CALENDAR
Grumps. Lyle the Crocodile tries
to prove his worth to Mr. Grumps
in this children’s production.

Through May 31.

Adventure Theatre, Glen Echo, MD.

7 p.m. $20.50
adventuretheatre-mtc.org ‘WILD KRATTS LIVE 2.0’
APRIL 26 | 1 P.M. & 4:30 P.M. | $45+
SATURDAY 25
KIDS Touch-A-Truck
Wow your little ones with real-life
police cars, construction trucks
and buses and enjoy food, music
and face painting.

Lake Braddock Secondary School,
Burke, VA. 10 a.m. $5. spring-mar.org
FAMILY Georgetown House Tour
Stroll down the cobbled streets of
Georgetown for the 89th annual
tour of beautiful homes, breaking
in the afternoon for Parish Tea.

St. John’s Episcopal Church,
Washington, DC. 11 a.m. $55.

georgetownhousetour.com KIDS
Brothers Chris and Martin Kratt bring their animated show to the stage, teaching children
about ecology and the animal kingdom in a high-energy show.

Warner Theatre, Washington, warnertheatredc.com
Camp Congress for Girls
Starting with a lesson on the
structure of the U.S. political
system, girls will learn how to
create a Congressional campaign,
introduce a bill and lobby
legislators. Ages 8-17.

999 9th St. NW, Washington, DC.

8 a.m. $140. girlsinpolitics.com
SUNDAY 26
FAMILY Bag of Books Sale
Fill a paper bag full of books for
you and your family for one low
price at this semi-annual sale.

James M. Duncan Jr. Branch
Library, Alexandria, VA. 1 p.m. $5.

alexlibraryva.org FAMILY
5th Annual Earth
Day Picnic
Experience the beauty of the
outdoors with a garden picnic and
take some plants home to add to
your own. BYO basket and blanket.

Tudor Place Historic House and
Garden, Washington, DC. Noon. FREE. Iris Krasnow will discuss her
tudorplace.org new book, “Camp Girls: Fireside
Lessons on Friendship, Courage
and Loyalty” about her own time
MONDAY 27
at summer camp and its influences
KIDS on her life.

Young Portrait Explorers
Politics and Prose, Washington, DC.

Get to know the environmental
7 p.m. FREE. politics-prose.com
philosopher and author John Muir
through storytelling. Registration
WEDNESDAY 29
required. Ages 5 and under.

National Portrait Gallery, Washington, FAMILY
DC. 10:30 a.m. FREE. npg.si.edu
Trading Card Game Night
Play Pokémon, Magic and other
trading card games with fellow
TUESDAY 28
enthusiasts. Ages 6 and up.

MOMS Shirlington Branch Library, Arlington,
Prenatal Yoga
VA. 6 p.m. FREE.

Connect with your baby—and
arlingtonva.libcal.com your intuition—through the ancient
practice of yoga.

KIDS EKOE Health, Falls Church, VA.

Stuffed Animal Sleepover
9:45 a.m. $20. iekoe.com
Children can wear their pajamas
and enjoy story time before leaving
FAMILY their toy for a night at the library.

‘Camp Girls’ Book Talk
Come April 30 to pick up your
New York Times bestselling author child’s toy.

10 Washington FAMILY APRIL 2020
James M. Duncan Jr. Library,
Alexandria, VA. 6 p.m. FREE.

alexlibraryva.org THURSDAY 30
FAMILY Jazz Day Concert
Celebrate International Jazz Day
with a concert by the Mason
School of Music.

George Mason University Center for
the Arts, Fairfax, VA. 8 p.m. $12 for
adults, $5 for students.

cfa.calendar.gmu.edu MOMS
Mom Prom
Dress up and relive high school at
a prom just for moms, including
food, drinks and a swag bag.

Proceeds benefit the YMCA Youth
and Family Services.

Silver Spring Civic Building,
Silver Spring, MD. 7 p.m. $50.

yfs.ymcadc.org n



Own Butterfly Sensory Bin
FAMILY FUN
Make Your
BY LINDSAY PONTA
A HANDS-ON LEARNING ACTIVITY FOR
LITTLE ONES THAT’S FLUTTERING FUN
It may finally be spring, but there’s still a chance
rainy weather will keep us indoors, going a
bit stir-crazy with our kids. If that statement
resonates with you on a deeply personal level,
then I have just the activity to help pass the time:
Butterfly Sensory Bin.

Activities that stimulate a child’s senses are
important for the development of important
skills, such as motor skills, social skills and
even language, math and science skills. And this
Butterfly Sensory Bin stimulates lots of senses—
perfect for little hands and growing minds.

Picking up beads with tweezers and
then threading them onto the butterflies, for
example, helps build fine motor skills and
hand-eye coordination.

Since there are so many ways to play with
this sensory bin, it can grow right along with
your child. With toddlers, you can talk about
colors and the differences between textures.

Older kids might be interested in learning more
about butterflies and other insects and how
pollination works.

This sensory bin
is also a fun way
for siblings to play together. Older brothers
or sisters can play the teacher role, helping
younger siblings explore tougher concepts. n
Lindsay Ponta created the DIY and lifestyle
website Shrimp Salad Circus in 2009 to
inspire busy women to live perfectly
imperfect creative lives. Find
easy DIYs and recipes at
shrimpsaladcircus.com. SUPPLIES
2-pound bag of
white rice
Green food coloring
Large plastic bag
Baking sheet or
casserole dish
Bin or tray
Artificial flowers
Yellow beads
Toy butterflies
Butterfly net
Tweezers Optional: Printable question cards from
shrimpsaladcircus.com INSTRUCTIONS
First, we’re going to make “grass” for the butterflies to live on by dying white rice.

1. Pour 2 pounds of white rice into a large plastic bag.

2. Squeeze a generous amount of green food coloring over the rice.

3. Seal plastic bag, then shake and squeeze the rice until it’s all green.

4. Pour green rice onto a baking sheet or casserole dish, and set it out
to air dry overnight. Note: Don’t skip this step or your little ones will end
up with green fingers and clothes!
Now it’s time to assemble the butterfly bin.

1. Pour the fully-dried green rice into a bin or tray.

2. Arrange a few artificial flowers on top of the rice.

3 Sprinkle a few yellow beads onto the centers of the
flowers to make “pollen.”
Optional: Download butterfly question cards from
shrimpsaladcircus.com (search “butterfly”), print and
cut out. You can use the question cards to keep bigger
kids engaged in this butterfly activity. They can help start
discussions and create further opportunities for enrichment.

4. Place some butterflies around the
flowers. 5. Add the tweezers and butterfly
net to the bin.

You can also find the questions below, along with ways to incorporate them into sensory activities.

Q: WHAT DO BUTTERFLIES EAT?
A: Butterflies sip nectar from flowers using their tongues.

Demonstrate a butterfly landing on a flower and using
its tongue like a straw to drink the sweet nectar.

Q: WHERE DO BUTTERFLIES SLEEP?
A: Butterflies can sleep just about anywhere.

Put your butterflies to bed somewhere in the bin, and
then wake them up in the morning to play again.

Q: HOW DO BUTTERFLIES GET AROUND?
A: Butterflies can walk on their six legs, but they love to use
their wings to fly from flower to flower.

Pick up a butterfly and let it fly all around, landing on
flowers along the way.

Q: HOW MANY BODY PARTS DO BUTTERFLIES HAVE?
A: Butterflies’ bodies have three major parts: a head, a
thorax and an abdomen. They also have two eyes, two
antennae, two wings and six legs.

Investigate a butterfly to find and count all these
body parts.

Q: HOW DO BUTTERFLIES HELP FLOWERS?
A: Butterflies are great pollinators. They pick up pollen as
they drink from flowers, leaving some behind each time they
land on a new flower.

Thread some yellow beads from the center of a
flower onto a butterfly’s legs to demonstrate how
it picks up pollen. Drop a few beads at the next
flower, showing how pollination works.

Be sure to share
pictures of your Butterfly
Sensory Bin on social
media with the hashtag
#washingtonfamilymag so we can see (and share!)
your creativity.

WashingtonFAMILY.com 11