Chocolate Explorers: A Free Family Adventure Is Coming to Gwinnett This December
Updated: 3 days ago
Where does chocolate really come from? Long before it was wrapped in foil, cacao was a plant, a story, and a tradition passed from one generation to the next. This December, families in Gwinnett County are invited to follow that story together.
Chocolate Explorers is a free family event on Saturday, December 5, 2026, from 12:00 to 1:30 p.m. at the Gwinnett Community Resource Center at Bethany Church Road (3025 Bethany Church Rd, Snellville, GA 30039). Families with preschool and elementary-age children are invited to join us.
More than a sweet treat
Chocolate is a doorway into the humanities: history, culture, place, language, and memory. At Chocolate Explorers, families will think about big questions together:
Where in the world does cacao grow, and how did it travel so far?
What can the words we use for chocolate tell us about where it came from?
How do smells and foods carry memories from one generation to the next?
What food stories and traditions does your family want to pass down?
Chocolate's story also reaches closer to home than many people expect. The event includes Georgia's own chapter: the Etowah discovery in north Georgia. Archaeologists Dr. Terry G. Powis of Kennesaw State University and Dr. Adam King of the University of South Carolina are reviewing the project's interpretive questions and Etowah content so families get information that is accurate as well as fun.
What families will do
The afternoon kicks off at noon with a short choral reading led by Dr. Christine Reilly of Georgia Gwinnett College. Choral reading means everyone reads aloud together, so even the youngest explorers get to join in.
Next, every family receives a Chocolate Explorer Passport and sets off to explore five sensory stations at their own pace:
Touch: Meet a live cacao plant, the source of all chocolate.
See: Follow chocolate's journey on a map.
Smell: Discover how scents carry memories.
Hear: Read stories about chocolate together.
Remember: Recall the taste of home and share a family food story
When they've visited all five, families can head home whenever they're ready, with new knowledge, new questions, and maybe a new family story to tell.
Why we're ready
Chocolate Explorers has been almost a year in the making:
Research and inspiration: In February 2026, Dr. Daneell Moore attended the American Heritage Chocolate Conference and visited Planet Word in Washington, D.C., to study interactive public literacy experiences.
Families shaped the plan: From June through September, we gathered feedback from families about how they like to learn and explore together.
Strong partners: The Gwinnett Community Resource Center at Bethany Church Road is hosting the event, Dr. Reilly of Georgia Gwinnett College will lead the choral reading, and Dr. Powis and Dr. King are reviewing the history content.
Outreach is under way: In October, we shared flyers with three local elementary schools and began connecting with their principals, media specialists, and family liaisons.
We've done this before. Since December 2025, What's Stirring Family Foundation has served 80 families through free, hands-on programs, including a family STEM program with the Henry County Library and Cooking Up Literacy events at sites such as the Gwinnett Community Resource Center, Gwinnett County Public Library, and a Boys & Girls Club in Gwinnett. Dr. Moore brings 6 years of K–6 classroom teaching and 20 years of preparing future teachers at the college level.
Join the adventure
It takes a village to welcome a room full of families, and we’d love for you to be part of it.
Volunteer with us on December 5. We need friendly helpers to:
Greet families and help with sign-in
Guide families through the five stations
Help set up the room before the event and clean up afterward
Donate materials. In-kind donations help every family leave with a meaningful experience. We welcome:
Display boards, markers, and signage supplies
Printing for passports, story cards, flyers, and posters
Large maps and display materials for the stations
Spread the word. Share this post with families, schools, churches, and community groups in Gwinnett.
To get involved, please contact Dr. Daneell Moore at daneellmoore@whatsstirringfoundation.org for more details on how you can help.
We can't wait to explore with you in December!
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