The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens in San Marino is hosting five days of online fun, filled with music, visual art, nature, and cooking demonstrations for kids and all ages, and they’re calling it The Funtington: Family Fun with The Huntington!
Starting on Monday, November 2, The Funtington is packed with kids’ activities and will have the whole family singing songs, making art, learning how living things grow and change, and becoming kitchen magicians. Pre-recorded activity-based videos will be released at 10 a.m. each day and will be available to watch any time after.
Monday is Metamorphosis Monday, and you can join Kate Zankowicz, Youth and Family Programs and Community Engagement Manager at The Huntington, with her monarch caterpillars, and watch as the caterpillars transform into butterflies.
On Tasty Tuesday, November 3, Bob Blumer, the Kitchen Magician, will show you how to make the ultimate Breakfast in Bed. Later on, join Riz and explore tasty tea parties through The Huntington’s art collections and become inspired to have your own.
Work of Art Wednesday, November 4, will feature a quilt-making activity where you’ll learn about Loretta Pettway Bennett’s work and legacy as a quiltmaker in the community of Gee’s Bend, Alabama. You can also create a “quilt window” of your own. Later on, Kate is back with “Giant Hat Buildings,” which should inspire you to experiment with scale in photography, and “A Photo of Forever,” where she shows a photo of The Huntington’s rare book library basement.
Work of Art Wednesday is quite full, since it will also feature “Story Time” where staff member Joy reads from Barney Saltzberg’s “Beautiful Oops!” and Kitchen Magician Bob Blumer showing how you could make a “quilt pizza,” inspired by the quilt collection at The Huntington.
Secret Garden Thursday, November 5, will feature The Huntington’s “secret garden,” where Head Gardener Cara Hanstein leads you on a virtual tour. This is where you can learn about the thriving ecosystem that is the Ranch Garden and explore all the different animals that call the Ranch Garden home. Also, later Thursday, watch a presentation about The Huntington’s “stinky flower,” the Titan Arum, a rare tropical plant native to the equatorial rainforests of Indonesia that smells like rotting meat when in bloom.
In two other videos for Secret Garden Thursday, Joy also shows you how to make a kitchen scrap garden in water, using cuttings from vegetables, and leads a reading of “Plants Can’t Sit Still” by Rebecca E. Hirsch during Story Time.
Riz will then talk about the history of growing citrus fruit at The Huntington, inspiring you to make your own inspirational mandala out of dried orange slices, spices, and found objects, and The Kitchen Magician Bob Blumer shows how you could make a delicious garden on a plate.
On Future Friday, November 6, watch a reading of “Sofia Valdez, Future Prez” on Story Time, join Riz as she explores maker culture, 18th century style, and watch Kitchen Magician Bob Blumer as he shows you how to make a delicious time-traveling snack: dried fruit necklaces.
Throughout the five days of online fun, Bhi Bhiman sings the daily Funtington song, “Best Friends.” Grab your pots and pans and dance and sing along with the video.
To be part of The Funtington, visit www.huntington.org/funtington.
