A mishmash of family fun and news

ART = FUN

Get your child’s creative juices flowing at the Art Explorium, a new nonprofit organization in Kaimuki that offers a space for families to use their imagination, create artwork using recycled materials and spend quality time together.

"It’s a fun, safe setting for children to discover their creative potential," said Heather Williams, executive director of Art Explorium. "When children are given the freedom to invent and make mistakes, they become better thinkers and problem-solvers."

Though the studio hopes to host birthday parties and school groups, right now the focus is on open studio hours, when kids can choose from different art stations, such as painting, drawing, mosaic-making, printmaking, creative building and decoupage.

Each session offers different media as the stations change weekly, Williams said, but a constant is the "trash to treasure" station, where children can create art using recycled materials such as corks, bottle caps, fabric scraps, used keys and buttons. The organization accepts donations of such items, adding a sustainability element to the program, she explained.

There is no formal instruction during open studio hours, but staff members are available to provide ideas, materials and guidance. Williams hopes to eventually expand to include weekend hours as well as formal art classes.

Guest artists, who provide instruction for one specific art activity such as a holiday craft, are sometimes featured during the open sessions.

Though the center is geared toward children ages 3 to 12, anyone is welcome. "Young adults and parents like to play, too," Williams said. "And parents really appreciate it. … They don’t have time to set the stuff up at home. If they do set it up, the kids are working on projects while they make dinner and take care of things. At the center, parents can sit with their kids, focus and interact."

— Nancy Arcayna, Star-Advertiser

Silly and smelly ‘Twits’ also teaches vital lessons

Kids amused by things that adults find gross will certainly enjoy “The Twits.”

Mr. Twit is a “foul and smelly old man” with a big unkempt beard filled with decaying food. Mrs. Twit is equally ugly and carries a walking stick that she uses to hit “dogs and cats and small children.”

Children’s author Roald Dahl describes them as the “smelliest, nastiest, ugliest people in the world,” who play mean tricks on each other, catch birds to eat and mistreat a band of monkeys they keep in a cage.

Veteran director Steph­a­nie Con­ching and a talented cast of actors and puppeteers bring the story of the Twits and their victims to Hawaii Theatre next weekend. Con­ching is presenting the story, adapted for the stage by David Wood, as a circus sideshow designed with a nod to the dark artwork of Quentin Blake, the illustrator of Dahl’s original book. Expect singing, dancing, slapstick and audience participation.

Youngsters will laugh, while parents will find an opportunity to talk to kids about the harm caused by bullying and the unpleasant outcome for the pair when their victims strike back.

— John Berger, Star-Advertiser

Go fish on Girls’ Day at Kaneohe garden

The Department of Parks and Recreation is hosting a Girls’ Day Fishing Derby at Hoo­malu­hia Botanical Garden on Sunday, though the event is open to both boys and girls.

The event will be divided into two categories — longest fish and most midas cichlids caught — and each will have winners in three age groups: 4 to 7, 8 to 12 and 13 to 17. The competition runs from 10 a.m. to noon.

The garden’s regular catch-and-release fishing program runs 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. for families who choose not to participate in the derby. Bamboo poles can be borrowed; or hand-held poles can be brought. Barbless hooks and nonlive bait are used.

Call 233-7323.

— Star-Advertiser staff