Kids and teenagers eight years and over were invited to the Ishpeming Carnegie Public Library Saturday to participate in the Tween and Teen Candy Olympics, which incorporated sweet treats into fun games and activities for local youths. Above, Lola Korpi, 12, delicately adds a cookie to the top of her stack, seeing how high she can make it before it falls as her friend Emma LaFave, 11, watches. (Journal photo by Rachel Oakley)

By RACHEL OAKLEY

Journal Staff Writer

ISHPEMING — More than a dozen youngsters came to the Ishpeming Carnegie Public Library Saturday afternoon to participate in the Tween and Teen Candy Olympics, which welcomed kids eight years old and up.

Nicole Johnson, library assistant, said that she decided to put the program on because “it was outside of the box, a little bit, from what you typically see at the library.”

She said that while most of the library events focus on storytelling events, her goal with this event was to give kids something fun to participate in while they are on spring break.

“Being able to be around other kids and have a fun competition where they can exercise some different skills,” Johnson said, especially “learning to work well in teams and with others.”

A variety of candy activities were set up at tables, including an Oreo cookie stacking game, a building station where kids could make creations by connecting straws and marshmallows, a guessing game to correctly identify types of chocolate bars, and a competition to sort M&M’s by color.

Candy eating was off limits while the games were being played, but the event ended with the unraveling of a giant wrapped ball of treats, where participants could keep what they were able to claim from it.

On Saturday, Johnson said the ICPL will be hosting an event called Journaling for Teens and Tweens. Participants will be able to decorate their own journals and will be given prompts to write about. All supplies are included.

For more information, check out Ishpeming Carnegie Public Library on Facebook.

Rachel Oakley can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 243. Her email address is roakley@miningjournal .net.