ROCKINGHAM — When you’re starting kindergarten, the most daunting task might not be learning your letters or numbers. It might just be trying to negotiate the lunch line with a cafeteria tray full of veggies and milk.
To help rising kindergartners meet the challenges of school, Discovery Place Kids-Rockingham will offer “Countdown to Kindergarten” from 5-8 p.m. Thursday. Admission will be free to the families of rising kindergartners.
“Children who are ready to learn and are better prepared for kindergarten have a greater opportunity for success,” said Discovery Place director Katie Rohleder. “We want families to feel their children are equipped for their first big day.”
The event will include a lunch tray obstacle course — “some kindergartners have not ever held a lunch tray before,” program coordinator Jessica Tullar said Friday. So the evening will include stations covering the academic and the practical: reading readiness to scissors safety.
Children also will be able to clamber aboard and off a mock school bus, scoot into desks in a mock classroom and, yes, learn to navigate school lunch without spills.
Kindergarten teachers from throughout the county will be at the museum to greet their soon-to-be pupils.
Representatives of the Leath Memorial Library will distribute free book bags and pencils.
The museum will close for regular admission at 3 p.m., so staff can prepare for the event.
The museum is at 233 E. Washington St., Rockingham.
For more information on the event or museum, visit discoveryplacekids.org or call 910-997-5266.