Staff Pick: Earth Day Toys

Earth Day is right around the corner and here at the Museum we love to encourage healthy planet habits that take care of Earth! We will be celebrating Earth Day this weekend with Novelis on Saturday and Sunday. This will be the 45th anniversary of the Earth Day movement, meaning 45 years of “broadening the base of support for environmental programs, rekindling public commitment and building community activism around the world through a broad range of events and activities”. All the environmental activities and lessons are very important to pass down to our children.

We currently have some awesome items in our Museum Store that are definitely Earth Day appropriate. Our staff picked out their 3 favorite Earth Day items from the store and shared a little bit about why they liked the particular items.

Kareen Dames, manager of museum sales, recommends:

The Busy Bug Gardens is my favorite thing in the Museum Store because I love butterflies! This awesome little kit allows children to learn about gardening and enjoying the site of Monarch butterflies and hummingbirds, both of which are attracted to the Purple Coneflower that will sprout from the seeds in the kit. I also like that this is an activity that can be done inside or outside.

Debbie Palay. director of development, recommends:

I would recommend spending time with the Solar Print Kit. These kits are an excellent way to teach kids about the power of the sun and the chemical process behind the imaging that takes place on the special paper. This is an activity that is suitable and appealing to both boys and girls and can be a fun way to spend a sunny afternoon.

Cayce Dunn, digital marketing manager, recommends:

I love the Recycled Paper Beads kit! I love doing crafts and the fact that this craft also recycles was definitely a two-for-one plus! Making paper beads always seemed tedious and a little tiring by hand, but this gadget that fits perfectly on a recycled water bottle looks like a super simple and efficient way to make beads. Not to mention, the added bonus of the recycled water bottle being used as a container for the finished beads. I love the idea of showing children how old magazine pages can be used to create fun jewelry and awesome one-of-a-kind handmade gifts. Recycling is definitely a planet-friendly way of using your imagination to figure out how to use the most out of the stuff you have!

If you plan on visiting us to celebrate Earth Day, drop by the Museum store to check out these items. They would make awesome gifts or just a fun activity to take a part of the Museum and the message home with you. Earth Day celebrations at the Museum begin Saturday, April 18th at 12 PM. The fun will continue Sunday, April 19th at 3:00 PM. Check our Programming Schedule for more info of the days happenings!

Source: EarthDay.org

 

Meet the Holidays: Purim

One of our favorite Museum programs is “Meet the Holidays,” in which we learn about and celebrate the traditions of cultures all around the world. “We live in a global community and Atlanta is an extremely multi-cultural city,” explains Pam Duncan, manager of public programming. “Meet the Holidays allows our youngest visitors to learn about cultures different than their own as well as re-affirm those cultures for folks who celebrate them. In the end they find out that their cultures have much more in common than they thought.” We really love the experience of people having a great time and also learning about the special days on their neighbors’ calendars!

This Sunday, we’re having some special events to commemorate Purim. This is a Jewish holiday that commemorates the deliverance of the Jewish people in the ancient Persian Empire, from a plot to annihilate them all in a single day. According to the Book of Esther, Haman, the royal vizier to King Ahasuerus, planned to kill all the Jews in the empire, but his plans were foiled by the prophet Mordecai, and his cousin and adopted daughter Esther. Purim is celebrated annually according to the Hebrew calendar on the 14th day of the Hebrew month of Adar, which is the day following the victory of the Jews over their enemies.

It sounds like the setup for a pretty sober and serious commemoration, but based on the text of Esther 9:22, Purim is celebrated with joy and good spirits. The United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, all of the observances are important, but they are equally “serious and silly.” The Book, or scroll, of Esther, is usually read aloud twice during the celebrations. The recitation is called the Megillah, and it comes with a raucous audience participation component, as the audience is armed with graggers, special noisemakers that you shake or whirl to drown out the evildoer’s name:

“It is crucial to hear every single word of the Megillah! At certain points in the reading where Haman’s name is mentioned, it is customary to twirl graggers and stamp one’s feet to “drown out” his evil name. Tell the children Purim is the only time when it’s a mitzvah to make noise!” The USCJ goes on to say that when Haman’s wife, Zeresh, gets mentioned in the Megillah, the crowd is to hiss at the sound of her name!

For our Meet the Holidays celebration on Sunday March 9th, you’ll be able to make your own gragger before listening to the Imaginators’ retelling of the Meglliah story. Every time Haman’s name is mentioned, shake your gragger and boo! Afterward, enjoy traditional hamantaschen cookies. Hamantaschen is a Yiddish word meaning “Haman’s pockets.” Jews eat hamantaschen on Purim as part of the celebration of the holiday. One explanation for the triangular shape of these pastries is that Haman wore a three-cornered hat. Another explanation is that the three corners represent Queen Esther’s strength and the founders of Judaism: Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

We kick off the fun at three on Sunday, and look forward to seeing you there!

Happy Year of the Goat! …or possibly the Sheep!

The Spring Festival, Lunar New Year, or Chinese New Year, is celebrated on the first day of the first month in the Chinese calendar. That’s the day of the second new moon after the Winter Solstice, ending fifteen days later. This year, Chinese New Year begins on Feb. 18 and ends on March 5. Annually, it is the longest public event in China, and it is observed and celebrated all over the world. It’s a time for families to have reunions, for lots of food to be cooked (fish and dumplings are traditional in many families), for epic games of mahjong to be played, and for gifts in red envelopes to be exchanged.

In the Chinese calendar, each year corresponds to one of twelve different animals or mythical creatures. This is the once-every-twelve-years instance when there’s a little good-natured confusion about exactly which animal gets the celebration named after it. According to The International Business Times, some people say that this is the year of the sheep, and some say it’s the year of the goat. “Both animals,” writes Zoe Mintz, “share the same Chinese character, the ‘yang,’ which refers to any member of the caprinae subfamily — goat or sheep. Researchers say the actual animal is beside the point, what remains important is the Chinese character and its meaning.”

Speaking of meanings, the firecrackers and noisemaking that come with the first night of Chinese New Year all commemorate a legendary event in which a village banded together to drive away a monster that ate most of their crops. The story is that a remote village was besieged by an indestructible creature called “Nian.” Swords and pikes could not wound the beast, and the villagers were helpless until an old nomadic monk – or, in some versions of the tale, a wandering god – told them that “Nian” was afraid of loud noises and the color red. The firecrackers that begin each year’s festivities are meant to start the year with good luck, leaving behind evil spirits and obstacles that you thought, wrongly, that you could not overcome.

It’s because “Nian” was so afraid of red that the color is seen in other Lunar New Year traditions. Each year, married couples will often give small gifts of money in red envelopes called “hóngbāo” to younger family members who haven’t yet wed. Also, the paper lanterns that are often made for evening parties or celebrations are typically made from red paper.

On Saturday, we celebrated Chinese New Year with a performance by students from Toomer Elementary and then celebrated with the Imaginators making a sheep puppet craft that the kids and their families waved in a Chinese Parade complete with our own fun take on “firecrackers.” We like to use bubble wrap for our noisemaking; there’s less of a mess, children love it, and it’s every bit as loud as necessary to frighten away last year’s evil spirits!

Image Source: Live Wan Illustration

A Bird of a Different Feather

Our Maker’s Space has everyone at the Museum thinking about crafts and do-it-yourself projects. Thanksgiving, historically, has been a great time to do fun family projects with your children. From turkeys and pilgrims to feathers and leaves, there aren’t many limits to what you can craft with your kids this time of year. We pulled up three different ideas for classic Thanksgiving turkey crafts to get you started.

Source: http://blogs.babycenter.com/life_and_home/leaf-feather-turkeys-for-thanksgiving/

Source: http://www.parents.com/holiday/thanksgiving/crafts/turkey-day-crafts-for-kids/#page=5

Source: http://frugalfun4boys.com/2012/11/10/pine-cone-turkeys/

 

First up is the adorable leafy turkey (on the left). While on a walk with the kids, have them collect leaves in various shapes, sizes and colors. Once back at home, cut out two circles. A larger circle for the body (3-4 inches in diameter) and a smaller circle for the turkey’s head (1-2 inches in diameter). Glue the turkey head right in the middle of the larger circle, the turkey’s body. Then, glue the leaves to the back of the turkey’s body to create his feathers. Now this little turkey sure does look ready for the holidays.

The turkeys in the middle take on a different shape with the use of pom-poms as the body of the turkey. The feathers, beak, and feet can either be made from felt or from construction paper. This craft most likely requires the use of a hot glue gun, but the kids can have fun cutting out the feathers, beak and feet. Once assembled, place them around the house for a fun game of I Spy with visiting relatives!

Well, you don’t get much more classic than a pine cone turkey! Children love making all kinds of crafts from pine cones, and these are perennial favorites. A little glue and construction paper, a pen to draw the eyes and scissors to cut the tail feathers, and you’re good to go!

You can find more ideas for Thanksgiving crafts by visiting our Pinterest page, and we would love to hear from you. What are some of your favorite kid-friendly Thanksgiving crafts? Leave us a comment or drop us a line on Facebook!

Good Ole Fashion Summer Crafting

Summer is in high gear and the kids have been out of school for over a month, but in our house not much has changed.  The kids still go to bed by 8:30 and we still wake up early to go to summer camp while mom and dad work. So how do you make summer a little extra special and make sure you spend quality time with the kids?.  Well, in our house its pool time and crafting after work.  With the extra time of not having to do homework our kitchen table transforms from math worksheets to pipe cleaners and glue. I have to admit though, we have been spoiled by the internet and until just a couple weeks ago had gotten lots of our crafting ideas off the internet.  Pinterest is pretty addictive and you can find a craft for everything.

So to add to our summer excitement I challenged my two girls to put away youtube and pinterest and start creating from the supplies we had at home. As a result the girls came up with  lots of crazy, fun, creative stuff.  From duct tape tissue cases to cardboard amusement parks for the beanie babies.

This weeks challenge was to create a craft for the 4th of July and since our subdivision hosts a bike parade where kids get to decorate their bikes and themselves we decided to create something to wear during the parade. Our result was a silly 4th of july crown.

Supplies needed:

Pipe cleaners- we used red, white and blue

Pencil

Construction paper

Glue

We combined two pipe cleaners together to make a circle that fit on our heads like a crown, we added a second color and twisted it around to create a thicker, two-toned crown.  Then, we made “fireworks” out of more pipe cleaners.  Take a pencil and wrap the pipe cleaner around to create a spiral and then wrap them on the crown.  You can do as many or as few as you’d like.  My oldest daughter decided to glue stars we had leftover from another project to the tips of some of the pipe cleaners. My youngest and I found it a bit frustrating to wait for them to dry.  I decided to add construction paper strips to mine in between the pipe cleaners, for an added level of silly.

Take the time to use what you have and create your own crowns. We can’t wait to show them off during the parade. Tomorrow we start decorating our bikes. Happy 4th of July.