The Hero's Call

  

Thinking of the heroes of the Dragon's Eye on this important day. We tell stories full of strange and unexpected challenges, ominous threats, and the small heroic actions of ordinary people, because of days like this. May our courage, compassion, and wisdom carry us as we right this ship.

Summer 2020 Cancellation

After careful study of the CDC and state guidelines for operating summer programs during the pandemic, I have decided that it is not safe to run the Dragon's Eye programs this year.

I will be creating some fun project tutorials for detectives, so be sure to follow Dragon's Eye Adventures on Facebook.

I wish the Dragon's Eye families good health and safety this year -- and hope that we will return next year for more adventuring!

---Rebecca McNulty

New Addition, Summer Session VI: The Book of Dragons

Dragon's Eye Adventures will add one more session to our Summer 2020 selection of mysteries. The program will run from August 10 to 14, from 9 AM to 4 PM, with after hours available until 5:30. We will be located at the Landing YMCA in Brunswick. Detectives ages 7 to 14 are welcome!

"The Book of Dragons" draws upon Chinese history and myth. The detectives are called to the Boston Museum of Fine Art to investigate the magic surrounding a famous scroll. Chen Rong's "Nine Dragon Scroll" has been altered and the detectives need to find out why before all kinds of chaos begins to erupt.

We will be delving into the dragon realms for this mystery, with new details about the Book of Dragons. Each detective will be developing their own page for the Book of Dragons, so lessons in drawing and painting dragons are part of our week's plans!

March 13: "March Hares" Art Day

A Moon Rabbit sits next to a Honey Bee and its Flower

On Friday, March 13, Dragon's Eye will offer a one-day art program called "March Hares." This program is open to children in grades 2 through 8. It will be held from 9 AM to 4 PM, with After Hours until 5:30 PM, at the Landing YMCA in Brunswick (24 Venture Dr.)

Our art activity will feature adorable miniature Moon Rabbits. These tiny colorful hares are quick and easy to sew, so we will have fun making little moon nests for them, too.

These Moon Rabbits become a magical creature that can be brought to future Dragon's Eye mysteries. They have a special Moon Magic that can be used one time within each adventure.

February Vacation 2020: The Jewel of Winter's Dreaming

The Jewel of Winter's Dreaming
by RL McNulty 2020
Micron Pen & Colored Pencil

Dragon's Eye will be offering a five-day adventure during February vacation (Feb. 17 - 21). We will be running on President's Day -- a change from past years. The program opens at 9 AM and ends at 4 PM, with After Hours available until 5:30 PM on Monday through Thursday. Detectives in grades 2 through 8 are welcome to attend. The program will be held at the Landing YMCA, 24 Venture Dr., Brunswick.

The story is "The Jewel of Winter's Dreaming." It involves the Dragon's Eye Tomtes, who are the house gnomes who guard the detectives' agencies Turf and Twig. We have met Madog the Tomte is past adventures, along with his wife, Rhosyn, and their five children.

Madog and Rhosyn have a middle daughter named Nerys. In November, Nerys brought a diamond-encrusted lizard home from the Dunraven Fair. The two have become best friends, but now, Nerys and the lizard have vanished. 

The detectives follow the clues into the lizard realms—and anyone who came to “The Lizards of Solomon’s Mines” knows that means rollercoasters, treasures of the earth, and dangers lurking underground.

We will be making tiny mining carts for our Tomtes, and accessories for our Tomte houses. Detectives should bring their Tomtes and houses! Those who don’t have one can make a Tomte to go along with their mining cart.

Friday, April 17: Moon Landing

Alien Robot UFO's called Skeeters
RL McNulty 2019
Vintage Oil Lamp Parts, Sculpey, Glass Cabochons

Dragon's Eye will host a one-day art program for grades 2 through 8 on Friday, April 17. This is a Professional Day for the Brunswick schools. The day will begin at 9 AM and end at 4 PM, with After Hours until 5:30 as needed.

A day of art activities based on the outer space theme for April Showers. We will be making Space Stations for UFO landings on the moon, using cardboard and junk to construct individual designs. 

For those detectives attending the "April Showers" adventure, the space stations will be part of that story. They provide a special boost to the powers of the Skeeters we'll be making that week. The photo posted here shows what Skeeters are.

Session E: April Vacation brings mystery called "April Showers"

"April Showers"
RL McNulty 2020
Micron Pen & Colored Pencil

Dragon's Eye will offer an April vacation adventure called "April Showers" on Monday, April 20 through Friday, April 24. Detectives ages 7 to 14 (grades 2 through 8) are welcome to attend. The day begins at 9 AM and ends at 4 PM, with After Hours until 5:30 on Monday through Thursday. We're at the Landing YMCA at 24 Venture Drive in Brunswick.

This five-day adventure is a sequel to last summer’s “Junkyard Invaders.” April is the season for showers, but this year is a little different. This year, the annual Lyrid Meteor Showers bring more than rain, and a friend from Jake’s Junkyard is the first to sound the alarm. Detectives should pack their rain gear and their spacesuits for this mystery! We’re headed back to Roswell!

We will be crafting our own Skeeters  – mini aliens in flying saucers, made from old lantern parts and Sculpey. Any Detectives who have Moon Rabbits, Tomtes, Alien Robots, or Space Stations may bring them to this adventure!

Summer 2020 Session I: Ship of Fools

The Ship of Fools
RL McNulty 2020
Micron pen, colored pencils
and digital ink

The first session of the Summer 2020 season will feature a mystery called "The Ship of Fools." This four-day adventure for detectives ages 7 to 11 runs on June 29 through July 2 from 9 AM to 4 PM, with After Hours until 5:30 PM as needed. We will be using Room 314 in Searles Science Building on the Bowdoin College campus. Friday, July 3 is the holiday, so the program will not run on that day.

This mystery draws on Russian folktales about the Fool of the World. Detectives must learn what combination of skills, knowledge, wisdom--and folly--it takes to steer a ship through the celestial seas. Good thing chickens are along for the ride! What can go wrong with chickens on board?

Our projects will most likely include celestial navigators in tiny, winged ships.

Summer 2020, Session II: Yemaya's Dobbin

Yemaya's Dobbin
RMcNulty 2020
Micron Pen & Colored Pencil

Session II will offer a brand new adventure called "Yemaya's Dobbin." The program runs from 9 AM to 4 PM, with After Hours until 5:30 PM, on July 6 - 10. Detectives ages 7 to 11 are welcome. We will hold this in Room  314, of the Searles Science Building at Bowdoin College.

The Detectives are called to the Caribbean to investigate troubles in the watery realms of Yemaya, the Orisha of the sea. The seahorses are vanishing, including Yemaya’s beloved dobbin, her hardworking farm horse of the sea. Can the team find the dobbin in time to save the sea queen’s gardens?

We will be crafting seahorses and coral reef gardens.

Summer 2020, Session III: Mask of Dreams

Mask of Dreams
RMcNulty 2020
Micron Pen & Colored Pencil

The "Mask of Dreams" is one of the tried-and-true classic adventures for Dragon's Eye Adventures, first written in 1996. This summer, it will be the feature story for Session III, July 13 - 17.

Detectives aged 9 to 14 are invite to tackle this mystery. The program runs from 9 AM to 4 PM, with After Hours until 5:30 as needed. We will be in Searles Science Building, Room 314, at Bowdoin College.

A mysterious mask leads the Detectives to ancient Greece to seek counsel from the Oracle at Delphi. It’s a race against time, as the Detectives enter the Underworld in search of two dream jewels. Will Morpheus the god of dreams help, or will the world plunge into a chaos of nightmares come to life?

Our projects include a double-sided mask of dreams and nightmares.

Summer 2020, Session IV: The Market at Wits' End

Market_at_Wits' End
by RMcNulty, 2020
Micron pen, colored pencil

The fourth session of the summer is a five-day mystery for ages 9 to 14 called "The Market at Wits' End." The program will run on July 20 - 24, from 9 AM to 4 PM, with After Hours until 5:30 as needed. We will be in Room 314, Searles Science Building at Bowdoin College.

Detectives who solved the mystery "Goat and Ger" will recognize this story as a follow-up for that adventure. Sleuths with keen eyesight may also spot some clues about one of our favorite villains, returning with a little pocket change.

On the trail for some missing bejeebers, the Detectives follow the clues to a legendary marketplace, where all things lost and found may be purchased for a price. Unfortunately, the trail leads through the sewers of London, and those passageways have long been guarded by a host of wild, black boars. Pack your hazmat suits! 

Our projects include Wits’ End treasures for trade in the market.

Summer 2020 Session V: The Forest Apple

The Forest Apple by RMcNulty
Micron Pen, Colored Pencil
& Digital Sky

The fifth session of the summer 2020 season will feature our first two-week mystery for detectives ages 9 to 14. The program runs from July 27 through Aug. 7, from 9 AM to 4 PM, with After Hours until 5:30 as needed. We will be in Searles Science Building, room 314, at Bowdoin College.

In this mystery, the north woods of Finland beckon with magical lights in the sky and deep trouble on the ground. Ice trolls, reindeer and other forest folk abound in this story, drawn from a mix of Finnish folklore and myth.

Our projects will probably include reindeer moss pendants and runic stones.

New Year, New Programs, Starting with ML King Jr. Day

Happy New Year to Dragon's Eye family and friends!

A whole new list of adventures and art days is finally up on the Current Programs page. I'm offering the usual holiday and school vacation programs, plus a few days that only Brunswick schools have off.

The summer program list of adventures is also on view. I've kept the first four weeks as one-week programs, and am testing a single two-week program at the end of the summer. This seems like the best of both worlds. It gives families some flexibility, if they only want a single week -- and allows my older detectives to take a deep dive into some Finnish folklore.

We start the year with some Tomte Winter Wonderland fun on Monday, Jan. 20. This is an art day for all things Tomte. The boys have already started our winter fun by making sleds for the Tomtes at our November art day -- so we'll make more sleds so that every Tomte can have one. (See the photo of their sleds above this!)

Registration forms are on a new page on the website. I have pulled out the family information into its own form, so that parents fill that data out only once during the 2020 year. Registration for individual programs is done on the Registration Form, and must be filled out either seasonally or by each program.


Quick synopses of the adventures are here, to help with any deliberations over which weeks to enroll.

Session A, Jan. 20 -- An art program focused on Tomtes and winter.

Session B, February break--5-day adventure will be all about Tomtes, lizards and the underground lizard realms where the Jewel of Winter's Dreaming is hidden.

Session C, March 13 -- Art program all about March Hares -- Moon rabbits and their nests.

Session D, April 17 -- Art program all about Moon Landings -- space stations for our April vacation Skeeters (tiny alien robots in flying saucers).

Session E, April vacation--5-day adventure will be all about alien robots again, with a return of the Skeeters, tiny alien robots in flying saucers.

Summer Program

Session I: The Ship of Fools is a Russian-based folktale about a flying ship and the crazy crew that guides it through the heavens.

Session II: Yemaya's Dobbin draws on Afro-Caribbean myths of Yemaya, the Orisha of the ocean. Think Afro-Caribbean mermaids, seashorses and all manner of sea creatures.

Session III: Mask of Dreams is a Dragon's Eye classic about Morpheus the Greek god of dreams.

Session IV: The Market at Wit's End is a sequel to Goat and Ger from last summer. A certain goat from that adventure is missing its bejeebers again, and the detectives go in search of a legendary market where wits and bejeebers are traded by some rather dubious merchants. Too bad this market may only be reached via the sewers of London, guarded by a group of wild, black boars.

Session V: The Forest Apple is the two-week adventure. We'll be taking a deep dive into the wonderful world of Finnish folktales and myths from the Kalevala. Think dark boreal forests, northern lights, reindeer, and stars.