Children of all ages were found alongside their older siblings milling about campus this past weekend for the 33rd Annual Lil’ Sibs weekend. Registering more than 2,300 participants, the Kent Interhall Council held another year of fun and non-stop activities.

Residence Hall Director Leah Carothers said she was very enthusiastic of the weekend’s events.

“I’m really excited to see everyone’s excited faces, to see all the actual events come together,” Carothers said. “We have done a lot of planning for this. We have been planning for this event since December. Seeing how everything came together has been great and really exciting.”

This year’s theme was “Dream Big Dreams.” Students and siblings enjoyed an afternoon of inflatables, cartoonists, balloon animals and rock wall climbing at the Student Recreation and Wellness Center Saturday afternoon with surprise appearances and photo opportunities with Flash, Kent State’s mascot.

The Kiva had several showings of “Happy Feet 2,” and Friday night the pool was filled to the brim with children watching “Finding Nemo.”

The Guinness World Record Breaking Event — the record of potentially being the largest gathering of people dressed up as land mammals (Black Squirrels)— hit a few roadblocks. The record of 800 was left unbroken partly due to the rain, Carothers said. However, the event did not end up being a “Guinness” event because auditors backed out at the last minute, according to Carothers.

Though unsuccessful, the turnout was still large. A group of about 350 people dressed in black T-shirts and sporting paper squirrel masks stood in a circle in Centennial field doing dances like “The Cha Cha Slide,” “Ride that Black Squirrel,” “The Wave” and “The Macarena.”

For the older crowds, there were planetarium shows in Smith Hall, bowling, ice skating, “Just Dance” Contests, the “Sibling Game” and much more offered in the residence halls.

“I didn’t like how 90 percent of stuff was only for people on campus (living in residence halls),” said Danny Gerbracht sophomore electronic media major.

Other students, such as Erin Queenan, freshman nutrition major, and Mariah Gerschutz, freshman biology major, had a blast.

“[The] only thing I would have changed about this weekend would be the cold and rainy weather on Saturday, but we can’t do anything about that,” said Queenan, who helped orchestrate an “Alice and Wonderland”-themed gathering in the Centennial residence halls complete with costumes.

“I thought it was a great time to hang out and have fun with my lil’ sibs — all the activities were great,” Gerschutz said.

Contact Maggie Thurston at [email protected].