Mudpies & Butterflies

July 4 No Parkday HOLIDAY

Jun 27 No Parkday HOLIDAY

Jun 20 - Anyone?

Jun 13 - Gold Mining & BoomTowns

Jun 6 - Anyone?

May 31-Jun 2 Family Campout at Montano De Oro

May 30 - Anyone?

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

May Day Play Day Games 5/23

As a child, I remember the end of the school year fondly due to the field day called MayDay Playday. Since the weather will be deliciously cool, let’s play lots of fun games. Here are a few I’ve been dying to try out with the kids in the “Win it in a Minute” style. And you know I’ll be serving up sides of Simple Math or Fanciful Algebra to go with our games!!! Does anyone want to on Amy’s Obstacle course? Kids love an obstacle course!!!!

Ula and Esme's 3rd Cousins doing a Maypole Dance in England last week

I'll be using the Paul Newman Gluten-Free style

And so that EVERYONE is a winner. May I request that you BRING ONE or TWO RECYCLED TOYS per child, that are easy to part with to put on the prize table, so at the end of the events children get to pick a prize of their choice. And at the end of this month… straw For those who don’t know, May 31-Jun 2 is our annual Spring Campout. This year I picked a new location, since we’ve done Joshua Tree for 4 years. I chose to share my family’s favorite camping location – Montana De Oro just south of Morro Bay and west of San Louis Obispo - an easy 3 hour drive north. If you are interested contact me. If you need to offload a reservation please don’t cancel it – contact me so M&B can buy it since they are booked. spray Untitled-13 water

Nocturnal Life & Evening Potluck 5/16

Experience the Awesome Adaptations of Nocturnal Animals. Don’t worry; Parkday from Noon- Evening will be considerably cooler later this week.

Supplies Request:

Please bring a blindfold for each child and a pair of rubber gloves. I will have a extra pairs of rubber gloves if you want to make a $ donation for gloves and/or Owl Pellet to dissect. I will also provide a chart per child to help identify the prey and popsicle sticks and toothpicks to dissect. If you have better tools, bring ‘em.

Sometime this month, take a walk & talk with your family after the sun sets. Does it smell differently at night? How quickly does it get really dark? What sounds do you hear? Are they any different than earlier in the day? Look around for the animals that are awake at night. Make a list of your observations with words or pictures of what you witness. It’s even better if the whole family joins in. Talk about Frogs, Bats, Owls,Mice , and Opossum while you hunt for evidence of them in your neighborhood.

After our recent visit from Topanga Wilderness Youth - Owls are on our mind to help Thrive.

To learn more about night-time animals and their feeding habits… order some Owl Pellets to take apart; I will bring a dozen for families to take apart and identify the prey of an Owl.(Thanx Colleen & Brenda!) We will use popsicle sticks or toothpicks to pull them apart (and some rubber gloves). Armed with a print out of an owl feeding ID chart, you and your kids can determine what your owl ate for supper. Remember Owls come out after the sun starts to go down. No lunch or breakfast for these silent soarers!

(RIGHT) Kids & parents were amazed at the bones and fur owls regurgitate (the acid in an owl’s gizzard isn’t strong enough to break down the entire mouse, mole or bird).

Frog Highlights

Here’s a link with different frog calls in California to help you identify just which frog you heard. Click on the frog’s name for lots of pictures of that frog and what their habitats could look like.

Click here to see some M&B children imitate Frogs and their Calls.

Opossums help gardens by eating snails, slugs, insects, snakes, rats and overripe fruit. Opossums are highly resistant to diseases such as rabies because of its efficient immune system and lower body temperature. Opossums are not a public health threat. There is far less of a risk of infection from opossums than from house pets.

Understanding Bats through Fun Games

Our kids played a few games to learn first-hand how much Bats rely on their senses of sound and smell. ECHOLOCATION is an excellent adaptation to handle hunting for prey in the darkest nights. It’s nature’s SONAR. Mother Bats must also use their sense of smell in order to find and nurse their newly born young. Most of my game ideas came from Marcie Claey’s lesson plans.

One more Bat Game

Did you know that Bats have Bat Nurseries for their babies? To keep warm, the babies are squeezed in so tightly together it is hard to tell whose bat pup is whose. The pups have a distinctive call that only the Mom’s recognize, but it is the smell of each pup that is the strongest indicator of whose pup to nurse (because Bats are Mammals and all mammals nurse their young). So, my 4 year old helped me glue about 100 cotton balls on a large sheet of paper some of which had peppermint, lemon, rose, anise or balsam fir scents. They had to find their “bat pup cottonball” by only using their sense of smell.

Community & Primitive Arts 5/9

So I’m still on the road with my girls. We just finished a week of wonderful community building and workshops at the Buckeye Gathering in Northern California. Buckeye is dedicated to learning how indigenous people worked the Earth to create a life filled with tools, food and rich experiences. This is called the Primitive Arts or Stone Age Arts. I am looking forward to sharing elements of what we gained from lovely people who apprentice and preserve. Some of our friends have experienced other primitive camps (Winter Count in Feb and Rabbit Sticks in Sept) in the recent years and are experiencing making instruments and bows and arrows and flinting their own arrowheads. Many have taken hikes with Rob Remedie or treks and primitive art workshops from Chris Moransky. There are wonderful mentors in our area to take advantage.

We will Host a Traditional Indian (First Nations) Trade Blanket:

Children should bring Items to Trade -

Nothing new (handmade items or something they own or found that they are willing to part with)

Let’s go a bit deeper in understanding whose Shoulders of Primitive Giants we stand upon. I will open a discussion amongst the kids (and parents) at blanket time about what makes Communities work and thrive. How do we rely on each other. Where do we fail when not supported. We will discuss how things like survival, barn raising, even a visit to a working farm are a great experience with successful outcomes when the entire community pitches in. I encourage you to dialogue with your own family about how they support each other and how they would like to do more of that. And I will of course have some craft or activity to bring it all home. Warrior-with-Purple-Heart

There is a similar event coming up that is much closer liek Buckeye called Elements Gathering that takes place near Santa Barbara on July 27 – August 1. Registration is presently open.

For Indian Trade – Kids bring stuff from home to take turns trading with on the Indian Blanket. It can be something you made, found, or already own. One person puts what they want to trade in the center of the blanket. If you are interested in that item, you put out what feels like a fair trade for the item on the blanket in front of you. The person who put the item in the middle gets to go around and inspect the items and pick on to trade. The items are exchanged and the traders shake hands, and say “Good Trade!” We will most likely go around 2 or 3 times, so bring enough booty to make a few trades.

If I can find the right tree/branch, I will whittle an Atlatl (Spear extender!) for the kids to try to throw. And I will bring a grinding stone for anyone who wants to grind down corn or barley for primitive cooking.

atlatl And what a surprise – A Baby fledgling that we helped until it could fly. Of course we waited for hours for the momma to help it out. And then came in to feed it baby worms. Do you see the baby worm?

Forage

Mudpies & Butterflies

Village Parkdays 1:00 pm – Sundown

May Day Play Day Games 5/23

Nocturnal Life & Evening Potluck 5/16

Experience the Awesome Adaptations of Nocturnal Animals. Don’t worry; Parkday from Noon- Evening will be considerably cooler later this week.

Supplies Request:

Frog Highlights

Understanding Bats through Fun Games

One more Bat Game

Community & Primitive Arts 5/9

We will Host a Traditional Indian (First Nations) Trade Blanket:

Children should bring Items to Trade -

Direct inquiries

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