Dinosaur Hall and Flying Machines

Every morning Laura checks with me to make sure she is going to camp. Wednesday was butterfly day. We made butterfly picture frame, butterfly wings and butterfly books, and we went to the butterfly pavillion. Benjamin came home with a pom-pom launcher and Joshua took pictures of the roller coaster they made during camp (see photo). In the afternoon, Benjamin also saw the butterflies. In the third photo, paleontologist Laura is putting together the dinosaur bones.

Thursday was snake day for Laura; she made snakes, painted a snake and saw a live snake. Joshua made a container to keep an egg from breaking when dropped from a height of 20 feet (see photo) and Benjamin brought home a balloon-powered boat. In the afternoon, Joshua made a bird whistle and nest and went looking for birds in the rose garden. Benjamin made another dinosaur diorama, this time about dinosaurs living in the water. After camp we stopped at the Eagle Rock library to try our hand at drawing pirate-themed cartoons with Dave Boatman the cartoonist. The kids had fun drawing but didn't pay all that much attention to the detailed instructions.

Friday was finally the last day of camp here in Los Angeles. Laura took her toilet-paper tube binoculars to look at the birds in the natural history museum (see photo), dissected an owl pellet and then had free time to make her own creation. Joshua used a laser pointer to observe sound waves and brought home his contraption so that we can try it together. Benjamin brought home some flying contraptions. In the afternoon, Joshua's program talked about human powered flight, and he brought home a collection of airplanes. Benjamin made his dinosaur hall and saw the tyrannosaurus rex dinosaur show. After camp we played in the museum again. They loved the TV studio area of the 3rd floor discovery room, and they insisted on playing in the shadow wall area in the Identity exhibit.