Creative ideas for Earth Day
We celebrate the 50th anniversary of Earth Day on April 22. Find several ideas – from our staff and friends at Mesa Recycles – recently posted to help you get crafty and celebate our planet. Additionally, we compiled a few more ideas featured on our iArt page, which...
Music Monday
Love music? Week of the Young Child (WOYC) takes place in April, and communities in Arizona celebrate typically with a variety of activities to spotlight early learning and the educators who support the positive development of young children. Our efforts at the museum...
Color Scavenger Hunt: Plant Edition
Who doesn’t love plants? Plants provide us with food, clean air and beauty! We can find an entire spectrum of colors in the blooming spring desert. Use this science lesson today or any day to inquire about the plants around us - maybe try it Monday (April 10) during...
Artful bird drawings
It’s Draw a Bird Day on social media, and we’re taking a moment to connect to nature with a cooperative lesson that offers you an opportunity to unwind, make art and work together. Getting started First, some book recommendations: How to Draw a Picture of a Bird...
4 tips for writing poetry
It’s International Children’s Book Day. So why are we suggesting poetry? This special day is tied to Hans Christian Andersen (click link to read short biography), who was not only known as a children’s book and fairytale writer, but also a poet. So we asked local...
There’s Fireworks in Your Milk
Change up your morning routine on April Fools' Day with a little colorful fun. Note: This is also fun to do around the 4th of July. This experiment with milk will be a blast for your kids! And they can get a mini science lesson about surface tension and liquids,...
Desert Writing Activity
Have you ever seen a cactus that looks like a person? Do you ever wonder if the plants come alive at night? What would the cacti do at night? While the weather is great for searching for saguaros near you (keeping social distancing in mind), you can also get on your...
Artful Play! Try building a House of Cards
We're sharing a popular activity from a past exhibition, Artful Play! Games & Toys. In this exhibition, many types of games and toys were featured among the artworks. Among them: Building a house of cards! Have you ever built a house of cards? Cards aren’t just...
Artful Play! Act & Giggle
A classic game featured in Artful Play! Games & Toys was a version of Charades made for little ones! We called it Act & Giggle. Charades is a good way to encourage vocabulary development in young children. With older children charades can be a fun and engaging...
The art of planning a healthy meal
Teaching kids to eat healthy can be tricky, especially when you can’t get to the grocery store like a typical week and let them pick out veggies, fruit and other healthy options. Having them stay home doesn’t mean healthy learning can’t take place. Start by making...
Puppy Cupcake Challenge
We're sharing a fun video inspired by today - National Puppy Day! It's just another way to keep your child's brain engaged doing something creative. WATCH VIDEO HERE This at-home idea comes from i.d.e.a. Museum Education Assistant Chelsea Ziegenhein, who is passionate...
Poetic inspiration
Happy World Poetry Day! Poetry is just one of many forms of storytelling. And it's a wonderful way to get kids interested in reading (think nursery rhymes as the first stage). Mesa artist/poet Judy Wood shared with us a lovely poem she wrote and has given us...