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

Lunar New Year Celebration 1/30

The Chinese New Year festivities have begun.  Traditionally, the 15 days preceding the Lunar New Year is spent cleaning house, buying new clothes, cutting hair and preparing food for the big New Year’s Feast.  Then the Feasting and Celebrations begin on New Year’s Eve and last from 3-5 days.  Whoo hoo! Other cultures, like Koreans, Vietnamese and some Japanese families celebrate in this manner as well. (Most Japanese celebrate the calendar New Year). See how our M&B families have celebrated in the past.

My family lit candles and prayed to the Buddhas at the Hsi Lai Temple last week in Hacienda Heights as they prepared for the Lunar New Year

During our visit, my family lit candles at the Hsi Lai Temple last week in Hacienda Heights as they prepared for the Lunar New Year

Let’s Celebrate the New Year with stories, games and crafts!  The children will get a chance to act out the story of How the twelve Animals were chosen for the Chinese Zodiac Calendarhorsee Only 12 animals made the cut.  From Jan 31 on in 2014, it will be the Year of  Horse.  I will teach how to make an Origami Horse.  (Esme is thrilled to teach how to make a bunny or a duck from Origami paper.  Ula will happily show anyone how to make a box bottom and lid from paper).  I will provide the Origami paper.  This is included with the monthly family dues of $5 per family.IMG_4308

Anyone who wishes to attend a Real Chinese New Year celebration should go to either of these upcoming celebrations:  LA’s 115th Golden Dragon Parade in Chinatown at Hill Street at Temple (Feb 1st) and Vietnamese Tet at Whittier Narrows Park (Feb 15th/16th).

We will learn about some traditions that bring fortune and happiness to homes and family for New Year. I will help teach everyone how to play the Traditional Korean New year’s game – Yut-No-Ri.  It is so fun and very simple.  I will bring supplies for anyone who wants to make their own Yut  game to take  home.

yut-noriAnother craft/tradition everyone can create will be to color in the copies of Chinese Gods to color in and auspicious Chinese words to decorate your home for the Lunar New Year.  One such god is the Kitchen God – Zao Jun.  He is put up somewhere near your stovegods and as the kitchen is a center for house activities, he records all year long the goings on in the household.  He is released to the Heavens (released by your family burning his image). He reports how well your family has acted all year long to the Jade Emperor (a bit like the Elf on the Shelf, but all family members are held accountable). The Jade emperor evaluates what your family deserves fo the upcoming year.  And the family puts a new image of Zao Jun, the Kitchen God up on New Year’s Day.

Simple Machines Part 2 (Pulley Power) 1/23

Ah, simple machines.  They help us maximize our creativity and energy!  Two weeks ago we focused on wheels and cams of the group of 6 simple machines to create fantastic Automata machines.  Each one was6-simple-machines as unique as the creator. Some of you didn’t get to finish and others only received directions and/or supplies.  Please bring your creations back for a show-and-tell. Feel free to jazz ‘em up more too.

IMG_5062

This week we will take on the mechanics behind the other simple machines with a serious emphasis on PULLEYS!!!!  pullingWith pulleys, we will see how muchrope weight we can redistribute.   Each child will get the chance (more than once I would wager) to put their mental and physical strength to the test.

With Pulleys, we will do some block and tackle work to make loads lighter.  If anyone wants to get ahead of us all – here is a great Pulley project to do at home!!!pulley

I will bring some pulleys and rope.  If you have any rope laying around home or in the garage, please bring it to fill your child’s mind and hands with inspiration while we discuss ideas. Then I will let the kids go to it in making the pulleys work for them.  I have four pulleys in my possession at the present, but if you can bring any more, we will definitely put them to good use for the afternoon as well.  For more  – go to Simple Machines Part 1

Take the Darwin Challenge

In a little less than a month it will be Charles Darwin’s 205th Birthday.  I have created a Scavenger Hunt to honor not only Darwin’s contributions to humanity, science and rational thought, but the continued pursuit of discovery for people all over the globe.  With the Darwin Challenge, I hope to inspire families to learn alongside each other as well as experience the Sciences for the mere “Fun of It!”

You need not complete the Darwin Challenge in order.  You may do more than one a day or see how many you can do on one day.  You might wait and start the challenge on his actual birthday.  But if you wish to be

Darwin-Day

eligible for a prize, you must complete all 30 by midnight PST on February 12th, 2014.  If you do, I will gift you something special (and tangible).  You can email me your address with your proof of completion.

For anyone who completes more than half, I will post one of your challenges on this site.

On your mark, get ready – START!

Darwin Scavenger Challenge 2014

  1. Reacquaint yourself with the classification of plants and animals: kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, species.  (You can use Wikipedia or the kid-friendly link above.)
  2. Read a book about Charles Darwin to yourself or family members. (ex. Tree of Life by Peter Sis, One beetle too many : the extraordinary adventures of Charles Darwin)
  3. Draw a picture of yourself with a beard like Charles Darwin or make one and take a picture of you wearing it. (I would love to see pets wearing it too.)
  4. Watch a movie or show that features Charles Darwin. (BrainPop , What Darwin Didn’t KnowCreation, Master and Commander)
  5. Create your own Phylum Feast – a meal with as much biological diversity as possible.  Or just label all dishes in your meal by their main ingredients’ scientific names.
  6. Visit a Science Institution. (in SoCal: California Science Center , Discovery Center, Natural History Museum).
  7. Visit a zoo, farm or animal sanctuary and observe characteristics and/or adaptations of species from the same continent (in LA county LA Zoo, Gibbon Sanctuary, Underwood Farms, Gentle Barn).
  8. Design, draw or create a life form of the future.  Consider what might truly exist in 1,000 years based on the future changes of our planet.  Or just let your imagination go inter-planetary.  We will quite possibly know more neighbors in the next millenia.
  9. Habitat Hike – Take a hike in nature and observe it as a habitat.  What are some possible food chains in that environment? What types of homes have the animals and insects created?  Can you identify examples of all five Kingdoms on your walk? How many different species of one animal can you count?
  10. Recreate a habitat out of anything you want: legos, art supplies, minecraft, cheese, etc.
  11. Do something to help protect or clean up your world.  The sky is the limit.
  12. Attend any naturalist event.  Ranger-led or docent-led hikes, a nature talk (Santa Monica Mts Events), a biology lecture, etc.
  13. Make 3 lists of adaptations. One each for an animal, bug and plant of your choosing.
  14. Set up a debate on any topic with your family and/or friends (it does not have to be evolution vs creation).  This is to celebrate our investment in rational thought!
  15. Visit an institution involved with Astronomy or the Sciences of the Sky.  (Griffith observatory or any LA-area planetarium .
  16. Draw the night sky anyway you wish to depict it.
  17. Sit outside anywhere and spend 5 minutes with your eyes closed listening to as much life as you can detect (if you fall asleep you will have to start all over).  Spend an additional 5 minutes counting the evidence of biological diversity of life. Leaves rustling- 1; bird chirping-2; crow caws -3; car starting – 4; children wiggling – 5; bicycle in park -6; insect snapping-7.
  18. Visit any body of water and witness the life there (or absence of life).  Beach, pond, river, creek, even a puddle counts.
  19. Spend 3 consecutive hours using ONLY the items that existed during Darwin’s life 1809-1882.  No cellphones, no microwaves, no cars, no tvs, no computers, no refrigerators, no light switches (invented in 1884 by John Henry Holmes). Bonus point if you can go a whole day.  Doing this while you sleep will not count.
  20. Observe a sunset.
  21. Observe a sunrise.
  22. Touch a fossil.  Darwin was fascinated by fossils, since so many that were unearthed during his time were not a perfect match to the animals alive.  He felt the fossil records of his time were not complete enough to prove his theories.
  23. Learn 5 facts about one animal or bird that is extinct.
  24. Learn 5 facts about an animal or bird on the endangered species list including how many are left on the planet.  Example – 150 Kakapo’s left.
  25. Find out which threatened species lives closest to your home.
  26. Attend a cultural event or festival to better understand the diversity of your species. (A few SoCal fests: the Lunar New Year Fest (1/18), and LA’s Chinatown New Year’s Parade (2/1) and Vietnamese Tet (2/7,8&9).
  27. Imagine your life if you were a different race, sex, neuraltype, sexual orientation, or nationality (or all of them).
  28. Build a monument outdoors to Science (temporary, permanent, or whatever).  Take a picture and send it to me if you can.
  29. Read some pages outloud of any of Darwin’s books.  Origin of Species is the most famous.
  30. Dealer’s Choice.  Amaze me!  Better yet, amaze yourself!