Things to Do in Sanford

Deborah Reavis, the resident artist at Wine, Paint & Canvas, has nearly two decades of teaching art under her belt, making her an excellent tutor for classrooms full of fledgling painters of all ages. Seated in front of rows of provided easels and surrounded by the works of past classes, students follow their instructors’ directions to produce the evening’s piece. Though everyone works from the same template, each student has the chance to stylistically personalize their work by mixing colors or painting only the coolest facial hair on self-portraits. Before brush touches canvas, guests can mingle over glasses of BYO wine and bottles of beer, with soda available for purchase.

As a child, Ruth Warren learned to value creativity over consumption. Her parents—who grew up during the Great Depression—taught their children to make ornaments from magazines, matchbooks, and bottle caps, paper dolls from catalogs, and even their house from salvaged wood and nails. As an adult, Ruth still celebrates these values as an artist and the marketing coordinator for The Scrap Exchange. The nonprofit company collects materials from more than 250 industries within a 100-mile radius, looking to repurpose everything from foam, paper, zippers, test tubes, fabric, and vintage goods into art and craft supplies.

Staffers have aims beyond just reducing waste and promoting environmental awareness: they hope to create a vibrant community. Alongside merchandise, their shop makes room for craft classes, an art gallery, and an artists’ marketplace of items created with discarded materials. Everyone is welcome to work inside a 400-square-foot design center, outfitted with sewing machines, a serger, a die-cut machine, a button-making machine, T-shirt hot press, and more than 300 reference books. The inspirational space earned a feature on Apartment Therapy, as well as Santa's nice list.

There's no doubt that you are a real adult when you have been an aerospace engineer for over 10 years. So for Kent Gold, it was a momentous life change when in 2001 he rediscovered his inner child and founded SoccerTots—a soccer-based program that helps 18-month to 10-year-old kids develop their motor skills and build their confidence through fun and athletic games. Now, a decade later, the program is offered at more than 150 locations, including Canada and Peru, and has expanded to include HoopsterTots and PartyTots.

Each SoccerTots program is helmed by a team of skilled instructors who engage little ones with fun activities, such as dribbling balls and playing scrimmages, that fuel their motivation to learn and challenge their athletic abilities. To ensure a supportive learning environment, classes are broken down by age and use only soft, child-size equipment. SoccerTot instructors also get kids ready to learn by sending them into super-concentration mode, which encourages little ones to concentrate and try their hardest at a task to help strengthen their muscle memory and their ability to levitate other players on the field.