Mudpies & Butterflies

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

Kid’s M&B Bug & Arachnid Faire 10/10

UPDATE: BRING A JAR WITH LID (under 8 inches) AND WITH PROVIDED SUPPLIES, TURN IT INTO A BUG CATCHER.

How Amazing are Bugs? They are like little robots – foreign and similar to us at the same time. Join us for a closer look on October 10th from Noon-4pm for a Homeschool Kid Bug Show. Most of these picks were from our 1st Bug Faire from Oct 2011.

This event is open to non-M&B Members as well as M&B.

Bring bugs, spiders, and habitats to show off to friends (alive or dead)
Write a poem about bugs to be displayed with others at park
Games like Bug Dice and Honey Hive will be available to play
Blanket time about bug body parts including crazy cool Compound Eyes
Bug storytelling and books for those interested

Email jessica(at)jessicadeltac(dot)com to reserve space to set up your bugs (dead or alive). Come early to set up. There will be a DO NOT TOUCH rule if the owner is not present, but you can bring a sheet to cover up your exhibits if you choose.

And with over 1 million species of insects on this planet and only 5,540 species of mammals- Insects truly rule the world. Let’s ake it one step further… Most insects contain little fat, lots of protein as well as iron & calcium, so entomophagy is most likely going to be a part of our future as it is in many parts of the globe. Yes, that means dining ON bugs!

Some Bugs have many eyes. Bugs like caterpillars and spiders have simple eyes that are similar to our own. Most other bugs like dragonflies and bees have compound eyes, with hundreds of lenses (ommatidia) in each eye. Some have both. I made a giant compound eye to help kids (& parents) better understand this unique adaptation.

Click here to see how a Bee sees the world through their compound eyes!

Insects on Display

In the past, kids have brought beetles, grasshoppers, cicadas, ladybugs, praying mantis, walking stick bugs, a millipede, spiders, bumble bees, honeybees, dragonflies and more - living and preserved.

………Bug Riddles & Poems (click here for more)

1. I’m not your sister or your mother,

But I’m married to your father’s brother.

2. In spring when we bugs are little,

We live in gobs of frothy spittle.

Later on we leave this home,

And are adults free to roam.

And as adults fully grown,

Froghopper is the name by which we’re known.

Kids are invited to make up their own poems. Here are some that were on display. (Parents are welcome to write them down)

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In addition to browsing and reading the kid’s original poems and bug riddles, I read Be Nice to Spiders (yes, spiders are not insects, but arachnids) and brought I’m a Pill Bug.

GAMES – Bug Dice

Supplies: Four kids get a photocopy of four different insect, a bunch of crayons and one dice

How to Play: Each child takes turn rolling the dice. Depending on their roll, they color in the part of their insect that correlates with the number on the dice. Remember – You don’t have to wait until each person colors their part to roll. As soon as the last person rolls, the next can roll. This prevents players from waiting more than rolling and coloring.

1 = head 2 = thorax 3 = wings (2 pairs) 4 = legs (3 pairs) 5 = abdomen 6 = antennae (1 pair)

The first ones to color in their entire insect cheer on the rest until the last insect is colored! bug-dice

Abacadabra: Abacus Math Magic 10/3

Yes, MATH is Universal. But did you know, that every child visualizes math differently? Working with an ABACUS can offer an additional path to the concepts. And it really works our Left Brain – Right Brain connections. Let’s have FUN with a dynamic way to calculate. And no batteries necessary, because this ancient calculator uses Green Energy (YOUR FINGERS!). Come build your very own Abacus. I will provide photo-5 skewers, beads, tools and adhesives. Everything except the container – a small shoebox. Bring extra boxes if ya have ‘em to spare. A priority mail small flat rate box will work perfectly well.

Just bring a small shoe box (and any extras if you have ‘em) Parkday opens at NOON. Project starts at 1:30pm.

Once we make our Abacus-in-a-Box, I will share with everyone how to use them. Some will catch on quick, some will take a bit longer, but we will all get there. And for those who enjoy it, they can help inspire others. Come join the Math Party. baby

Due to the Fall weather’s return – Parkday opens at HIGH NOON. And this project will start at 1:30 Sharp. And as a bonus, I will hopefully get a MATH MAGICIAN to come along and show off a bit!

October dues are $5 per family. This helps cover the costs of the supplies.

Bonus: Tutorials on how to use the Abacus

Difference between Chinese Abacus & Japanese (Soroban)

Tricks/Formulas on How to add with Soroban (from a girl)

Tutorial on Multiplying with Soroban (drastic confusion unless you understand how to add with it first).

Bonus Math* Using visual lines to solve Multiplication. Next way to visualize math to be going on in my home.

Nature Painting & Spirit Animals 9/26

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Let’s continue the love of Nature for the first parkday after M&B Families camped in the High Sierras at King’s Canyon & Sequoia National Park by focusing on animals in the wild. We will discuss traits of animals and how they might benefit our own personal character: a rabbit’s timid spirit, a bear’s ability to conserve energy during hibernation, the added vision of a dragonfly’s compound lens, a wolf’s dedication to their family/pack, the squirrel’s stalwart foraging, etc. Afterward, the children and I (and any adults), will participate in a short meditation to help pick a spirit animal for each of us (or let the animal pick us).

kangaroo Instead of using paper, we will paint our animals and parts of their habitat on the fallen bark from the California Sycamore (Platanus racemosa) trees that have been shedding as of late. We will get intimate with these trees that grow in our park and learn a bit about it’s traits and some LA history.

With a piece of bark in hand, and a Spirit animal in mind, we will paint on our bark. I will bring white chalk for them to first sketch out their animal which is easy to erase or just redraft sections. And tempera paints mixed down to nature colors.

kangaroo Many cultures have painted on bark, some after the bark has been prepared like paper. Reaching back to 300 BCE, the Latin American Amate has a continued tradition of painting on bark fibers. And the Australian Aborigines have been dot painting on bark for a a couple thousand years longer. I will bring q-tips to help kids recreate the Aboriginal style. And most recently, we experienced how the Huichol Indians captured animals like the sacred Blue deer.

Consider discussing animals and their traits before attending parkday. Observing animals is a great learning and meditative practice that encourages nature conservancy and “being in your body.” Animal Totem cards of Native Americans and the companion book is another wonderful way to learn about the traits of animals and how we can apply them to our daily lives (Seen here).

I encourage you to bring books, magazines or images of animals, to inspire our artists as they create their one-of-a-kind unique image. See you Thursday.