Kid Baltimore | Family Activities with Children in Baltimore, Maryland

Recycled Magazine Christmas Trees

We've been folding Christmas trees from old magazines. These are so much fun to make. Dave remembers making these as a kid from old TV Guides. You can spray paint them green, or gold, but I think they are rather nice plain. Little flecks of color show through, and since this one is made from last year's seed catalog, it's especially good. Little bits of spring, poking through the winter.

Crisp folds are important for this project, but some of us had a slightly more...organic approach. 

Grab a thick magazine, 200 pages or so and let's get started! 

First take a moment to break the spine, so the magazine lays flat. You may also want to remove the cover if the paper is thicker than the rest of the magazine.

1. Fold the top left corner into the spine of the magazine to make a diagonal fold. Crease neatly.

2. Fold in again to the spine. The shape it makes will look sort of like a neck tie.

3. Turn the magazine over and fold the bottom triangle up. Remember the tree will have a flat base and this is the fold that levels the bottom.

4. Tuck the triangle inside the fold.

I prefer to do folds 1 and 2 for the entire magazine, and then turn the magazine over to do the remaining folds. Pretty soon you'll have a table full of recycled (and recyclable) holiday trees.

 

Happy folding!

Gallery Success!

Thanks to everyone who stopped by the Spur Gallery for the BARCS show, Cats & Dogs & Dogs & Cats. If you didn't get a chance to come by, the show will be up through December 7th. Gallery hours are 9:30-5:00 M-F.

One special part of the show was the kids' project, a set of 8 notecards available for purchase. 100% of the sales price goes to support BARCS.

 

They were a big hit at the show, and we still have a some left if you didn't snag some there. Special thanks to our kid artists, Celia, Emma, Holland, Jacob, Lindsay, Madison, and Megan. Here is a link to purchase them for $12.00 (plus $2.50 for shipping and handling).

 

Another special part of the show was this guy, Ringo Starr. He's coming home with us.

He looks pretty wiped out in this shot, but it's the only one I have. He's 4 months old, and is part-cat/part-ragdoll. I think he will fit in just fine around here.

Cats & Dogs & Dogs & Cats

WHAT: Art Gallery Opening and Adoption Event

WHERE: Spur Gallery, 3504 Ash Street, Baltimore, MD 21211

WHEN: November 9, 2012 6:30-8:30 pm

Ever since we adopted Reggie, I've had a soft-spot for BARCS. If you aren't familiar with this organization BARCS (Baltimore Animal Rescue & Care Shelter) is a non-profit shelter that was created in 2005 to take over operations of the Baltimore City Shelter previously operated by the city’s Bureau of Animal Control.

We're having an art show at the Spur Gallery, to help support the shelter. The Baltimore arts community has jumped in to show their support too and we have a great line-up of Baltimore illustrators and photographers who will have their work on display:

Rebecca Bradley, Julianna Brion, Kali Ciesemier, Alain Corbel, Alain Corbel, Alain Corbel, Susan Detwiler, Ann Feild Didyk, Jimmy Giegerich, Gilah Press, Chris Hartlove, Joyce Hesselberth, Greg Houston, Tracy Jacobs, Andrea Kalfas, Warren Linn, Janna Morton, Michael Northrup, Joe Parisi,Dave Plunkert, Scott Roberts, Whitney Sherman, Katie Smith, Paige Vickers, Chip Wass

We hope you will join us at the opening. It will be a kid-friendly event. Volunteers from BARCS will be on hand to introduce you to some of their wonderful cats and dogs, and answer any questions. 50% of all proceeds will go directly to BARCS.

Chickens, for Reals

No more baby chicks. Not even awkard teens. Now we have full grown chickens and they are amazing. Two of them, the Buff Orpingtons, are laying now, so we are getting about a dozen eggs a week. The silkies are not laying, but in their defense, I'm not sure they are real chickens. More like chicken-muppet hybrids. What they lack in egg-production, they more than make up for in entertainment. The Buff Orpingtons are my favorite though. They come running up when they think you have a treat, and then nestle down in the grass to let you give them a pat.

Surprisingly, all of the chickens have decided that stink bugs are delicious. Another tick-mark in the pro column. And no, the eggs don't taste like stink bugs, although I wonder if there is a tipping point. Speaking of the eggs, they still aren't full-size, but pretty close. They are, however, delicious. When we make scrambled eggs, you really notice how yellow they are. I think it's from the free-ranging. We let them out of their run whenever we are home and they can roam around the fenced yard. There is still a certain risk of predators. We definitely have hawks. But so far so good and I have promised myself that if a hawk comes then I will forever tell myself that my chickens lived a good (short) chicken life. 

So what's next? We hunker down for winter. I'm not so sure that winter with chickens will be a-okay. We will have water to keep unfrozen and cold chickens to worry about. There are a few theories about how to keep chickens comfortable through the winter, but the one that make the most sense to me is discussed in the book Fresh-Air Poultry Houses: The Classic Guide to Open-Front Chicken Coops for Healthier Poultry. It's a pretty simple idea. Protect the flock from harsh winds (think west and north), but don't trap in the moisture that naturally happens from respiration. I'm hoping it works. 

Remote Control Airplane Festival

WHAT: Ron Konkus Memorial Fly-In and Family Fun Weekend

WHERE: Southwest Area Park | Baltimore Street at Georgia Avenue | Baltimore Highlands | Landsdowne, Maryland, 21227

WHEN: Sat-Sun, September 29-30, 2012 | 10am - 4pm

ADMISSION: FREE

I think this event sounds perfect for big kids and little kids, so I thought I would pass it on. Pack a picnic, and go watch some model airplanes take off! And it's free. I like that too.

Here are the details:

Baltimore’s largest celebration of remote control airplanes takes off on Saturday and Sunday, September 29 and 30 at the Southwest Area Park Modelers’ Fly-In and Family Fun Weekend. Dozens of local hobbyists will maneuver, soar, dip and dive R/C airplanes, jets and helicopters—some with wingspans up to 12 feet long—hundreds of feet in the air.

Flights and Demonstrations: More than 25 pilots will dazzle visitors with high-soaring stunts in over 100 freestyle flights. Flights are continuous with take-offs from both the 600 ft. grass runway and the 275 ft. paved runway.

Novice Training Sessions: First-time flyers can experience the thrill of piloting an R/C aircraft under the guidance of Southwest Area Modelers club members.

Commemorative Air Show: At 2 pm on Sunday, the most experienced flyers will perform an air show to honor longtime Southwest Area Modelers club member and former club President Ron Konkus.

Festivities and Food: The Fly-In will also include a raffle for an Edge 540 Aerobatic Plane, grilled foods and cold refreshments. Visitors are also welcome to bring their own food and refreshments.

Details and directions can be found here.

 

First Egg

I've been a little obsessed. Last night I dreamed we found eggs all over the chicken coop — a big green spotted one, and more notably, a cube shaped one. Each one was different from the next, but each one was absolutely perfect in its own way.

We've been checking the coop for weeks now, but everyday it's zip. Nada. Nothing. And why should I expect anything different? After all, it's not like anyone told the chickens what they are supposed to do. I'm rather amazed how they seem to follow all the chicken rules without any instruction. The first time we watched them go into their coop, just at dusk, and put themselves to bed, I was dumbstruck. How do they know?

So today when I checked the coop, I was expecting to find nothing, except that the dream was still in the back of my head. And there it was. A tiny little egg, just where it should be, in the nesting box. Perfect, and fortunately for the chicken not a cube.

 Now, how do we split it 5 ways?