Activities | edamomie

Happy Trails for Cross-Country Skiers March 6, 2013

Filed under: Activities — edamomie @ 2:36 pm
Tags: Cross Country Skiing, kids, Minneapolis, Richfield, Winter Activities, Wood Lake Nature Center

A: Activities

Selecting Skis

An excerpt from the list of questions we pondered as we toyed with the idea of cross-country skiing with the family:

1. Hey, we’re Norwegian, shouldn’t cross-country skiing come natural to us?

2. Don’t we live in a climate ideal for outdoor activities, especially in February/ March?

3. Is it not safer than downhill skiing?

4. Are we not going stir crazy inside with no hope of winter vacation release?

5. Don’t we have some great trails nearby? … Yeah, that place where Grandma Susie gifted us our membership last year that we only used in the summer: Wood Lake Nature Center

A few Sunday’s ago we answered yes to all of our questions. We considered heading to more serious trails – either Hyland Park Reserve in Bloomington or Highland Park in St. Paul – but landed on Wood Lake due to its simplicity, our novice skills and its proximity to our home.

CC Racers

The sun is brightly shining, the snow cover is decent and the temp is hovering around 30 with no wind. We dress in our downhill skiing gear and set out for Wood Lake Nature Center in Richfield, just a short 5 minutes away. The parking lot is packed at our 12:15 arrival time, only 15 minutes after opening. Everyone has the same idea as we do today. We hop in line to pay and discover it’d be much cheaper to get a full membership than pay for one time rental for a family of four. IF we go at least two times. (an annual membership including rental for boots, skis and poles is $50.)

We measure for boots, select our sizes and head out to the skis and ski pole racks. We have some loose guidelines – skis should come to mid-palm when you’ve got your arm reaching for the sky. It’s lucky we don’t take someone out getting from equipment rentals to the trail’s start. Next time, I’ll give a lesson in transporting your gear.

We Break For Fruit Snacks

We spend some time hooking our boots into the skis. A group of three girls from my 9-year-old daughter’s school plus one mom are there for the first time too. Good, we can all look like newborn calves together. At least we’re a one parent to one kid ratio. We start off with two of the girls from Ava’s school intermingled with our skis.

Quickly we come to a fork in the road. We need to choose the long route (2.6km or 1.6 miles) or the short route (.6km). I can’t imagine how it would be worth it to get all geared up just to do the short route. We veer left. My 7 year-old son, Calvin, scrappy as ever, insists on being in the lead. Ava on the other hand, has a nice stride going and actually looks up once in a while to feel the sunshine and take in some nature.

Wishbone from an Extra Large Turkey

The paths are easy to navigate and well-groomed. It’s no problem to pass. At this point, just under a mile in, I notice the Mom and other child in the foursome are not to be seen. Loosely, it’s the six of us now, making our way around the marshy frozen lake. There are plenty of rosy cheeks, complaints for water (which we did not think to bring) and tired little legs.

We stop for a break at the half-way mark. Then it’s time to complete the circle. We all fall a few times. Sometimes when we’re just standing in place. The finale is the steepest hill of the course where you have to point your skis outward and inch up the hill. The downward coast after is well worth it. We reach the end, unhook our boots and carry in our gear. From start to finish = 1 hour and 25 minutes. We agree we’ll have to trek around again very soon and try to improve our time. Then we decide it would be fitting to head to Pizza Luce for slices and a brownie sundae. All that hard work deserves reward!

A few notes: I learned a few days later that the mom as part of the foursome overseeing the three girls, was a bit concerned. The two girls intermixed with us were supposed to take the .6km short route and instead took the long route. Having taken the short route, she was a bit panicked until she met up with the two older girls.
I’m also happy to say that within 1.5 weeks of the first outing, we made it out for a second spin. This time with water and snacks. We discovered more in the woods (due to comfort with our strides and a finer attention to nature’s detail). For example, we came across a tree sculpture that we adequately named Wishbone.

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Lego My Eggo July 1, 2012

Filed under: Activities — edamomie @ 7:05 pm
Tags: kids activities, kids birthday parties, Lego, Waffles

A: Activities

Lego My Eggo Invites

On the heels of my 9-year-old daughter’s birthday party, we rolled right into my son’s two weeks later. He was going to be 7 and had never had a friend birthday party with more than a few friends. Last year he opted to go to the movies and out for pizza (Cars II and Fireside Pizza). This year, in a new school where all of his other classmates were having parties, he decided he should invite a larger group and we’d host it at our house.

It can be a challenge to find a weekend in the summer to host a party. People have plans in Minnesota. We invited 10 boys, 6 were able to attend even though the invites went out about 12 days in advance. We settled on a Lego theme and based on the only time slot over the weekend we could find (10a-12p), we agreed that waffles would be served. The Lego my Eggo party moved into the planning phase.

I uncovered some Lego scrapbook paper and stickers I meant to use ages ago and printed the invite copy on vellum. My son Calvin, eager to help with the assembly, cut the paper in the slicer machine and used the gliding tape dispenser to attach the layer of paper and vellum. Then the puffy Lego block stickers were adhered. We put the invite list together and gathered the addresses and left the final steps until the next day.

He was up early the next morning and wrote everyone’s name, based on his own spelling rules, largely on the only envelopes we had. I applauded the effort and tried to clean up the chalk-like smears on the flap side. I addressed the front side immediately and we headed to the post office to get them in the mail.

Waffle Strips for Dipping

I had help with the party prep as my parents were visiting. Critical, in my view. The weekend prior, Calvin and I hit the Lego store at the Mall of America. He spent his birthday money on the Pirate Ship and I found a Lego party kit at 50% off. Three days in advance, we shopped for food and two days prior we reorganized the house to set up Lego stations.

The day prior to the party, my Mom found the perfect waffle-maker. It made 6 strips of 4 square-long waffles. The party was on a Saturday morning, which meant devoting all Friday night to the final details. I made 2 9″ chocolate cakes to layer and a pan of cupcakes. With the rectangles stacked, I trimmed off the cupcake tops, frosted them and attached 6 of them to the top of the cake. I was going for a Lego brick look. I sprinkled blue and yellow over the white-frosted cake and called it good.

Legographics

We set the table and came up with a rough agenda, just to be sure we could keep the group entertained. We made one area where the boys could draw ideas for their Lego creation on graph paper, then see how it translated into a Lego structure (Legographics). In four other areas: boats, cars, dinosaurs and houses, we set out some pieces that matched those items. In another area, we had the large Lego flatboards so at the end, they could bring everything to contribute to the Lego City.

The boys arrived at 10a and tore into the party favors by their place setting – a birthday Lego guy, graph paper and Lego construction card (all in the kit). Calvin also created a one-of-a-kind Lego person for each of his friends. I started them five minutes prior to the party and kept them warm in the oven until we had enough for everyone. The waffles were super easy to make, about 3 minutes for each batch.

Group Present Opening

We called it a Lego Bar and accompanied it with a side of chocolate milk. With their waffle strips served up, they chose their fruit and syrup toppings and let loose with the Redi-Whip – a delight, no doubt. After clean-up, they started on the Lego assembly. The graph paper drawing was a little advanced. One boy created a rollercoaster, another a train. All to contribute to the city. They were focused for a good 45 minutes.

Homemade Lego Cake

Around 11:10, Calvin opened his gifts from his friends, in order by first letter in their first name. They all laughed at the silly cards. Then it was time to sing Happy Birthday and have a sliver of the Lego cake, its identity made more apparent by the Lego brick candles in primary colors. With 20 party minutes left, my husband whooshed in and made the best of their sugar high with some old-fashion Simon Says and party games.

Parents arrived at noon and we sent everyone off with their Lego guys and a plate of Knox Blox in blue and red. We pulled it off. Calvin set up his thank you card writing station, but progress is slow-going. We talked about the outing from last year as compared to this year’s stay-at-home party. He was on the fence for what he preferred. For the seventh, he shared fun times with a larger group of friends and we had lots of leftover cake and a fancy, new waffle maker to extend the celebration. However, until those thank you’s go out, I’m not lego’ing any eggos.

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Happy Birthday, Babycakes! June 6, 2012

Filed under: Activities,Eats — edamomie @ 8:03 am
Tags: 9th birthday, kids party, King Cake, Mardi Gras, Masquerade, parade float

A: Activities

The kids’ birthday’s have always been a big to-do in this household. We even extended it to my daughter’s American Girl doll - see Happy Birthday, Doll! This year was no exception. We put a tiny baby in the cake.

We began the planning months in advance. We recapped previous parties – the Poodle in Paris Party for BD number 6 as well as Disco Party for number 8 – still remain tops. Why don’t we outsource the fun to Chucky Cheese or the Club Just Jump? I would say it is part fear (keeping an eye on 12 girls in a public place is frightening), part control and part obsession with a theme. Plus it’s practically the only party I throw every year.

For number 9, we decided to go the Masquerade/ Mardi Gras Party route. True to form, our original concept was based on one item. This year it was the mask. I found them at Litin Paper for $3 each in green (for Ava only), blue and pink. A theme was born. From there it expanded to New Orleans cuisine, jello shots, parade floats, glittery make-up and beads.

The party took place on a Friday night from 6-8p.m. Once, when I was young, I hosted a 3-hr-long birthday party and learned my lesson. Let’s keep the guests, the birthday girl and Mom happy by ending it on a 2-hr upswing. For these parties, the girls are always extremely prompt, which is another benefit to having it in the neighborhood. You hate to make parents suffer by traveling to a far-off party destination during Friday rush hour.

Mardi Gras Mealtime

Thankfully my Mother-In-Law agreed to come into town the night before and be my sous chef and party prep for the day. There is always so much work to be done. I shopped on Wednesday for hours. The Thursday prior, right after Ava’s track meet, we worked from 8-11p.m. cleaning, setting the table, cooking the Martha Red Rice Recipe, shucking the corn, chilling the jello (purple and lime), baking the King Cake, making name tags and cutting/gluing stuff for party crafts.

I phoned in instructions during the day. I wasn’t going to be home until 5:15, which was a bit unnerving. I remained super focused on 8:15 and tried to relax, remembering from years past that friends just have fun hanging out together. Although, you really do NOT want to throw what any girl terms a boring party.

6:00p.m. Guests arrive. They immediately dig into the Mardi Gras parade float activity that’s comprised of a shoe box and some tin foil or wrapping paper for starters. The best part is that I spent an hour on Monday going though miscellaneous mismatched pieces of games and stuff to add to the doodads bin. Many of these discarded items of ours became the next finder’s treasure. Recycling! They happily hot gun glued them to their float that they would take with them at the party’s end. But for now, it was time to take a break.

Mardi Gras Make-up

6:20p.m. Dinner. Sous Chef Sue, joined by Sister-In-Law, Katie, and I teamed up to serve the Red Rice, Sweet Corn and Baby Reds. The rice dish was the more adventurous-than-pizza attempt, but all of them graciously tried it while most finished it – even with garlic, onions, celery and tomatoes in the mix. It was also had sautéed chicken sausage to give it a kick. It was a small taste of New Orleans at any rate.

6:40p.m. Activities. this is when a variety of activity options come in handy. Everyone flocked to the hair and make-up station just opened by Katie for all their eyeshadow glitter and hair weaving needs. Ava immediately and diplomatically formed a list for the line-up so the girls could play or continue to work on their floats until their name was called. I remained on hot glue gun duty, but slinked away to change the vibe from the mood-setting “Buckwheat Storms New Orleans” to actual danceable tunes.

7:00p.m. dance party/ floatation devices. This is party mid-point so I let them free-fall awhile so we can clear dinner dishes. Half of the girls create a conga line, half remain fixed on their floats, and a few are in line, mesmerized by make-up.

Semi Circle King Cake with Tiny Baby

7:20 p.m. We reconvene at the table with some slice of an unknown treat in front of us. This is not the 3 layer cake I painstakingly bake and decorate each year. It’s a King Cake. According to Mardi Gras tradition you throw a little plastic 1 inch baby toy in the cake and bake it. Whomever receives it has to throw the next Mardi Gras Party the following year. I edited a bit.

When everyone was seated at the table, I threw a bit of a researched history into the mix about Mardi Gras colors and what they signify: purple (justice), gold (power) and green (faith). There were jello shots and gummi bears. And only when I had their full attention, I declared in hushed tones that whomever bit into this cake’s particular baby would have good luck for a year. One dear child said, even if I do get the baby, that’ll never happen. I know how she feels. Turns out Malaya finds that baby. She’s overjoyed and optimistic. I do hope luck is on her side this year.

Mardi Gras Judging Madness

7:45p.m. The float parade and judging. This aspect of the craft just sort of evolved. I had no idea if the girls would even take to it, but we had enough fun paper, ribbons and random doodads to keep them intrigued I guess. I just thought they would take or leave them, but the concept of parading them to a juror was agreed upon.

Ava, who had started a float before the party but never finished, along with three other girls who really weren’t interested in doing their own, were the judges. Based on how I directed the construction of the craft earlier, they all had a theme for their float. Ava and her fellow judges gave fascinating positive critiques. In the end, of the 8 completed, they awarded 1-4 prizes.

8:00p.m. Parents promptly arrive. We choose to do a gifts-acceptable party this year, which for whatever reason seems to be the case every other year. I should have allowed another 15 minutes for this portion. It was really rushed, which was not the intention. Sure hope we can get all of the thank you cards straight! They took home their masks and floats.

8:07p.m. It’s over. Goodbyes have been said, hugs exchanged, doodads moved out on floats for good. Ava seems pleased and content. As am I. Until next year anyway. I’ll need to plan the party of the decade.

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Board with Togetherness May 1, 2012

Filed under: Activities — edamomie @ 10:02 pm
Tags: ages 6 and up, board games, counting, kids, Monopoly

A: Activities

Game on!

My mother was a baker and reader by trade. My father a fisherman and hunter. If I wanted to play a game, I relied on my aunts, my mother’s sisters. They came ’round on special occassions and summer time. Which meant the times where I could legitimately accuse Colonel Mustard of hanging his victim in the study without inside knowledge (due to playing dual hands), were few and far between.

I knew some odd and some standard pop culture games from Flinch and Farkle on the odd side, to Sorry!, Easy Money, Life and Monopoly on the pop culture side. Cribbage and chess escaped me until my husband taught my cribbage and my 6-yr-old son, Calvin, chess. Cards beyond Go Fish!, forget it.

On a recent trip home to visit my parents, the closet of games beckoned my little ones – now 6 and 8 – and their eager gaming minds. If Mom is going to limit Angry Birds on the iTouch, we’ll have to resort to board games. I could hear the wheels turning. Clue, Trival Pursuit, Connect4 were all contenders. In the end, Monopoly won out.

Sir, Your Pacific Avenue Luxury Home is Ready!

Ironic that my kids even convinced my parents to play. I had never witnessed Monopoly with so many tokens in play. The hat, shoe, horse, car and dog moved from property to property buying them up or paying to stay. My kids – my son in particular – was hooked. We brought the game home with us. Mom could track down another one at some upcoming garage sale to ensure the game would await them on their next visit.

Calvin took to Monopoly like an obession. Waiting and biding his time until the next challenger arrived. Over the course of a week, he played games lasting from 1 hour to 2.5 hours with four different grown-ups – Dad, Mom, Grandma Susie and Aunt Rose. He was devastated to call the game early due to bedtime. He did not yet have his monopoly on the coveted blue properties.

He beat me. My strategy has always been to buy everything I land on and mortgage it to the hilt later if necessary. His was to focus on only two or three property groups and develop them to the max with hotels. He’s showing super Kindergartner finance and real estate skills. After three misfortunate lands by me on St. James Place totalling nearly $3,000, he told me he’d give me a break. I didn’t have to pay. I told him I meant to follow the rules. I went bankrupt.

Other nights when he met more worthier opponents, he was desperate – on the verge of a breakdown. Making side deals to save his life. When he did lose, there were tears and frustration. Such determination. Such lessons in life – to try so hard and care so much, but still have to lose despite all of your best efforts. Gracious in winning and gracious in losing.

It’s tempting to bring him a bowl of ice cream after a loss and sooth it over with a there-there. I just try to agree, Yes, it sucks. If you want to be sad, fine. You can cry with me or on your own. But we’ll play again tomorrow. It led me to compare board games with electronic games. You can probably guess where I lean on this one. Consider the length of time invested – 5-10 minutes per electronic game vs. 2.5 hours for board game. The teaching that can happen, not to mention, viewing how your child thinks. I concluded that for family togetherness, learning to be a gracious winner and loser and helping kids build their critical and strategic thinking ability, board games have a monopoly in this house.

What are your favorites – board or electronic?

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Which Came First, the Tortoise or the Hare? February 15, 2012

Filed under: Activities — edamomie @ 10:46 pm
Tags: Fun Run, kids, Minneapolis, races, Running, TC Medtronic

A: Activities

Whether you represent the tortoise or the hare, it’s no matter at a young age. Running is fun. It’s when you turn six that it really matters. A few weekends ago my kids – ages 6 and 8 – ran in the Twin Cities Medtronic run – The Fieldhouse Fun Run – on Saturday, February 4.

Tortoise + Hare: Friends or Foes?

Our friends and their kids (Ethan and Andrew) were planning on going. My daughter, Ava (8), had run in two annual TC Medtronic races on the first weekend in October – first a half mile, then a mile. She knew the uphill terrain of the course and outdoor environment. What I liked about this race was that it took place indoors on a track, giving them exposure to a more consistently flat elevation, and it introduced the concept of staggered starts and pace.

I pre-registered both kids ($12 each) - Ava for the mile (8 laps) and Calvin (6) for the half-mile. I swear we discussed this weeks ago. We also talked about it the night prior to the race. Yet, race day morning, Ava was NOT going to participate. She hadn’t trained for it. That pushback caught me off-guard, but I had to admire it. She was serious about running. After conveying a lot of blame and anger my direction, it finally sank in that she had the option to run or not to run. I was not going to force her. I packed her running gear on the sly and we headed out 8:30a.m.-ish.

Shelly and Hairy, the tortoise and the hare respectively, started the day out with their own comedic half-a-lap race. As the story goes the tortoise remained focus and steady, while the hare goofed off and ran circles around him. Of course, they tied at the finish and kids cheered. It was kind of a cluster (see video) at the start. Instead of one kid per each one of eight lanes, about 50 of them started together. Ava had coached Calvin earlier to pace himself and he nodded, taking in her advice (he was a novice runner). That immediately went by the wayside as he sprinted right out of the gates into the pole position.

Kids + Their Seriously Heavy Medals

The older kids in the group of 4-6-yr-olds passed up the young ones. It got confusing. I had to flag Calvin in after his 4 laps and none of the field crew seemed to understand what was happening. I think he was 4th. We don’t know. Then several more races took place. Finally Ava warmed up to the idea of running and got her gear on. An instructor of some sort warmed them up prior to the race.

The third graders were finally off and running. Ava also disregarded her own advice and began with a bit of a sprint right off the bat. Later she said that hanging back with the crowd really doesn’t get you anywhere. She should know. She held her own and I think finished second for girls in her race.

The whole event was a social hour for parents too – we met our friends there with their two boys who were each in the same races as our kids. I wanted to do some sprints – now THAT could be a fun event. The only things missing were donuts and coffee. Some parents were dragging. It was 10:45a.m. The kids were starved from their races and parents were decaffeinated. We debated, considered and settled on brunch at Hell’s Kitchen. Reward for a job well done.

As a runner – long distance and the 800meter – I had visions of track stars in my head. Us parents always have to go there, don’t we? I try to stay in the moment and accept that I do not know where their passions will take them. I can guide them, but cannot predict nor dictate. Tortoise or hare, it’s all about the journey.

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Breaking Board February 7, 2012

Filed under: Activities,Independence — edamomie @ 10:03 pm
Tags: Classic TaeKwonDo Studios, kids, martial arts, Minneapolis summer camps, rewards, TaeKwonDo

A: Activities

Precision Movements

As adults, we’re expected to set and meet goals. You don’t just wake up with this innate sense of drive and the motivation to accomplish, nor is it handed to you when you graduate highschool. I have parent envy for those who begin teaching their children at an early age consistently how to set and meet goals. I could do better.

Typically the goals in younger years are a duality of parents incenting kids to meet daily or frequent must-dos, while the kids are simply driven by the end reward. Example: Brush your teeth every day, kids, and you’ll get a reward, like a sticker, at the end of the week. I actually like this example because even though it’s end reward is nominal, the reward doesn’t come until the end of week. Mine goal/reward propositions tend to be a bit more immediate gratification-like, which can be effective but may also backfire when they start lobbying you for rewards for every little thing they are supposed to do without question.

My kids at 6 and 8 might have some catching up to do. I struggle with having to incent them to do daily tasks. I’d rather just say, “Fine don’t brush. It’s you and your placque-covered teeth at your next dentist visit.” I’ve tried to be creative – - selling them on the fact that the activity I’m pushing them to do is SO much fun whether it’s teeth-brushing or washing dishes. They are on to me. In hindsight, I can see where their association with the goal/reward process, no matter how counterintuitive enforcing it may seem, is a stepping stone for larger things.

Post Board Break Testing

All is not lost. As mentioned, we’re not into rewarding them for every little thing they do, but at ages 6 (Calvin) and 8 (Ava), my kids recently surprised me by what they had learned through their TaeKwonDo practice. They did daily lessons all summer as part of a day camp, then continued on, twice a week when school started.

They’ve participated in a gamut of sports from team to individual, each with their valuable lessons. The noticeable difference TaeKwonDo brought was a focused connection between mind and body – - the power behind a swift kick, the element of self defense, the importance of a repetitive, specific movement to achieve a result and the follow-up of moving on to the next belt level after a mastery of required skills is reached.

My husband and I recently joined their class for a special “Making the Yellow Belt” testing. The testing took place in sparring pairs, two per 25 minute testing session. They “hupped” (vocal call that signifies movement and order), roundhouse kicked and channeled some Danielson (from Karate Kid fame) for their tests. At the end of these precise movements with partners, they each went on to the ultimate – to break a board. They had already broken a board – each a lighter weight one – for their first test. This board was heavier. They checked their alignment, did a few practice kicks and went for it. They each broke their board first try. (thus Breaking Board title with reference to Breaking Bad just because I like it)

The highlight for me is the follow-up after the physical portion which quizzes each child on some basics and prompts them to answer how they felt before testing – scared, nervous, anxious, doubtful – and after testing – proud, confident, satisfied. The instructor and owner of Classic TaeKwonDo Studios, Carolyn Boston, paralleled the practice to some daily situations kids could relate to and also encouraged them to channel the right attitude about applying themselves in all aspects of their lives to make things happen.

There are other types of practice that evoke this same sense of discipline, most certainly. What other sports and activities do your kids do? What are some meaningful ways to have them set goals with appropriate rewards?

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An Obsession with Owls January 18, 2012

Filed under: Activities — edamomie @ 9:35 am
Tags: Art, Craft, kids, owls, storyboarding, Wall art

A: Activities

Owl Inspiration

People’s opinions on owls range from spooky to cute. I might be dating myself if I mention the first owl I ever realized was Woodsy the Owl via a rather large jigsaw puzzle. Since then, owls have appeared in children’s stories from the Berenstain Bears’ Bears in the Night to grown-up pop culture reads like Downtown Owl. I happen to know the Target design team has been obsessing about them too – a good nuetral baby shower theme, no doubt. And then there’s my daughter’s owl robot. In summation, the wide-eyed and fully feathered owl has been on my mind. So much so that when I saw a crafty create-your-own kit at Paper Source, I didn’t buy it. Instead, I bought the paper and mulled over the project and my ambition for a few months.

My 8-yr-old daughter, Ava, co-obsessed with me about owls. Finally, on a recent chilly Sunday, we were ready for the owls. We brought out a few items for inspiration including buttons, ribbons and the items from our Target run the day prior including a package of googly-eyes and owl stickers. Our kit of parts included paper, eyes (in four sizes), stickers and scraps from our bin of leftover crafts (felt with backing, misc patterned paper).

Storyboarding

We had already selected a green, yellow and brown theme. We spent some time perusing the craft web sites and found some owl wall art that helped us with our project vision. We pulled materials and reused core board, cut into four pieces of differing sizes. Now we knew we wanted to tell a story about a family of owls – - uhhh…. that would be us, actually. And here’s our story:

Scene 1: The owl family waives good bye to the Daddy Owl who went on a trip. We upgraded his luggage for the flight on (F)Owl Air.

Scene 2: The owl family chats with Daddy while he’s out of town. They are sad. They miss him and want him to come home soon (please bring back our new community iTouch as well).

Scene 3: The Daddy Owl takes an early flight back to his home tree, much to his boss’ dismay.

Scene 4: He’s reunited with the whole googly family. The End.

Owl Over the Shoulder

A fairly simple story, but I made Ava describe the important elements of the story to share. She was adamant about its content and length. This expanded what could have been a two-board story to four, thus doubling the hours (there are 11 owls, 2 eyes a piece and 3 felt/paper layers per eye). After four hours of patterning (based on stickers and finding right-sized circles to trace), cutting and gluing the owls, the last elements – decidedly organic or found – would be gathered on a walk. We came back with small twigs and branches and I was extremely happy to put the hot glue gun to use for the second time ever.

We organized the owls and twigs on our boards and let it be until the next day. We haven’t figured out framing – possibly with ribbon or wood - but for now, the Owl Family is prominently on display in our living room in clashing yellow-gold. You can bet I’ll always be looking over my shoulder while reading in that room, wondering who is watching me.

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Art Abound at an Early Age January 10, 2012

Filed under: Activities,Outings — edamomie @ 11:19 pm
Tags: kids at museums, Minneapolis, Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Museum activities, Walker Art Center

A: Activities and O: Outings

Winter, even if unseasonably warm (January 10th and it’s 50 degrees), is the perfect time to get crafty. The inspiration to create also coincided with the non-frequent occurence of kid-centric programming at The Walker Art Center’s First Saturday and The Minneapolis Institute of Arts Second Sunday on the same weekend. We went for it with visits to both totalling five hours of art and inspiration.

Turn a Tale of Xmas & Artoo

I sometimes feel like my 6 and 8 year-olds have evolved beyond the programming both museums offer, but then I’m reminded how much, even as an adult, I enjoy it. I love that we can experience these things – performance and art – together and take away very different interpretations and find meaning for our lives in specific ways.

Let’s start with the Walker. Admission is free on the first Saturday of the month (as well as every Thursday night) with content especially for kids. It was 10:30a.m. on Saturday and I’m in the mode to get the kids psyched to venture out. My 8-yr-old daughter, Ava, says she’s on board. My 6 yr-old son, Calvin, hems and haws and doesn’t want to give up his chance to view Star Wars on DVD for the second time in his short life. He is so outraged about having to go, that our Walker appearance looks to be in jeopardy. Then Ava and I start a discussion about what we’ve seen there on our numerous past visits. Calvin begins to come around, citing mostly the fabulous performance art we’ve seen there over the past year or so – the Raven, the acrobats and the beat box/hip hop for starters. He is pumped.

Cafe & Art Contemplation

We arrive at 10:55 and easily park and slip into the first scheduled 11:00 performance of the day focused on Hmong Tiger Tales. We hear a series of four stories from a creative group from Mu Performing Arts who use four actors in and out of masks. It holds even the little ones attention at 35 minutes and you can meet the actors and try on their masks after. We bypass that even though I am always encouraging. My kids’ ages are starting to equate with such self-conscientious and non-Mom coolness that I have to let it slide.

We head to the lab for an activity which involves a wheel of fortune to dictate your art form direction (this is consistent at the Walker and I am thankful for a theme and some sort of direction to focus our efforts). The wheel determines form (cone-shaped, foam, etc) and feeling to evoke with design. Ava got the cone-shape for direction and Calvin the foam. Both ended up with ”tiny,” although other more sought-after adjectives were in the mix. There are a wealth of supplies and a certified hot-glue-gun artist volunteer to aid creativity. I sometimes feel overwhelmed trying to create something out of nothingness, but the kids push on with their vision. It is a better process when everyone contributes – see exhibit A: Ms. Claus and Batman/Artoo-Detoo (note: due to recent StarWars credit viewing of the accurate spelling of this robot’s name, the R2-D2 I envisioned his name to be for a significant portion of my life was challenged).

Edo Pop Inspiration

We spent about 1 hour and 45 minutes at Walker. Plenty for the day. Weekend day #2 starts with brunch at the Grand Cafe on 38th and Grand in Minneapolis. As Van Gogh-like artwork hovers over our table, I’m reminded I have yet to purchase The Van Gogh Cafe book for mommie/daughter book club tonight. First up, a visit to MIA. Just my daughter and I venture out. We arrive at noon with intentions to move through fairly quickly. Impossible given our agenda. I’m seeking to do a refresh of Art Adventure art I’m presenting at my kids’ school January – February and Ava is set on the seek and find related to the day’s theme of Earth, Wind, Water and Fire.

We start with a performance in the Pillsbury Theater from dancers that evoke the theme of fire. We then get in on the exhibit: Edo Pop: The Graphic Impact of Japanese Prints. It reminds Ava of Ponyo the movie. She spends some time sketching in the exhibit and we take in the captivating multi-media exhibit of what Ava terms Worms in Japan. Deep. The 4-yr-old next to us keeps repeating, I’m not scared, I’m not scared.

After three hours, I’ve located six of my eight pieces of art, Ava has found all of her themed pieces in the Family Gallery Hunt for the day titled Elements Exploration and we even had the opportunity to touch the art via the Art Cart in the Pacific Islands area of the museum. We turn in our completed worksheet and answer questions about our favorites: Deer by Stormy Sea (element: wind) and Cottage on Fire (element: fire). Then due to our schedule we bypass the crafts for the day and head home.

We go to our book club despite not having read or found the book via library or to purchase, nevertheless enriched from the weekend’s art experiences. I applaud these museums and the tools they give us busy parents to give us the ease and confidence to help our children explore and define their feelings about art at an early age. With the repetitive museum visits we’ve done over the past three years or so, I am now seeing an emergence (especially from my 8-yr-old) in how she assertively connects with a theme, establishes her own point of view yet maintains an openness about art.

Next up, Ava wants her artwork on in the Children’s section of MIA. Look for her work in a gallery near you….

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Life with a Lego Lover November 28, 2011

Filed under: Activities — edamomie @ 9:05 pm
Tags: Disney, Family Fun magazine, kids, Lego Table, legos, organization

A: Activities

Lego Separation Process

It’s not that I need more kid-friendly project ideas from magazines, web sites and blogs, I just need a filter for them. Thanks to Nana, who applies an eagle eye and information sorting ability, the best ideas percolate to the top. The filter measures: 1. Will it make life or daily tasks more functional, manageable or organized? 2. Does it provide for learning or offer pure enjoyment? 3. Is it affordable? 4. Can it be done in an afternoon or reasonable amount of time?

When Nana came for a visit recently with a page ripped right from the latest issue of Disney’s Family Fun magazine, I knew she meant business. It started with a pitch to my 6-yr-old son, Calvin, about the idea. Would he like to create a table that housed his thousands of Lego parts by color, topped off by large working board for building and displaying his Lego creations? Silly Nana, of course, Yes! I seconded the motion that landed all of the lego parts in a huge pile in the middle of the floor for sorting. Super-time consuming Step 1 took 3-5 sorters working for 2-3 hours each. Luckily we also had the help of the Lego separator tool – saves on the teeth.

The Color-coding of Legos

This was more involved than one afternoon. With sorting complete from the day prior, we were ready to shop for the clear drawer carts. We started at The Container Store which proved pricey (about 4 times the price of the product we eventually ended up with) and not quite the right size, yet full of pre-packaged Lego-branded solutions and containers. The yellow Lego head jars were $20. Cute, but only plastic. We also checked out Bed, Bath and Beyond with no luck. Surprisingly, we walked into our next prospect, Home Depot, went directly to the storage aisle and found 2 four-drawer carts with casters that were the near-perfect size at a very right price ($17 each).

Dare we venture into the electrical aisle to find electrical tape? Yes, there it was. We picked up a 5 pack of white, blue, green, red and yellow (on the narrow side) and a wider roll of orange ($8 total). We bypassed the black and brown options. The tape was for labeling the legos by drawer. A step not to be skipped.

A few other errands sprinkled into the search made for a 3-hour outing and as expected, Calvin was eagerly anticipating our return and those perfect drawers for his Legos. We got started immediately, selecting from the 4 large and 4 small drawers for colors. Black and grey were together- - so many of these (due to StarWars Lego sets) that they warranted a large drawer. White, red and the accessories (wheels, etc) took up the remaining 3 large; while brown/tan/orange, yellow, blue and green filled the four small drawers. We also bought four small tray dividers at Target to place in the drawers ($14 total) for the ultra small pieces.

Putting Legos in Their Place

Calvin put all of the eletrical tape on – it was very forgiving and we lifted it up a few times to get the lines as straight as possible. The next step will be to take the 3 gray flat lego boards (purchased at Lego MOA the day prior at $14 each) and attach them via bluedot to a white melemime board (in the meantime a makeshift foam core board is standing in). The board (most likely a trip to Home Depot for Papa this week) will be reversable with a non-stick skid-proof paper attached to drawer cart tops to hold it all safely in place.

To replicate the chair in the magazine photo, a mod-looking one with silver legs and a bright-orange seat, we’ll be making a trip to IKEA with high hopes. The only remaining add I can think of not covered in the Family Fun feature is a place/stand to hold the instructions for the current project being work on. After all, we went to great lengths to archive the box covers and instructions in two 3-inch binders.

Are we finally organized Lego-wise? $98 dollars later (plus $12 for a board and $20 for the chair we have yet to add), I’d say it was worth the effort. Anything to keep the Legos contained and out of my vacuum cleaner.

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Knocking Out A Halloween Book October 30, 2011

Filed under: Activities — edamomie @ 9:26 pm
Tags: book publishing for kids, Halloween, Halloween Activities for kids, illustrating, knock-knock jokes

A: Activities

Prepping for Book Bindery

Halloween silliness is in the air. Why not channel it into a crafty, productive activity? It started rather spontaneously with none other than the most corny of knock-knock jokes. The kids (6&8) are always trying to make up their own and it sure gets annoying. We had cycled through several pieces of fruit as the repetitive visitor (banana who? banana who?… orange you glad it wasn’t banana again?), when I felt the need to go over the whole structure of the knock-knock joke to let them try to come up with their own that were actually laughable.

I myself am not a jokester. It’s more my husband’s territory. We ran stuff by him to see where it would rate. The kids half-cared what either one of us thought, only that it was funny to them. Calvin, my 6-year-old, wandered off after 15 minutes, but Ava humored me through the joke-creation process.

Knock Knock Cover & TOC

We stretched a bit to come up with ten. Many, we knew, would only be funny to us and mildly funny to others if they knew the back story, which Ava fully intended to share with any audience, curious or not. At some point we started fine-tuning the language and making a list. We referenced our Halloween books for inspiration and art. We liked the idea of a lift-the-flap book and the door became the obvious flap to open.

We put on our writing, illustrator and publisher hat. We started with a title, cover and table of contents. Title: Who’s at Your Door? Cover: door with the flap, subtitle of Ten Halloween Knock-Knock Jokes and TOC: Drac, Punk (Pumpkin), The Ghoul, Hoo (Owl), Pig, Candy, Bat, Witch, Mummy and Leaf.

I did the writing – alternating colors for responses, Ava did all of the drawing and I colored the pictures. We chose the constant as the door with steps leading up to it (on each of the ten joke pages) and Ava did the bubble-thought drawings to depict what the caller implied they were on the other side of the door. For example,the clueless homeowner pictured a cute blonde girl with pigtails when the caller said they were the ghoul.

Pig-In-BCB and Puppy Trick-or-Treater

Here they are (assume the Knock-knock. Who’s There? precedes each):

1. Drac. Drac who? The Drac who thinks your fang-tastic. (pictured above)
2. Punk. Punk who? Punkin pie in your face with Cool-Whip.
3. The Ghoul. The Ghoul who? It’s just the ghoul next door, don’t be scared! (pictured above)
4. Hoo. Hoo who? Hoo Hoo, the spooky owl (note photo shows an owl in a tree, far away from the door)
5. Pig. Pig who? Pig in a buttery croissant blanket (inspired by food served at several Halloween parties this weekend) (pictured at right)
6. Candy. Candy who? Cand-you see I’m here for treats? (pictured at right)
7. Bat. Bat who? Batter hurry up and get your Halloween costume on! (photo pictures stressed out parent running for their clown costume)
8. Witch. Witch who? Which way to the nearest broomstick store? (photo pictures a witch with her bent broomstick)
9. Mummy. Mummy who? Mummy, you look so frightening in bandages!
10. Leaf. Leaf who? Would you like me to leaf you alone? (You must be so sick of these knock-knock jokes!)

Three hours later we three-holed punched the pages and thread a ribbon through it. It was a creative, artistic activity and while the jokes were a challenge for them to dream up, Ava really enjoyed figuring out how to best illustrate the dialog through pictures.

She’s bringing it to show-and-tell this week. I warned her that others might not get her humor. Such is life. It’s important to know what makes us laugh, I told her, regardless of what others think. Calvin thinks I’m obsessed with the pig in the buttery croissant blanket. I might be, but that’s what makes it darn funny to us. And Ava and I voted. That one is our favorite!

If we do a mini-publishing run on the book, she says she’s open for business and taking orders. Email edamomie@hotmail.com. Books are $4 and part of the proceeds will go to her school’s Media Center.

edamomie

An Exploration of Parenting by the Vowel