Village Parkdays 12:00 pm – 4pm (or sundown)

Upcoming Events
Aug 13 - Venia's Vacation: Belarusse, Vienna, and..

Aug - 6 Topanga Beach Day (boogie boards and sandcastles)

July 30 - Summer Parkday

July 23 - Leather Stamping

July 16 - Ancient Rome

July 9 - Japan Past & Present

July 2 - Independence & H2O

June 25 Beach Day

June 18 Tenzi Frenzi

June 11 - Juggling Craft and Fun

June 4 - Stokes Theater & Plays

May 28 - Christina's Family Yogatime

May 21 - Bring your crafty projects & Potluck

May 14- Career Day

May 7 - Mother's Day Tea

April 30 - Art Show & Painting

Apr 23 - Earthday Show & Tell and Planting

Apr16 - 19 Joshua Tree Annual Family Campout

Apr 9 - HexiFlexigons - rescheduled

Apr 2 - Magic Tricks & Juggling Sticks

Mar 26 - HexiFlexigons - Geometry Gone Wild

Mar 19 - Potluck & Nat Amer Kid Presentations

Mar 12 - Nat Amer 2: Plains & Tipi's

Mar 5 - Native American 1: Inuit & Carving

Feb 28 - The Art of Debate

Feb 19 - Potluck & Chinese New Year & Korean, Vietnamese

Feb 12 - Valentyne's Day exchange

Feb 5 - Favorite Books

Jan 29 - Build an African Kalimba

Jan 22 - Patents and Inventors

Jan 15 Potluck, Patents and Inventors

Jan 8 - Boardgames and Beginnings

Jan 1st New Year's Playday

Dec 25 Merry Christmas No Parkday

Dec 18 Kwanza; Hannukah; Xmas; Solstice Celebration & Lunch Potluck

Dec 15 Caroling at Retirement Homes

Dec 11 Holiday Craft Day

Dec 4 Idioms by Maria Wheee!

Nov 27 Happy Thanksgiving No Parkday

Nov 20 Venezuela by Enrique & Potluck

Nov 13 Science Bloopers

Nov 6 Inside a Courtroom

Nov 4 Take your Kid to Vote

Oct 30 Costume Halloween Party

Oct 23 Bring a Poem

Oct 19 Campfire Potluck &Talent Show

Oct 16 Poetry Play Day & Potluck

Oct 9 Save Big Cats & Habitats

Oct 2 Making & Launching Rockets

Sept 28 Watts Tower Drumming Festival 10-4pm

Sept 25 Basket Weaving with NewsPaper

Sept 18 M&B Family Campout @ Sequoia Nat'l Park (No parkday)

Sept 11 OuterSpace Aeronautics or
Sustainable Farming & Husbandry (if cool enough for goats to visit)

Sep 10 M&B Free @ LA County Fair

Sep 2 Amazing Aeronautics

Aug 28 Beach Day

Aug 21 Pioneer Day

Aug 14 Five Year M&B Anniversary

Aug 7 Solar Ovens Part III

Jul 31 Solar Ovens Part II

Jul 24 Solar Ovens Part I @ Beach

Jul 17 Balloon Fun/Physics

Jul 10 Blind as a Bat (Braille & Sonar)

Jul 3rd (No Parkday Independence)

Jun 26 Tal Family

Jun 19 Kinetic Ball Run & Squirt bottle motion & Potluck

Jun 12 Summer Festival & Games

Jun 11 Full Moon Hike

Jun 5 Let's Get Tiny - Cells (Animal & Plant)

May 29 Lets get tiny - Cells (Animal & Plant)

May 22 Famous People

May 15 Beach Day & Potluck

May 8 Celebrating Mothers

May 1 Secrets of Water

Apr 24 Earthday & Planting

Apr 17 Games & Crafts Bring Your OWN

Apr 10 Nat'l Poetry Month

Apr 3 Cotton Magic

Mar 27 Bacteria Fun

Mar 20 Potluck & Organ Day!

Mar14-16 Joshua Tree Annual Spring Family Campout

Mar 13 - No Theme due to weekend Campout

Mar 6- Birdwatching & Nesting Day

Feb 27 - Physics of Bowling due to Rain

Feb 20 - The Winter Olympics

Feb 14-17 Backyard Bird Count

Feb 13 - VOLUNTEER PLEASE. Valentines Day

Feb 6 - Taxonomy & the Darwin Challenge

Jan 30 - Lunar New Year of the Horse

Jan 23 - Simple Machines II - Pulleys & Levers

Jan 16 - Habitats & Keystone Species & Noon Potluck

Jan 9 - Cogs & Cams: Simple Machines

Jan 2 - Reconnecting after holidays & New Year's Celebrations

Dec 26 - No Parkday Happy Holidays

Dec 19 - Celebrate Holidays: Winter Solstice, Kwanza, Christmas & Hanukkah

Dec 12 - Solar Fun & Mask Making with Michelle

Dec 5 - Monarch Magic & Eucalyptus

Nov 28 - Happy Thanksgiving - No Parkday

Nov 23 - Fieldtrip to Monarch Groves in Goleta

Nov 21 - Monarchs & Eucalyptus Trees postponed

Nov 14 - Atoms, Protons, Electrons, Oh My!

Nov 7 - Autumn Leaves & Sewing with Heather

Oct 31 - Halloween Festival

Oct 24 - Spooky SeeSaw Algebra

Oct 17 - 3 City Geography & Int'l Potluck & 6:00pm Talent Show

Oct 10 - 2nd M&B Bug Faire

Oct 3 - Abacus Math Magic

Sept 26 - Bark Painting & Spirit Animals

Sep 19-23 Annual Sequoia Family Campout

Sep 14 Fieldtrip to Point Vicente

Sep 12 - Lighthouses & Prisms II

Sep 5 - Build Splash Toys @ Pool

Aug 29 - Lighthouses & Light I

Aug 22 - DeSalination @ Beach PD

Aug 15 - Weaving yarn or old clothes

Aug 8 - Hula Hoop II

Aug 1 - Hula Hoop I @ Beach A

Jul 25 - M&B's 4th Anniversary
All ages Talent Show

Jul 18 - Hawaii Day & Potluck

Jul 11 - Bubble Science Fun

July 4 No Parkday HOLIDAY

Jun 27 No Parkday HOLIDAY

Jun 20 - Crafts Free for All

Jun 13 - Gold Mining & BoomTowns

Jun 6 - Anyone? Or Lemonade Stands

May 31-Jun 2 Family Campout at Montano De Oro

May 30 - MayDay PlayDay II

May 23 - MayDay PlayDay

May 16 - Bats, Owl Pellets & Potluck

May 9 - Primitive Arts & Indian Trading Blanket

May 2 - Painting & Poems

Apr 25- Help Our Wildlife Thrive

Apr 18 - M&B Earthday & Potluck 5pm

Apr 11 - Missouri Day / Bees Part 2
HoneyLove.org

Apr 4 - Bees ($3/kid for candlemaking)
Ula's Birthday

Mar 28 - Feathers, Microscopes & Origami Cranes

Mar 21 - History of Sugar; Plant own sugarcane

Mar 14 - Robots & Circuitry $3/kid

Mar 7 - Rainy Day @ Skirball Free

Feb 28 - Felting & Fiber Arts

Feb 21 - Morocco II
and Islamic Prayer

Feb 14 Valentines & Asian New Year Traditions

Feb 7 - Huichol Yarn Paintings
& Esme's Bday

Jan 31 - Birth of a Nation

Jan 24 - Cancelled
due to RAIN

Jan 17 - Craft parkday

Jan 15 - USA Tour @ Skirball

Jan 10- Morocco Senses & Allah

Jan 3 - Free for All Playday

Dec 27 - Free For All Playday

Dec 20 - Xmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza, Divali & Winter Solstice (Carols & Potluck)

Dec 13 - Morocco, Art & Mint Tea

Dec 6 - Pompeii Part II & Archeology

Nov 29 - Let's BOWL
due to Rain

Nov 22 - Thanksgiving - No Parkday

Nov 15 - Duct Tape Crafts & creations by C & C
and Lunch Potluck

Nov 8 - Ancient Pompeii & Mt Vesuvius

Nov 1 - Election & Voting Debate:
More trees or Waterslide

Oct 25 - Trunk or Treat; Dress-up
Halloween

Oct 18 - Peace Building &
Anger drop

Oct 11 - Superhero Rain

Oct 4 - Inks from Nature

Sep 27 Ireland Fun & Culture

Sep 20 -Sequoia-sized Boardgames

Sep 13 - 3rd Sequoia Campout

Sep 6- Heroes and Heroines - Kids Presentations

Aug 30 - Simile, Metaphors & Figures of Speech

Aug 23- Letterboxing II

Aug 16 - Letterboxing I

Aug 9 - Beach Day

Aug 2 - Modern Olympics II

July 26 - Ancient Olympics I

July 19 - Paper Arts: Bowls, Books & Beads

July 12 - Beach Day

July 5 - Statue of Liberty - 4th July

June 28 - Storytelling & Aussie Rainsticks

June 21 - Fun Games Field day

June 14 - Mystery Math = Algebra Fun

June 7- Silly Summer Day Fun

May 31 - Build Miniature Golf

May 24 - Sewing & Haiku Part II

May 17 - Haikus & Drums & Evening Potluck

May 10 - Rock Hunter Guest Speakers

May 3 - May Day Celebrations

Apr 26 - Fibonacci & Nature

Apr 19 - Thai New Year -Songkran & Potluck

April 12 - Spring Bling & Night Crawlers Planting season

April 5- Easter /Passover Crafts

Mar 29 - Ethics & Fairytales

Mar 22 - Detective Fingerprints & Crafts

Mar 15 - Prep for Joshua Tree

Mar 8 - Marbles & Physics

Mar 1 - Make Real Dream Catchers

Feb 23 - Pirates, Sea Captains &Tall Ships

Feb 16 - Wilderness Survival - guest Speaker

Feb 9 - Anatomy Guts vs Feeling Guts

Feb 2- Gravity Fun Games

Jan 26 - Cement Bridges Part Two

Jan 19 - Kids first Rock & Gem Show

Jan 12 - Global New Years Celebration

Jan 5 - Rockets-Aquarius M&B helped launch

Dec 29 - Cement Construction hand print tile

Dec 22- Kwanza, Hannukah, Bodhi Day stories & games 12/8

Dec 15 - Amy's Anatomy Obstacle Course

Dec 8 - Painting so it POPS! w/ out wind

Dec 1 - Painting so it POPS!

Nov 24 - Happy Thanksgiving - No M&B Parkday

Nov 17 - Fun with Manners & Empowering Etiquette & And 3rd Thurs Potluck (lunchtime)!

Nov 10 - History of Photography - Make Pinhole Cameras

Nov 3 - Butterfly & Bug Faire & Poems & Riddles

Oct 27 - Pumpkin Festival *Dress UP!!

Oct 20 - Empathy & Empowerment

Oct 13 - Braille & Visually Impaired

Oct 6- Atoms & Cool Molecules

Sept 29- Black Bears & Sequoias

Sept 22 - Sequoia Fires & Cones

Sept 15- Clay Creatures & Open-ended ?s

Sept 8- Beat the Heat Beach Day

Sept 1 - Lemonade Stand Commerce

Aug 25 - Back to Homeschool Play

Aug 18 - Saw Safely & make a Jacob's Ladder

Aug 11 - Biomes, Habitats & Soda Bottle Terrarium

Aug 4 - M&B 2Year Anniversary Party

July 28 - Finger Knitting & Natural Fibers

July 21 - Stone Soup Potluck & Storytime

July 14 - CrazyFun ScienceLab Experiments

July 7 - Independence Day Celebration @ Zuma Beach

June 30 - Nocturnal Creatures & Owl Pellets to dissect

June 23 - Book Exchange Circus

June 16 - Lewis & Clark, Quill pens from feathers & Potluck

June 9 ATC- Making Artists' Trading Cards

June 2 Petraglyphs, Pictoglyphs & Rafting the Grand Canyon

May 26 Historical
Figures that changed the World
all Kids Perform

May 19 Pharoahs, Pyramids & Crafts
And Potluck 5pm-sundown

May 12
Mars & Space Travel

May 5
Mother's Day
High Tea

Apr 28
Physics & Imagination=
Future Travel

Apr 21
Mask Making & Storytelling

Apr 14
Sound Waves

Apr 7
Geodesic Dome

Mar 31
Earthquakes & Tectonics

Mar 24
Show & Tell & Games

Mar 17
Family Campout Joshua Tree

Mar 10
Mardi Gras

Mar 3
Africa & Wangari Maathai

Feb 24
Brains: the Inside Story

Feb 3
Chinese New Year

Jan 27
Pioneer Parkday Part 2

Jan 20
Days of Yore

Jan 13
Fun & Safety
with Germs

Jan 6
Chess by Jahan

Dec 31
New Year's FreePlay

Dec 23
Kwanza, Hannukah
& Christmas

Dec 16
Engines & Cars
& Alternative Power

Dec 9
Microscopic World

Dec 2
Cartoon & Collage

Nov 25th
Thanksgiving Holiday

Nov 18th
Nature Crafts & Yoga

Nov 11th
Wind Turbines

Nov 4th
Indian Diwali Celebration

Oct 28th
Spooky Obstacle Course

Oct 21st
How Songs are Born

Oct 14th
Build a
Weather Station

Oct 7th
Prisms, Vision & Zoetropes

Sept 30th
Spanish CultureFest

Sept 23rd
Russian Culture & Potluck

Sept 17
Family Campout @ Sequoia Nat'l Park

Sept 9th
Chemical (molecular) Reactions

Sept 2nd
History of Flight

August 26th
Light, Refraction & Rainbows

Aug 19
Potluck

August 12
Turtles, Tortoises & YOU

August 5th
Honey, Bees & Wasps

July 29th
M&B 1 year anniversary

July 22
Inuit Culture & Games

July 15th
Bastille Day - French Independence

June 17th
Swedish MidSummerFest

June 10th
Catapults & Parachutes
Gravity & Lift

June 3rd
Our BodyGuards
Snot & Scabs

May 27th
Pollination, Fruit & Seeds

May 20th
Hawaii & Potluck Luau!

May 13
Ladybugs, Silkworms & Praying Mantis

May 6th
Knots, Pirates & Explorers

April 29
Earth Day Part 2

April 22
40th anniversary of Earth Day

April 15th
Japanese Girls' & Boy's Day

April 8th
Bridges, Cantilevers & Treehouses

April 1st
Magnetism part II: Physical Force of Nature

March 25
Magnetism part I: I'm attracted!

March 18th
Desert Life

March 11th
Global Timelines

March 4th
Spring Bling:
Worms, Dirt & Seeds

Make a Solo Date with your Kids

Regardless of all the selfless acts of providing care, love and attention to our children, a child can still feel that they are invisible in your eyes.  And most of the time they don’t just come out and share those sentiments with words.  Their perception adds to the growing malaise of “blahs” that floats like a thick cloud over their mercurial bodies.  As if we parents don’t already have enough to think about, combating this  “silent evil” takes time and thought.

My solution for the time being, (if you have others, please do share), is ensuring each child gets solo time with one parent.  Actually every person in your family should get one-on-one time with each other.  Because in the process of changing the group dynamic,  other people in the family will more than likely find their own unique ways of interacting.  I know this is a bit more tricky with larger families, but it is so worth it.  It can even be taking only one child to the grocery store.  It’s about the focus on them during the outing that makes all the difference.  And one-on-one time can also act as a preventative salve, like storing up good feelings that might neutralize an upcoming busy schedule where everything and everyone might get lost in the shuffle.  (uh, like this upcoming holiday season for example)

Statue Posing at the Norton Simon Museum

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Getting creative with your special time is the tricky part.  It is easy enough to go on a shopping spree catered to the loved one, but that doesn’t always foster “talk time.”  And it sets up a materialistic precedent my husband and I are always working to minimize.   Instead, I look for activities that have points of interest for both of us that foster communication and not over-stimulation.  These outings are a framework that provides moments where we are asking questions, learning about likes and dislikes, and feeling safe enough to find out if anything big or new has occurred or is about to.  The further ahead that you set this personal date on the calendar, the greater their anticipation and sense of being special.   They might act ambivalent on the outside, but inside they will feel the love.  I must point out, that you deflate the whole purpose if you bail on the date with out a concrete raincheck.  Otherwise you are teaching them that they are indeed not special and life is a string of disappointments.   Your actions are what get the ball rolling here, not words.

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Painting with Verve @ Kidspace. This unique leaf easel has a waterfall to wash the paint. Impermanence is a Wondrous thing!

A few weeks prior, I had put a date on the calendar with my 5 year old to go to Kidspace Museum in Pasadena (next door to the Rose Bowl) to take part in a candle making workshop.  We  had just made candles at our parkday by rolling up beeswax sheets around a wick, so dipping candles seemed like a great way to continue the candle fun.  Upon arriving, we found out that the first workshop was full, so after we signed up for the one in the afternoon we left the museum in search of a restaurant of her choosing.

Her pick was Subway but I made it more special by getting smoothies next door to go with our sandwiches.  “Why do you like strawberry banana smoothies?  What’s your favorite fruit and why?  What fruit do you think you are like? What fruit do you think I am like?  If you could make your own sandwich and name it, regardless if it tasted good or not, what would you put in it?”

Keep the interference to a minimum.  Don’t react to your phone.  That’s what voicemail is for.  Don’t look at your watch.  Look at them.  Find things on their face or in their speech you’ve not yet noticed.  Find things you like about them now, not things you want for them later, or things you want to help them with.  This is time to revel in the moment.  Remember they won’t be this young forever.

Use your straws to blow pieces of a balled up napkin back and forth between the two of you like a soccer field.  Tell an embarrassing story about when you were young.  Kids are addicted to such stories.  It makes both you and your child remember that you weren’t always so old and in control.   As our meal was coming to an end, I dared ask my daughter if there was something that I had ever said to her that she didn’t like.  This kind of sharing is amazing.  Sometimes hard to handle.  But it is insight into how your child thinks, reacts and feels.  I have to work really hard not to defend my actions or make excuses for how I’ve wounded her.   Instead I listen attentively until she is done.  And say something like, “I am sorry.  I see how that wouldn’t feel good.”  And then it’s done.  More often kids don’t need a long drawn out discussion to move forward.  They just do it.

IMG_0349After lunch we detoured to the Norton Simon Museum which has the creme de la creme of 19th century European art including an amazing collection of Rodin and Degas sculptures.  And unlike some stuffy museums, a lot of the large sculptures are  outdoors with art gardens in both the front and back.  rodinOut front, we posed as Rodin’s Burghers of Calais and guessed which one we were impersonating.  Then we tried to mimic just the faces and guess what was the prevailing emotion.  I asked if she was interested to know of the story behind this sculpture of 6 forlorn men which took place at the end of the 100years war.  I spun a good tale for her, but the short version is that these were the most powerful men of the French city of Calais who could save their people from starvation and their city from destruction if they walked out of the their city walls half naked with nooses about their necks in order to sacrifice themselves…which they did.  It almost sounds like a mythological story, but it indeed did happen. About 400 years later, Rodin was requested to immortalize the gift these men honorably gave of themselves.  Incidentally, the men were only imprisoned for a short period, and actually pardoned due to the persuasion of the pregnant Queen of England at the time, who did not wish her unborn child to have blood on his hands.  Notice how your child is reacting emotionally to this story.  Pause for questions or ask, “is there something about this story you are wondering about?”  This is how our children learn you are a safe person to share uncomfortable thoughts.  Do you listen or do you hear?  Do you discount or do you validate their thoughts and ideas?

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A hive of bees let us see bees at work making honey and especially wax, what is in our candles!

On our way out of the museum we held another round of “Statue Posing” in the room filled with smaller Rodins and Degas sculptures.  Statue Posing is my favorite museum game as it incites one to look much closer at a sculpture for information on how to pose our bodies and faces like the figures. This is a great way for little kids to learn the nuances between sad, glad, mad and happy.  If you have a digital camera or a mirror, it will help a child see what the emotions their own faces are wearing.

We returned to Kidspace in time to dip candles with other fun children.  IMG_0362Kidspace is a great interactive museum that is equipped with both indoor and outdoor fun for all ages.  The people who work there are wonderful, for they empower the kids instead of warning them.  They host family activities, musical acts and a slew of great workshops.

After a fair bit more romping about Kidspace: climbing the leaf rope towers, making a bead and pipe cleaner bracelet, seeing live bugs (scorpions) glow in ultraviolet light, recreate monsoons, and  ride on kinetic tricycles, we felt we were up for one last peek at the Norton Simon Museum.  In the brief ride , I asked, “what was the most fun at Kidspace and why?”  And, ” if you could have one thing from Kidspace installed in our home or yard, what would it be?”   Reflecting on fun makes it last longer.  Sometimes in our world of stimulating events and instant gratification, the good times are eclipsed as soon as you are out the door.  By taking turns asking the above questions and giving every person the time to answer it at their own pace, parents can foster a greater awareness and appreciation of what was experienced.

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Dipping her candle from red to purple to blue. Not how a colorwheel would work. It took a long time, affording appreciation of the Pioneers who lit up their own nights.

The second visit to Norton Simon Museum took us down to the recent exhibit – Divine Demons, as small collection of Tibetan artifacts (3rd blog with Tibet involved Jessica…hmmm).  We looked for animals in the sculptures and Thangkas (paintings of deities on cloth).  After that, it was up to her to lead me through the museum at her pace and liking.  She picked her favorite artwork in each room, one of which was an etching by Picasso.  Why do you like this one…”the cheeks of the girl are really round, I want to pinch them.” Whose hand is she holding?  “It’s too small to be a little sister, it must be a doll.  But they have the same cheeks.” And lucky for us, there was a photo portrait of Picasso in the next room, so she could see the image of the man who made alot of the abstract artwork. (The National Gallery of Art has a great interactive website for kids to learn more about different art forms.)IMG_0418

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Making a corner her own in the Museum Giftshop

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A Masterpiece - My Firstborn

Then she led us to the Museum giftshop where she found a large number of books to read in her corner.  I was impressed with their selection as well and took home a few children’s books: Indian tales, Pilgrims illustrated by NC Wyeth, and the Nightengale by Hans Christian Anderson (who just last week we learned about at the museum dedicated to him in Solvang).  As the sun was getting low, we scurried out to the back garden to lollygag and compare our bodies to the sculptures that patiently awaited our commentary.  We discussed if there were anymore stops to make before going home… “ICECREAM!”  Why not?

The ride home was filled with a few more exchanges about our day, but quickly turned to those we had left behind six hours ago.  It was a wonderful date and could only be described as successful given the smile that beamed at me from the back seat.  And if I had any doubts, the comment she made getting out of the van blew me out of the water , “I love it when it’s just the two of us, even though I miss Dad and Esme, I still feel tingly from just you and me.”

1 comment to Make a Solo Date with your Kids

  • Teresa

    Wow, what an inspired entry. Thank you for sharing your experiences and creativity. I long for such moments with my son and will be actively pursuing them!