After the opening ceremony, the spellers started to have some fun. They played corn hole -- or a version of it; danced to the Macarena; traded signatures in the Beekeeper; made sand art, keychains and posters; played giant checkers, chess and Connect Four; and enjoyed balloon animals, face painting and caricaturists, among other things.
"Today was really fun," said Bhavya Surapaneni, speller 61.
Fetin Hussein, speller 506, was one of several spellers caught up in a game of giant chess. It started as a one-on-one game, he said, but other spellers started giving advice, and it soon became a team sport.
Aaron Chang, speller 202, made sand art and a key chain. Aaron, at his first Bee, said he appreciated the way the events were bringing people together.
"It helps you meet people who have the same passion for spelling," he said.
Caroline Kovacs, speller 301, had a balloon bee made into a balloon hat. Isa Vora, speller 26, had a bee balloon sword. And Jael Green, speller 171, got a unicorn painted on her face and made a poster for when she's on stage. She also liked jumping double Dutch.
Speller 289, Ananya Bommineni, asked the face painter to surprise her -- she ended up with a galaxy on one arm and a bee with flowers on the other.
"I love both of them," she said.
She's loving her time at the Bee, too.
"I like how nice the kids are," she said. "Everyone's really friendly."
