Spring break brings families an opportunity to explore their own community and reconnect with friends, old and new. This past week the Mesa Arts Center was transformed into the spark! Festival of Creativity where families and children of all ages could explore arts and culture programming through music, puppetry, sculpture and more.

Eastmark, the newest community in the southeast Valley, was a proud co-sponsor of this annual event. Every part of the spark! Festival of Creativity brings to life the shared values of DMB’s new community – education, lifelong learning and FUN!

The Austin Bike Zoo challenged kids to see their bikes as more than two wheels, but as a personal expression with unique engineering. By adding wings or the face of an animal, these bikes became beasts! Annie Hickman’s dancing animals and bugs showed children how a simple basket can be re-imagined as a headpiece of a frog or a praying mantis. The dancers engaged with kids to dance and imitate the animals across the MAC plaza.

While all of these kids are learning to build handlebar animal faces, they are also learning about science and engineering. The dancers are teaching movement. The Bonanza LEGO team created an entire giraffe family with the help of thousands of students collaborating on its complex construction. The results are both exciting and educational – an artistic classroom during the break.

For Eastmark and its residents, this kind of community engagement is a hallmark of our how our neighborhoods live. Play is one of the fundamentals of learning. Memories are made through programming like this – who can forget dancing with a 6 foot tall cricket or sailing on the wings of a bicycle owl. We hope to see owls, eagles and lions racing through Eastmark’s many parks!

Learn more about Eastmark at Eastmark.com or join the conversation on Facebook!