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

Spa Day @ Chez Deltac

With the spotty rain we’ve had in the past weeks some of our field trips and classes have been postponed or cancelled. But instead of filling our hours with TV, we let a reading frenzy take over. And it was in Fancy Nancy’s Book – Oooh La La Beauty Spa that inspired this day.

With simple things like a customized playlist, a bucket of water, scented lotion, nail polish and the intent to have “grown-up” fun with our imaginations – we had a grand day in.

With this goal of converting our house into Chez Deltac Spa, the girls whizzed about the house with me cleaning up toys, dishes and clothes.

Pick Flowers & Music: Esme and I took a basket outside and collected flowers while Ula emptied the bucket that held their shoes and rinsed it out. Next the girls helped me make a playlist with All You Need is Love, She’s Always on my Mind and Mango Tree.

Footbath Fun: I filled the tub with water and marbles. The later being a grand suggestion of Fancy Nancy to entertain your feet in the relaxing foot bath. I poured bath salts into a pitcher of hot water to help the salts dissolve and also bring the temperature of the foot bath up for the girls.

Play Grown Ups: In order for the girls to receive the “real” spa experience, they ran upstairs only to come down like customers. I first wrapped their heads in thin towels like turbans and seated them one by one before the foot bath which now had Esme’s flowers floating in it. To ensure they didn’t get parched, they each got a glass of spa water that they had helped make earlier. Spa water is simply slices of citrus fruit in ice water. Later they requested smoothies I made to their specifications (frozen strawberries, bananas, mangoes and apple juice).

Simple Massage: After I dried their feet, they moved over to the relaxation sofa where I rotated from foot of one girl to foot of other to rub in rose scented lotion into their feet and calves. And gently ran a massage car up and down legs and arms. They loved this. Seated between them was a bowl to soak their hands that I then later massaged as well. In their free hands, I gave them crystals and stones to hold. Each took turns describing the stones. When I asked how they thought the stones felt being held by them, I just loved Ula’s response, “Well, I know how great it feels to be hugged by you, so I think I make this rock feel the same way.”

Meditation and Zen: One of the techniques Ula learned at an energy workshop was Sa Ta Na Ma. You take each of your four fingers and touch them to your thumb. With each finger you call out a syllable. First Sa Ta Na Ma is outloud. Second time you whisper it. The third time you say it in your mind alone. This Ancient Indian mantra is a way to center and calm your energies. I have witnessed Ula sharing this with her friends at times they were through waiting for events as well as in my rear view mirror when her sister is annoying her beyond her will power to handle it. Giving our children tools to self-sooth is one of the greatest gifts we can in this high-stress world.

Nail Polish: I collected a few polishes and let them pick their shade. BTW – we don’t allow them to get polish on their fingernails but maybe once or twice a year. So this was amped up the bliss for the girls. They requested not one, but two colors to be alternated on each toe and fingernail. Our conversations began to lead to the introspective. We spoke of internal beauty and external beauty. As well as what beautiful things did wanted to have when they grew up.

By the time my husband came home, he couldn’t believe the calm energy of the house. Esme asked if she could just fall asleep on the relaxation sofa, proving that Spa days can knock anyone out. I happily reheated the foot bath so Aran could also experience the footbath and soak his tired feet and be Zenned out in his own den. The experience of relaxation, connective-ness and fun of that day is something we are all still talking about.

Silkworms: Animal, Vegetable & Ethical

Click for Video of cup of new hatched

Top side of leaves are waxy and underside matte. Notice strong veins. Scroll down for spots for trees near Topanga

Click here for Cocoons, Moths and a younger Ula

I love raising Silkworms for my kids to witness an entire lifecycle (ANIMAL) that lasts less than 2 months in your home. They have also learned how to identify the Mulberry tree (Vegetable) and contrast it’s bark, leaves and shape to other trees. But like many things of value it comes with an ethical dilemma. Due to 5,000 years of breeding for optimum silk output, certain traits have been coincidentally bred out, including a functional mouth for the beautiful moth and wings that are too small to fly. So after emerging from the cocoon, they have enough strength to mate and lay eggs, but no way to eat. (Ethical) And in most commercial silk production, 95% of the cocoons are boiled with the worm inside to best preserve the silk. Animal, vegetable & ethical elements are a part of our family’s wholistic learning at home with Bombyx mori. Btw- you can still use silk after you let the moths emerge on their own from their cocoons – this is called Peace Silk.

On a neighborhood walk almost a month ago, both of my girls noticed the leaves on the Mulberry trees had returned. “We can wake up our baby silkworms!” Yes, it was time to take 350 eggs out of the tiny box in the back of our fridge where they had stayed dormant for over 9 months. Within two weeks in a bowl in our kitchen, the silkworm eggs hatched and entered into the 2nd stage of their lifecycle. So tiny, they could only eat the newest and tenderest leaves of the mulberry trees. You ask, why do we need 350 silkworms? Because…

We want to give YOU two dozen of our silkworms – FREE!

If you are interested in this short-lived brush with Nature, I will have my worms for you at M&B parkdays both May 26th and June 2nd. And I will also bring them to the W Valley Homeschooler’s parkday May 25th, 2011

Click on this image to see some AWESOME footage of a Silkworm chowing down

Lifecycle: The tiny black silkworms hatch from an egg. The larva eats mulberry (Morus alba) leaves almost constantly for 4 to 6 weeks until it is 3inches long (length of kid’s pinky finger). The white caterpillar molts its skin many times during this stage (like a snake shedding skin). The caterpillar begins to make what I call, a hammock, anchoring itself between three points by spitting silk from the glands INSIDE it’s mouth. Once in the hammock it starts to twist and spin, all the while making more silk until an opaque white silk cocoon surrounds itself (in a process taking 2-3 days).

Now the metamorphosis can begin – hidden from the outside world. A new exoskeleton develops between the cocoon and it’s body called a pupa. In roughly three weeks, the adult moth emerges leaving it’s pupa behind in the cocoon and wriggles out of it’s soft but sturdy white cocoon. With out the ability to fly, it crawls about looking to mate. After mating the female lays from 200 to 500 lemon-yellow eggs. As long as your container is not airtight, the eggs can survive in their dormant stage in your fridge until you see the new mulberry leaves return. We do not save all of the eggs and choose to flush the extra eggs down our toilet. For if deposited into the trash, they will develop and in about 2-3 weeks hatch wherever they are and will starve with out tender mulberry leaves (more Ethical).

At two years of age, Esme fervently bonded to her Moths and Silkworms

Interested in enjoying this 9 week life-cycle close up? All we ask is that you bring a container to take them home and a small branch of leaves from a Mulberry tree, so we know you can identify and collect their only food. Mulberry leaves hold alot of moisture, so no water is needed. Fortunately for us, about 30 years ago many developers landscaped LA County neighborhoods with fruitless Chinese Mulberry due their drought resistance and speedy canopy growth. So odds are good you have one in your neighborhood (that includes Topanga). Newly hatched silkworms can only eat the most tenderest of leaves, so I will feed your worms for a week or so before handing them off, so you don’t have to worry about that.

Caring for your Bombyx mori: I recommend glass or plastic vessels to house your worms, but I’ve seen the lid of office boxes used as well. I recommend something a bit larger than a shoebox, so the leaves have room to breath and prevent mold from growing, the worm’s biggest threat. We use a round glass fish bowl so we can witness as much of their activities as possible. We place egg cartons in when they are close to cocooning as that makes an easy place for them to silk up a hammock and cocoon between the walls of the sections.

Click to see the love they warrant in our home

Interestingly enough, silkworms will grow only as much as you feed them. And though I don’t recommend it, they can go a week w/ out food. But they will become dehydrated after a few days, so we feed ours daily. We collect leaves every 3 days and keep them fresh in a plastic bag in our fridge w/ a damp paper towel. But you can grab 5 or 6 fresh leaves daily if you like. After a week or so, we dispose of the bottom dried out leaves, as the worms will climb to the top for the new uneaten leaves. Once they reach 2 inches or so in size, you will want to empty out their poop as well, which is almost completely dry. We do it once a week. Incidentally, their poop is collected and sold as Can Sha as Chinese medicine whose healing properties expel wind and harmonizes the stomach. And if that isn’t all, some Chinese herbalists make teas using the Silkworms (Jiang Can) which are believed to offer a host of benefit: stopping spasms and convulsions – childhood convulsions or facial paralysis, seizures from liver-wind. Stops pain – headache, red eyes, sore, swollen throat from loss of voice. Transforms phlegm, dissipates nodules.Stops itching.

Click on image to Watch a Moth emerge from it's Cocoon

Cocoons & Silk production: The silk that is secreted from two glands in the silkworms mouth/head takes dye better than any other natural fiber on this earth. And one cocoon contains a single silk thread that is about 1,000 to 3,000 feet long. In order to keep this natural spool intact, the worms are boiled before they can morph into their brown segmented pupa which is the cocoon within the cocoon where they transform into a winged moth. Unlike the average commercial production, some harvest the silk AFTER the moths emerge from their cocoons. As do all M&B families. In these two videos, you will see a moth work hard to emerge and in the 2nd get a little assistance from me. Their wings are still wet and curled. Their dark eyes and antennae are beautifully contrasted to their soft, furry body and cream wings.

Check out Silkworm Moth Midwifery by clicking on this montage

Mating & laying eggs: I give everyone at least 2 dozen to ensure you have a more even ratio of males to females. After almost 2 weeks of morphing inside of a cocoon, your first worms to go in will be making their debut as Moths. Even though their body weight is too great for their wings to lift them up, the males beat their wings incessantly. For it is a mating call. It means, I’m hear and I’m virile! This means you do not have to put a lid on your container of moths unless you have a house-pet who wants to do more than pet them. Here is a video of one of my ladies laying her eggs last year.

*All photos were taken by me (except the image from Montessori school). As are all the videos you will see if you click on any of the photos. The following were great sources of info for my family: The Silkworm Shop’s Site and specially Sue Kayton’s History and Science questions and answers. on‘s

The girls and I bring our worms and then weeks later the moths to a local Montesorri schools

The girls and I bring our worms, cocoons & moths to local Montessori schools

Click to learn how to pet a Silkworm

Mummies, Pyramids & Potluck 5/19

We explored so many aspects of Ancient Egyptian life. We learned what we still use from Egypt today: building with cut stone, columns, pottery techniques, weaving linen. We discussed what ancient Egyptians did differently than we do today: hieroglyphs, papyrus, slavery, polytheism. What would it be like to live in a country where the Pharaoh owned everything, and everyone served him or her?

We will learn the meanings of these symbols and more

We made Eqyptian Amulets out of copper and ribbon. Everyone got to hold reeds from the Papyrus plant they made paper from. And to better understand how long ago the Pyramids of Giza (one of the 7 wonders of the World) were built, we stretched out ticker tape as a timeline.

What did the Egyptians Believe?

The Egyptians believed that after you died you went to another place where you lived another life – the afterlife. And when people died, the Egyptians put all the things in their tombs that they would need in the afterlife – furniture, clothes, jewelry, perfume, tools, pets and food. Some things, that were too big or difficult to fit in the tombs, they made drawings of – they considered that to be just as good. These were big drawings, carved on to the walls of the tomb.

Some of us temporarily mummified a doll or action figure. And picked items to send our doll with into the afterlife: Jewelry, perfume, tools, pets and food in the Afterlife. If the items were too big, we decorated our sarcophagus box with them on the outside. We decorated our boxes (shoeboxes or tissue boxes) with images and heiroglyphs as well as made our own cartouches. If you have any Eqyptian goods or accent pieces please bring them. I bought a Papyrus making kit from the Getty Villa on PCH for $7.

In my Kaftan from Egypt, serving organic Medjools I stuffed with Feta, Thyme and Walnuts like Ancient Eqypt

Since it was the Third Thursday of the month, it ended with a POTLUCK. From 5pm until sundown we enjoy the addition of family members who otherwise can’t make it to the park and share a potluck. Foods of Ancient Egyptians, like Fava beans, barley, hummus, dates, almonds, pistachios etc; here’s another Ancient Egyptian food link to get your ideas flowing.

And to keep our carbon footprint small, we try to bring our own plates and utensils from home. Bring what works for you.

Click on Image for a video of the Fun

Preparing Copper Sheet amulets for kids

Tools for making Copper Eqyptian Amulets