studio grow

On Saturday, Maddy and I went to Studio Grow in Berkeley.  She created art, put on a puppet show and played "restaurant."  She had fun, but she wasn't as excited about it as I thought she would be.  She even told me at one point that she didn't want to return because she liked the other art studio that we go to better.

Toward the end, Maddy directed my attention to a big wooden box with a curtain in front that she insisted was magic; she said things disappeared in there.  So, to test it out, I gave her a stuffed penguin and a wooden dowel that I said was a magic wand.  We placed the penguin inside, she waived her wand and said, "abracadabra!"  When she peeked inside, the penguin had disappeared!  Maddy's eyes were wide and her mouth was open with excitement. 

"Let's do it again!"  She placed stuffed animal after stuffed animal into the magic box until all of them disappeared.  When I told her it was time to go home, she sadly hugged her magic wand and asked if she could take it home with her. 

I told Maddy that the magic wand would be safe and when we come back, we'll look for it again.  She wanted to hide it, but reluctantly put it back with all of the other wooden dowels.  

"I want to come back here again, mommy!" she said.  

It was so great to see Maddy believe in magic.  We won't tell her that mommy was the actual magician, carefully removing the animals while she was too busy waving her magic wand and casting her spells.