Ice Catchers

I just love it when a project exceeds my expectations with the kids and there excitement is more than I could even imagine. Sometimes I like to do projects that are experiential that go beyond just making the object.  We did a little science project about solids and liquids by making these ice catchers. We added a little mysticism as well to top it all off, by telling them if they made a wish when hanging the catcher and caught the flower inside as it melted, their wish would come true. That is what legend says anyways.

This is a simple spring/summer  activity that anyone can do at home with a free afternoon. All you need is a muffin tin, some flowers, some string, water and a freezer.

We took a walk around the neighborhood ( which I love to do with the kids) picking flowers as we went.

Each child chose a few flowers to put in one of the muffin cups and added a string. Make sure that the string sinks into the water, maybe buried underneath some of the flowers. We talked about the 3 forms of water while filling the cups then placed the tin into the freezer. We had to wait overnight, which is the hard part. They kept asking if it was frozen yet. We must have checked on them 5 times in an hour. 

The following day they could not wait to get them out of the freezer.  Look how beautiful they look hanging in the tree, like ice jewels. 

They each made a wish and we watched them melt. I tried to convince them that the ice catchers  would take a while to melt  and that maybe we should do something else while we wait but they weren't buying it. It was difficult to drag them away from theses beautiful ice charms. 

He caught his flower and his wish. Look at that excitement. So amazing.

A Field Trip

I was fortunate enough to tag along with my son's young kindergarden class on their field trip today. We spent the morning visiting the Audubon center in Debs Park. This Center is one of the best kept secrets in Los Angeles. It's both incredibly beautiful and educational.  If you live in LA or are just visiting, I highly, highly recommend making this stop for yourself and your kids.

Our family has been visiting often for a few years. They have strollers, and kid backpacks, they have binoculars and field journals all to borrow for free while visiting the center or for going for hikes in Debs parks.  There is a small cave to play in, two ponds and rocks and trees to climb on. It's a little paradise for kids. But I had never experienced a field trip or had the pleasure to see their teachers in action.

I was so incredibly impressed by their curriculum that I had to write about it. The kids started off under the pink pepper trees for their bird anatomy lesson. In this beautiful outdoor classroom they learned all the parts of a bird, what they are for and  how these parts vary in different kinds of birds. Then they looked at a few taxidermy local birds.

This one is an Oriel. We then explored the indigenous plants in the center and what kinds of birds and butterflies like each plant. The kids could touch and smell. Some of them smelled incredible (the plants, not the kids).

After having a picnic lunch in the shade and playing in the center a bit, we all went on a bird-watching hike. The kids got real binoculars and were given some safety tips about hiking. They were told about how to respect the land while walking on the butterfly trail.  We stopped to listen to birds and the kids looked for them in our binoculars. One of the teachers carried large laminated images of the birds we listened to. 

 After a short hike we sat together while one of the teachers read a story about birds. We then all closed our eyes and listened for 2 minutes, which really one incredible to all sit together and listen quietly to the birds around us. The kids then described what they heard and we learned a few bird calls too.

We then hiked back to the center. All in all the hike was maybe a mile. The kids looked at all kinds of things with their binoculars, spiders, ground squirrel homes, plants. The kids had so much fun exploring this natural world mainly because the curriculum was so rich, age appropriate and layered.

HAPPY HIKING!!!

Happy Mother's Day

I love this card from Reform School in Silverlake. 

My Children surprised me with this card along with these little treasures they made. They are little message scrolls wrapped up on a vintage wooden thread spool and beautifully decorated with beads and buttons.  My daughter, who just turned 8, wrote a lovely poem and my 4 year old son made a fantastic extra long drawing. It just doesn't get much better than a hand made gift.  My husband made them with the kids at the Purple Twig. 

I absolutely love them ( both the scrolls and my children).What a sneaky sweet man.

Happy Mother's Day!!!

 Purple Twig would not survive without your support and kindness.

    

Spring is Here

This is a great spring activity for children ages 2 to 15 and maybe even older depending on your teenager. They are basically homemade chia pets. You can put all kinds of seeds in. I used mainly cat grass seeds but you could put flower or herb seeds as well. 

This is what you will need.

1- sock

potting soil

seeds

buttons and pins 

a rubber band

Put just a handful of dirt in the bottom of the sock then add the seeds. That way the seeds will grow from the bottom of the sock which will be the top of the little buddies head. Then fill the sock with dirt about half way. The kids are loving getting their hands dirty.

When finished add a rubber band to the bottom or tie into a knot so that the dirt doesn't fall out. Add button to the sock for eyes, nose and mouth using the pins to keep the buttons on. You can either use the pins with the balls on the end or just flat head pins.

Look at this friendly bunch. These guys need plenty of sun and water. Water every day. 

After about a week they start to grow. It's such a great way for the kids to care for something and get a reward fairly quickly and they are funny. Sometimes the hair grows out of the face like a beard. Haircuts are also a good idea when they get too long. 

Happy Growing!!

Camp Flaming Arrow

Doing camps at the Purple Twig are rewarding in many ways. It helps families who's children are not in school, we get to come up with a more comprehensive theme and spend the whole day with the kids and financially it helps our studio in times that maybe be slow. The one issue I had was finding a way to get the kids outside experiencing the neighborhood. They can't just spend the entire days indoors. Outside play time is so important. Luckily living in Los Angeles we usually have the weather on our side and so we came up with some great solutions.
For Spring Break this year we came up with the idea of a day camp about a traditional  camp. The idea was to make tents, do bird watching, bug collecting, archery, go on hikes and picnics, along with each day having some reading time and drawing time. It turned out better than I ever expected. We all had a rewarding time.

DAY 1 

ARCHERY

Each morning after doing some warm up drawings the kids settled into the tents for some story time.

We made these colorful arrows by drawing feathers on colored paper and hot gluing (I love the hot glue gun) them to dowel. The kids decorated the dowel with thin strips of tape. We offered the kids many sizes of colored tape so that they could make stripes. We added pencil erasers to the end for the arrow points.

After lunch we took the arrows to a park near us and did some archery by throwing our arrows through a wire hoop decorated with a cardboard center. The kids came up with a lot of other games themselves. It was such a wonderful way to get the kids to work together on the first day. 

DAY 2

BIRDS and POSTCARDS HOME

On the 2nd day we started our birdwatching portion of camp. We made collaged birds starting with white card stock paper. After looking at images of birds the kids chose a bird or made up a bird and drew them onto the white paper. They colored them in and then added all kinds of ribbon and feathers and of course glitter.

We made binoculars from tp tubes and duct tape. The kids had a great time finding all kinds of uses for their binoculars.

In the afternoon, while waiting for our collaged birds to dry, we used printmaking to make postcards to send home. We used scratch foam for this process which is so simple to use. Ages 4 -7 all found this printing engaging. 

Here are the postcards ready to go to the mailbox. 

We all trekked to the mailbox to mail our cards home.

DAY 3

BIRDWATCHING

During lunch I placed the birds in trees and bushes around the neighborhood. We talked about where birds live and where we might look for them. After lunch we went on a bird watching excursion. the kids had to look for their birds hiding in the neighborhood. They used their binoculars which was amazing and some of the older kids who could read and write made check lists for each bird so they checked the birds off as they found them.

DAY 4

TENT PICNICS

We all went on a hike through the neighborhood with flags the children had made that morning.

We hiked to a picnic lunch at the park in our tents.

DAY 5

BUG COLLECTING

After reading about and looking at all kinds of bugs each child made bugs on watercolor paper, beatles, centipedes, and a lot of butterflies.

Again during lunch we pinned the bugs to trees and placed them in bushes for the kids to find.

After we collected all the bugs the kids put them into a collection using a shoe box top. 

Each morning after our initial warm- up free drawing time the kids made badges for each task they accomplished each day. They drew images onto small pieces of cotton and we strung beads onto safety pins to add something special.