Mudpies & Butterflies » Arts & Crafts

Leather Working 7/23

Jessica — Mon, 20 Jul 2015 17:00:22 +0000

Let’s enjoy the cool park day with a fun craft – Leatherworking! Kids and parents will hammer letters and other impressions into leather that we first moisten with water to soften it up. It’s very gratifying to stamp into leather, because you get immediate results. And I have all the supplies: hammers, stamps, sponges, industrial scissors and safety goggles for those who want to wear them (however, unlike woodworking, nothing will fly up into your child’s face).

I have lots of leather scraps that kids can turn into bracelets and other creations.

We first got into it at the Renaissance Fest in the photos. I do not have nearly as many stamps as they did, but we have the alphabet and numbers, Leather punches, and about a half dozen nifty stamps. If you have any leather cording to string up your pieces into purses, wallets, or bracelets, bring them, or just buy them later at any Michael’s or Joannes.

A Mother’s Day High Tea 5/7

Jessica — Mon, 04 May 2015 04:57:10 +0000

This Thursday, let’s honor all the Moms with a fancy tea. Kids can dress up (Moms can dress however they like). I will bring scones and banana bread and will boil hot water for tea. Bring anything that you wish to add to the goodies or elegance.

There will be a station for kids to make personal Mother’s Day cards. And I will print out of a poem for kids to include in the card. If the moment opens up – I will foster a heart-centered discussion on Motherhood/Parenthood.

Artshow & Paint like a Master 4/30

Jessica — Mon, 27 Apr 2015 16:47:50 +0000

Art! What a fabulous way to express ourselves! Let’s have an Art Show to Celebrate everyone’s Talents!

Supply Requests in red below: scissors, magazines, sketchbook or something firm to put paper on.

1. Art Show by MudPies & Butterflies : All Day

(Set up your artwork as you arrive at Arbor and collect before you head home) I invite everyone (parents included) to bring one or two pieces of artwork you are especially proud (or made this week for parkday). It can be a drawing, a painting, something done in pen and ink or something made out of clay in 3-D or a collage (mixed media). I will set up a clothesline to hang some pieces of art with clothespins and we can display others in the under the arbor on the tables.

2. Collage Station opens 12:30-4pm

(Bring magazines and scissors) I will provide glue and construction paper base

3. Drawing Station opens @ 1:00pm

(Bring sketchbooks or notebooks) I will have copy paper too. I will have an interesting still life set up if anyone wants to start earlier. Kids and Parents can take turn posing for each other to draw. I will explain how Darks and Lights are the secret to successful drawings and paintings.

4. Painting Class @ 2:00 pm

(Bring an image you want to paint) I will provide cardboard canvases, paints & brushes. If there is a particular painting by a Master or a photo or picture you want to paint – Bring it. If your child wants to paint on a canvas, you can bring one or use my cardboard to paint on. (cardboard isn’t acid-free and won’t last a lifetime) I will emphasize how Darks and Lights are the secret to successful paintings.

Geometry Gone Wild – HexiFlexis

Jessica — Mon, 06 Apr 2015 06:35:17 +0000

Postponed to April 9th

Please bring a Pair of scissors for each of your kids Bonus* We will be celebrating Ula’s 11th Birthday!!!

Oooh, this is gonna be fun. We will be smashing up Fun Math with Cootie Catchers! Getting freaky drawing Fractals. Because everyone is going to make and explore HexaFlexagons! And it is all because of M&B Mom Deborah turned us on to ViHart who smashes up fun with Math like NOBODY’S BIZNESSS!!!

Check out ViHart’s fun video and free-streaming Brain blasts on the right. The Deltacs made some too- see our video versions are on the left and just below. However, we had to use other tutorials for the “how to” because Vi moves way too fast for us to make those kooky fun Geometry Gone Wild Gizmos.

Fortunately for us, there are other places on the Web to get help like Murderous Math below.

If you really wanna see some cool stuff, see what ViHart has to say about her Mathed Potatoes and the rest of her Thanksgiving Dinner. (If vegan, don’t watch the TurduckenQl).

Plains Indians & Teepees 3/12

Jessica — Mon, 02 Mar 2015 17:52:11 +0000

This was as a great parkday. Kids will built a Teepee with M&B Dad, Enrique as part of learning about Plains Indians and their relationship with bison.

Before written language became a part of the culture of Lakota and Dakota Indians (the word Sioux is a the last syllable of what an enemy tribe called the Lakota and Dakota which is why we no longer use that word), images were the best way to preserve history. Events were recorded in images on tents, shields, parfleches, clothing as well as the winter count that each tribe kept. Crow, Cheyenne, Pawnee and more. I picked the Shield craft as a fun way to bring more awareness and history to the children about the culture of Plains Indians.

I recycled pieces of leather into circles. The children used awls and sharpened chopsticks to make holes in the leather. Then they threaded the holes with synthetic animal tendon and tightened the leather around a metal ring. This looked like a miniature warrior’s shield. The plains indians, like Lakota, Cheyenne, Pawnee and more would initiate boys with a 4 day fast to help them discover the animal that would act as their guide, mentor and totem for the rest of their lives. This animal’s likeness would be painted upon the young man’s shield. After building their own shields, they then painted images upon them.

Enrique was amazing. Here he is painting a Navajo symbol for a Tipi on the outside of the tipi. Another child used a symbol for the Thunder bird near the tipi. After I told the children that the clouds that came from the West were giant, becasue they rolled back from the massive boundary of the Rocky Mts. These clouds and storms were ominous and as a result many tribes believed the spirits that created them were ThunderBird gods.

Add to what we learned this week, by following these links on Winter Counts and Ledger drawings. Or see ledger book drawings in real life, and an exhibit on the bead art of the Plains Indians at our Local Autry Museum ( Howling Wolf’s Ledgerbook). I’m looking to take a homeschooling group in two weeks.

CLick on the cover image for more info on the book above.

Inuit People & Carving 3/5

Jessica — Mon, 02 Mar 2015 17:42:17 +0000

The next three parkdays will be devoted to the rich and interesting culture of Native Americans. This week we will explore the Inuit – the indigenous people who live in the Tundra and polar regions of Canada and USA. Inuit Proverb: May you have warmth in your igloo, oil in your lamp, and peace in your heart.

With long winter nights, there is much time to craft by lamp and now electricity. Sewing and making clothes from furs and carving or decorating bone and other items filled many of those hours. Everyone will get a chance to practice their hand at carving with bars of soap, as anything more dense and permanent would take too much time. I will supply the soap, if you can bring a table knife for each child (no steak knives please, just a normal table knife). Screwdrivers can also be a useful tool for this project.

There are many tales that have been shared at fires and over ice holes while Inuit fish. I will pick out one or two to share with the children. And if they prefer, they too can take part in the telling (as we did with how the Jade Emperor chose the animals for the Chinese Zodiac).

We also learned about the honored skill of Throat Singing which was outlawed for over a 100 years. The young Inuit are asking their elders to teach them before this unique aspect of their culture is lost forever. The same thing happened with Hula in the Hawaiin Islands.

Inuit throat singers try to show their vocal abilities in a fun competitive manner and the first one to either run out of breath, stop or laugh is declared the loser of the game.

In the tundra of ice and snow with few trees or hills – everything looks the same. This makes it hard to determine which way to go if you are traveling even the shortest of distances. So rocks atop of each other become road signs and offer a way to send important a messages to fellow travelers and animals.

I will share about the purpose and difference between Inuksuks (rock markers) & Inunnguaqs! (markers in shape of a person)!

Potluck & Asian New Year 2/19

Jessica — Tue, 17 Feb 2015 05:20:56 +0000

This year the lunar calendar places New Year on this Thursday – our Parkday. Let’s Celebrate Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese New Year! The Animal we celebrate is the Sheep or Ram. 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 Calendar. Only 12 animals made the cut.

Potluck starts at 11:30 am for lunch and goes until 12:30. Any Asian inspired food is a plus, but bring what works for your family and your own plates and flatware.

In honor of the Sheep – anyone want to bring some felting supplies or wool crafts – This would be a great time to Bring ‘em!!

“Sheep are best known for being calm, dependable, and well mannered. These are the few external traits that others can recognize soon after meeting a Sheep. Inside, Sheep are also creative, intelligent, artistic, and sincere. They like to spend a lot of time working things out in their own minds before sharing them with others, but when they do decide to share their thoughts they often have incredibly thoughtful ideas that others are surprised by. Though the usually quiet Sheep uses its subtle charm and elegance to win over their peers, they are also often overshadowed in social situations by louder, more outgoing individuals such as the Rooster or the Horse.” Eastern Sheep Zodiac

I will share a bit about the BigHorn Sheep which continue to live wild and freely in Joshua Tree national Park as well as Sequoia & Kings Canyon National park (the two locations we take our Homeschool Family Campouts!)! FYI – Sign up with me via email or in person to join us for our Annual Campout at Joshua Tree for the 2nd weekend in April.

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. We visit the Hsi Lai Temple, the largest Buddhist Temple and grounds in the Western Hemisphere almost every year to light a candle and wish for health and prosperity for our family, extended family and community. That means today we asked the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas to hold YOU and YOUR family in their hearts.

And if you want to celebrate this New Year in a more dramatic way, here are a few places to take your family

LA’s Chinatown New Year’s Parade Feb 21 and Vietnamese Tet Feb 28 and Mar 1

Here are some books that I recommend to learn more about the value and celebration of the Lunar New Year to our neighbors across the globe and in our own communities…

Valentine’s Day, Love & Respect 2/12

Jessica — Fri, 06 Feb 2015 05:18:11 +0000

As it will be two days before Valentines, after a bit of crafting while relaxing on our blanket islands, I invite all parents and children to take turns sharing what Love & Respect means to you. Maybe some parents want to share how they met their partner. Maybe kids can share. There are hundreds of types of love. I can’t wait to hear what some of you are going to share. The list of questions we asked each other are below – may these spark something around your dinner table or “tucking-in time.”

As for the crafts, they Let’s make some great Valentine Cards with stamps and cut-outs. And for those who didn’t get a chance to bead up a paper Bookmark from Favorite book day, you can make a few today.

And how about we sew some of these some nifty heart-shaped book marks for the corner of your book.

Maybe you might want to invent one or use one of these other ideas!

Inspired by a dear NYC friend whose children recently took a fieldtrip at the Matisse exhibit in the MOMA, I shared a bit about Henri’s life and his later cut-out works as inspiration for making Valentine’s cards. For Valentines, to discuss Love – I made a mini-heart fortunes with one of the questions below. I taped them inside two pink hearts and hid them all about the park and let the kids find them like a scavenger hunt. After they found them, they all returned in a circle to ask them to each other. It was a lovely expansive experience.

Africa & Instruments Kalimba 1/29

Jessica — Wed, 28 Jan 2015 09:21:19 +0000

Let’s visit Africa, sub-saharan that is. Play Mancala, dance and drum to some music from Kenya, Uganda, and more. I will bring the supplies for making hand-held finger pianos – called Kalimba in Kenya, but in other nations goes by the name Mbira, Zanzu, Karimbao, Ubo, Likembe and more. If you have any African instruments (or ones you want to share) – BRING THEM with you on Thursday.

Recently, Esme and I took in a concert with Samite , born and raised in Uganda, fled to Kenya as a refuge in 92′. He has founded a few organizations including Musicians for World Harmony. Samite was the subject of the documentary, “Song of the Refuge” and featured in the doc that is freestreaming on Netflix, “Alive Inside,” about using music to awaken the spirit of those in later stages of Alzheimers. Samite, played many instruments for us including the Kalimba. He also had us join in with him as he sang a beautiful song that he calls his Dalia Lama song, as he performed it for him once. Samite joked about how silly it seemed to him how everyone backstage cried after the Dalai Lama thanked them for their songs, until he did the exact same thing.

Samite is also one of the artists on Putumayo’s African Playground album – track #8 titled – Munomuno

With a bit of wood-working (sanding and maybe even sawing) as well as screwing into wood – anyone can create their own hand held finger piano or Kalima/Mbira.

I will also get the kids to join in on the live telling/acting out of a Griot tale (African Folktale). Drums and other instruments will make great accompaniments – so bring your instruments.

Birth of Boardgames 1/8

Jessica — Mon, 05 Jan 2015 21:24:52 +0000

Who loves boardgames like Apples to Apples or tabletop games like Dominoes, or Checkers?

Do you have “Family Game Night” or pull out a boardgame when friends come over? If you have a game you want to share – bring it. And I encourage you all to take it one step more before you come to parkday, find out a bit about its origins. Did a kid or adult invent it. When was it invented. Was it meant to be a game for kids or adults? Has it changed alot or a little over the years.

How did Scrabble, Monopoly, Uno get its start? Native cultures have wonderful games that turned into Pick up sticks, dice games and more. Who knows how long people have been playing Chess or a variation of it? Pick one game of your choosing and learn a bit more about how cultural history developed through that game and those who played it.

I will bring an ancient Korean game that is still played today as part of a New Year’s celebration – Yut-No-Ri. It is so fun and very simple. I will bring supplies for anyone who wants to make their own Yut game.

We can also chalk a giant boardgame on the sidewalk or parking lot like this one below.

Or you might get inspired to make your own table top boardgame like Ula made for her sister as a Christmas gift (see top image).

Can’t wait to see you there. The weather should be sublime!