history and pop culture provide context as you compare flavors, swap opinions, and decide which snacks still hold up.

Hosting doesn’t have to be expensive or formal. Explore practical ways to share meals with friends, stretch your budget, and build connections through food without a perfect table or fancy recipes.

Ages 6–15: Travel to deep, dark jungles, arid deserts, and the frigid Arctic in search of reptilian, avian, and furry friends at Animals Around the World!

Ages 5–8: Meet Frieda Caplan, the fearless produce pioneer who introduced Americans to hundreds of new fruits and vegetables in Try It! How Frieda Caplan Changed the Way We Eat.

Grocery prices up? Get practical tools for meal planning and food budgeting that actually fit real life. Gail Wright from Purdue Extension shares strategies to help you save money, waste less, and make weeknight meals easier.

Ages 5–9: Turn food into fabulous art at Veggie Art! Cut shapes into potatoes or smear finger paint onto a carrot to create custom stamps for a one-of-a-kind creation.

Ages 10–18: Make your own sweet sushi at Candy Sushi. Use Rice Krispies, Swedish Fish, and Fruit Roll-Ups to learn sushi-style rolling, then build, taste, and show off your creations.

Bite by Bite: Nourishments and Jamborees is a collection of personal essays by Aimee Nezhukumatathil that uses food as a way to examine memory, culture, and everyday life.

Ages 15 & Up: Build your fast food empire with Food Chain Magnate. Compete for customers by hiring staff, launching ad campaigns, and managing resources in a deep, highly interactive strategy game.

Ages 0–2: Share food-themed stories, songs, and sensory play at Tiny Tot Time.

Ages 13 & Up: Hungry for something new? At Teen Cookbook Club, you can chop, sauté, and eat your way through a different recipe every month.

Bite by Bite: Nourishments and Jamborees is a collection of personal essays by Aimee Nezhukumatathil that uses food as a way to examine memory, culture, and everyday life.

Explore the stories and uses behind everyday spices and how they shape the way we cook. Get practical ideas for using them at home, take small samples with you, and leave with recipes that make those flavors easy to try in your own kitchen.

Ages 12 & Up: Start growing before spring arrives with an introduction to hydroponic gardening. Learn how simple, 3D-printed containers can support indoor herbs and greens, giving gardeners a head start on the season.

Uncover the power of food, memory, and words with professional writer Leah Singer.

Ages 7–12: Pete the Cat is building the perfect pizza to share with his friends! But what’s a party with only one pizza? Make your own pie and top it with your favorite paper ingredients.

Make dumplings and potstickers from scratch, from mixing dough to shaping and cooking your own. Try several folding techniques, choose between vegetarian and meat fillings, then cook, taste, and share what you’ve made.

Ages 3–5: Build your own cereal brand, from product idea to box layout, at Art Adventures! Use cardboard and construction paper to design a 

Ages 3–8: Take turns in an over-the-top cooking show where each step gets a little sillier and a lot messier. Will you help create a successful dish, or dine on a disaster? 

Ages 6 & Up: Have a delicious family game night at the West Branch Library! Serve up your best dishes to earn popularity points, restore the Community Center, or grab the tastiest sushi combinations as they whizz by.

Ages 13 & Up: Sew a simple, functional apron from start to finish in this hands-on workshop. Bring two yards of quilting cotton and learn the basics of machine sewing while making something you can use at home.

Uncover the power of food, memory, and words with professional writer Leah Singer.