Art Lesson #5: 7 Art Festivals to a Creative Mind

You can even provide edutainment at a birthday party.  To inspire and encourage creativity, consider a paint your own pottery party.  Each kid chooses a piece and paints their project.  The pottery studio in Evansville, IN allowed us to bring in food and cake, so the entire celebration happened in one location.  The boys and girls had fun and everyone gained a unique art piece as a party favor.

Paint your own studios seem to pop up in every town.  If you don't have a local studio, Michaels art chain store offers party rooms and you could buy pottery kits as the project.

The price can add up fast with a per person fee if you have a large group.  For a cheaper alternative, find a local art festival as another way to provide your kid a pottery experience. 

Here's seven art festivals:

1.  Fine Arts Festival - Ridgeland, Mississippi; April - Renaissance at Colony Park includes a Childrens Creative Crafts Corner; lessons about art history and culture while kids make clay pottery, mosaics, or fiber art
http://www.ridgelandartsfest.com/


2.  Wheeling Arts Fest - Wheeling, WV, June - clay learn and take project, learn slab, pinch, and coil techniques.  Other classes include fiber arts and acrylic painting.
http://wheelingartsfest.com/

3.  Palo Alto Clay & Glass Festival - Palo Alto, CA; July - large two day festival with over 150 artists
http://www.acga.net/cgi-bin/DJcalendar.cgi?TEMPLATE=shows-detail.html&EVENTNO=00084

4.  CLAY festival - Silver City, NM; July - childrens tile class at Silver City Museum only $5, free Clay Play Exploring Our Wilderness Heritage class for grade 3 to 6 - register early, limit 15 kids/workshop at the Gila Valley or Silver City library; free tour of the Syzygy Tile Factory
http://www.clayfestival.com/

5.  Minnesota Pottery Festival - Hutchinson, MN - kids tent at The Clay Coyote Studio; raku, throwing, and handbuiling demos
http://www.mnpotteryfestival.com/

6.  Clayfolk - Medford, Oregon - indoor event at the Medford Armory, mostly a show and sale, but also offers a Kids Clay Area where kids can create their own clay art
http://www.clayfolk.org/

7.  San Antonio Potters Guild Clay Festival - San Antonio, TX; Dec. - $5 includes museum entrance, kids under 12 free, 30 potters and gallery tours

Agriculture Lesson #2: 7 Blueberry Events

Blueberry pancakes, blueberry pie...mmm, kids love blueberries.  Kids are curious about fruit.  Do they grow on trees or bushes?  Help your kids learn about how blueberries are grown by taking them to a pick your own farm or a blueberry festival. 

Break out the US map.  The blueberry gets recognized as the official fruit of Maine.  Maine produces 25% of all lowbush blueberries and requires about 50,000 beehives for pollination.  Michigan leads in highbush berry production, accounting for 32% of the small berries.

For your best pick-your-own experience, begin early while energy is high and before the hot sun beats down.  Bring your sunscreen, sunglasses, water bottle, and coolers to bring home the treasured fresh berries.  We always pick extra.  My employees showed appreciation when I brought them berries to the office.

We've also celebrated the blueberry harvest at the Marshall Blueberry Festival.  It's been named a "Top 100 Event" in North America by the American Bus Association in 1997, 1999, and 2007.  Many of the blueberry festivals include kid pleasing foods like blueberry pancakes.  If you feel like burning the calories, many of these festivals also have a variety of sports events.  The Marshall Blueberry Festival includes a 5K run, arm wrestling, volleyball, and softball.

Here's 7 festivals in the United States:

1.  Marshall Blueberry Festival, Plymouth, IN, Aug. 30- Sept. 2 2013; 45+ year old festival with parade, auto show, music, and 300+ craft vendors  http://www.blueberryfestival.org/pg/history.html

2.  Paradise Annual Wild Blueberry Festival, Paradise, Michigan (MI), Aug. 16-18 2013, bring your blue clothes, a bucket, and enjoy http://www.paradisemichigan.org/bb/blueberryfest.html

3.  Machias Wild Blueberry Festival, Machias, Maine, 1.5 hours from Bar Harbor, 38th annual festival, Aug. 16-18 2013, a church project with music, parade, contest, free admission  http://www.machiasblueberry.com/

4.  Texas Blueberry Festival, Nacogdoches, Texas (TX), 23rd annual, June 8 2013, free admission, blueberry picking at Blueberry Place, motorcycle show, car show, competitions, 100+ vendors  http://www.texasblueberryfestival.com/

5.  Blueberry Jubilee, Poplarville, Mississippi (MS), cooking contest, pageant, auto show, dog show, 5K run...go to the site just to show your kids the animated berry (-:  http://blueberryjubilee.org/

4.  Reed Valley Orchard Blueberry Jubilee and Pancake Day, Paris, Kentucky (KY); Sat. June 29, 2013 horse drawn wagon, fruit pies, slushies  http://www.reedvalleyorchard.com/Jubilee.htm

5.  Wellborn Blueberry Festival, Wellborn, FL, June 7-8 2013, free admission, blueberry pancake breakfast $5, parade, talent contest, 5K run  http://www.wellborncommunityassociation.com/Pages/BlueberryFestival.aspx