A Fair Day

Marcie Landeros works with clay at the Children's Fair

Kids visiting IVDM's booth 

Saturday was a day of fairs across central and western Imperial County and the Imperial Valley Desert Museum was thrilled to be able to join in.


The 39th Annual Children's Fair meant Bucklin Park was the place to be in El Centro- the Imperial Valley Press estimated 15,000 people came out during the day to enjoy music, face painting, food, and arts and crafts!  For the sixth year in a row, the IVDM joined the fun.  Over 600 people came by our booth to talk about the museum, and find out about tonight's Stargazing event. Staff members Anne Morgan and Marcie Landeros, volunteer Neil Zinn, and local student volunteers worked together to show kids how to turn clay into any shape and design they could imagine.  Kids created bowls, hearts, animals, and more and enjoyed every second of it!

Meanwhile, up in In-Ko-Pah, musicians, artists, and families celebrated Earth Day at the Desert View Tower.  IVDM Interim Director David Breeckner and education staff Edgar Bernal Sevilla encouraged visitors to join them in making crafted ceramic pots and figures.  Parents and children alike got in on the fun, working with muddied hands to make something worth taking home!  Over 125 visitors - many from San Diego county - stopped by the booth to learn about the museum's current activities and events.

Fairs and events like these make for long days, but are always immensely rewarding.  We look forward to them every year!  From teaching a father and his two young sons the art of a traditional craft, to watching a little girl laugh with glee as she presents her dirty hands to her mother, the IVDM is thrilled to be a part of the IV community, sharing with them its passion and understanding of the past.

OctoberCraft Fun

-by Angelina Coble, Education Staff

Matsay the Museum Coyote dressed as Little Red Riding Hood to give out candy

This October I had the opportunity to plan the fun Halloween crafts for our second OctoberCraft event.  It was the first event I have planned here and it was a lot of fun- for both us and the kids! After visiting for two and a half hours one girl said "It feels like I've only been here 15 minutes!" We had 7 activity stations spread through the museum:

What's better than game pieces you can eat?

Halloween Bingo: A tasty twist on traditional Bingo, the kids got to fill their playing cards with candy
corn.  What's more fun than being able to eat your game pieces?

Foam crafts: The kids were able to put together foam Halloween decorations like pumpkins, ghosts, and frogs, then decorate their costumes, bags or other crafts!

Mason Jars with volunteers

Mason Jar Lanterns: One very popular craft was decorating mason jars.  The kids used glue, tissue paper, and a little paint to make decorative lanterns.  At home an electric tea light will make them shine, and several kids used them during the event to store Halloween candy!

Making a clay spider

Clay: The art of getting your hands dirty!  Everyone enjoyed using their creative skills to sculpt skulls and other figures and, after their masterpieces dried a bit they got to add paint.

Stringing acorns for necklace

Acorn necklaces: The older kids especially liked this activity where they made necklaces and bracelets by stringing colorful beads and acorns together in great combinations.

Dia de los Muertos workshop: Bob Diaz, from El Centro Sears, once again came out to do a wonderful workshop exploring the tradition of Dia de los Muertos.  Kids and adults both discovered more about a holiday they thought they already knew, and made colorful masks for their loved ones.

Shaahuk!

Shaahuk: If you thought Monopoly and Sorry! are competitive games, you should try this!  Shaahuk is a traditional Kumeyaay game where you have to be the first to get your game pieces around the circle representing the Milky Way.  The game was a big hit, children and their parents got very competitive trying to win.  One of the rules of the game is: if a player lands on an occupied space the first player gets sent back to the beginning. So you can see how the game can build up tension!

We had over 76 people come out on Sunday- many in costume!- for our event.  The reason we are able to host these events is thanks to the help and support of our board members, volunteers, and enthusiastic visitors.  We hope to see you all out again for next year's event!  A big thanks to all of you who made this event possible!

Next time you stop by the museum, don't be afraid to challenge me to a game of Shaahuk.  regardless of what anyone else tells you, I still consider myself the reigning champ!