Redmoon Theatre's First Youth Spectacle Entrances

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Tonight's your last chance to head over to Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum for Redmoon's first ever youth spectacle.   Redmoon Theatre's esoteric yet accessible take on the world is all over this magical, kid-centric show.   The audience was wide eyed and entranced with the hands on indoor art works and the choreographed outdoor show.   


We're raising a couple Montessori kids, so we're huge proponents of child-led endeavors.    This spectacle was especially exciting and impressive as it was designed, authored, built and performed by kids, from all over Chicago.    We were particularly enamored with the green space desks and the mechanical wings.    Though the immigrant shoe-cases and the wishing pebble boat were pretty impressive, too.   Every exhibit was thought provoking, playful and fun.    Redmoon's signature mechanical birds even made in appearance in shadow play, soaring aloft with the city at their feet.

After the show, the audience was invited up to meet the kids and check out the sets and costumes, in traditional Redmoon style.   Then a basket of chalk was made available for any kids or adults who wanted to make sidewalk art.   Each piece was wrapped in a note saying COMMIT TO CELEBRATION/ MAKE PUBLIC ART.    


The flip side encouraged artists to: 
make art with chalk/take a photo
go to Facebook/search "redmoon"
Like our fanpage/post your photo


We do like Redmoon.   We really do...and have for years.    Come on out and see the world in a new way, through the eyes of urban children. 


Ticket prices include admission to the nature museum before or after your time slot.    We made a colorful stop through the Butterfly Habitat to visit some of our favorite insects, and got a wet and wonderful hands on lesson in how rivers work and how people rework rivers in the River Works area.    We also made an exit through the gift shop where I was talked into some super absorbent colored beads for Sagezilla's bamboo plant (black of course-for my favorite little snarky punk) and two wolf headed walking sticks for all our summer hiking and camping.


Catch the youth spectacle if you can.   Hopefully this is the first of many for years to come.   This is a great, new endeavor for Redmoon Theatre and an invaluable resource for sparking the creativity of our next generation.    


REDMOON YOUTH SPECTACLE 2011

Redmoon Theater at Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, 

2430 N. Cannon Dr., Chicago

Audiences of all ages from diverse Chicago neighborhoods will gather to witness a major cultural event designed, authored, built and performed by the young people of Chicago at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum. Produced by Chicago's acclaimed large-scale spectacle theater company, Redmoon, the first-ever 'Youth Spectacle' will give Chicagoans a fantastical glimpse into the way local youth experience and interpret the natural world every day.

Winter Warm Up in the Butterfly Garden

March lived up to its reputation, coming in like a lion, with a big, roaring snow storm on the 1st. We found tropical warmth in the Judy Istock Butterfly Haven at The Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum. The late winter snow was so much easier to enjoy from our colorful and toasty paradise.























We lucked into a 2pm butterfly release, where newbies were added to over 1,000 winged residents of the haven. Despite the sweltering heat, Zilla wore her brightly colored winter coat, covered in purple flowers and butterflies, hoping some of the insects would land on her. Instead, I just missed a photo op, as a gorgeous butterfly landed on Du-Jay's green bandanna flowers.

We learned that butterflies like to drink from Gatorade soaked sponges, and the birds that share their haven don't eat live butterflies, only dead ones and other insects.












The final hours before closing time were spent in the basement play area for kids 7 and under. It's one of the few free play places where city kids can climb, slide and be active indoors. Between rousing games of hide and seek, they took a break in the caves, where a parascope allows for covert spying on patrons above.

Bergamot & Salamander.....Snot Otters & Chicken Frogs

Bergamot & Salamander has become a long running family joke. Sagezilla has a sensitive nose and likes the natural Trader Joe's Bergamot & Coriander spray to banish nasty smells. It got re dubbed during her toddler hood when she accidentally swapped out Coriander for another rhyming 4 syllable word. Since Monday was a school holiday, we went to check out some actual salamanders and their amphibian friends at The Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum.

We saw live frogs and toads.....

(say ahhhhh.............)


And not so live ones................
We wound our way through an amphibian question maze, where we learned about Hellbenders, AKA: Snot Otters and discovered that some frogs really do "taste like chicken".

The kids helped a magnetized salamander safely reach her breeding ground. They even got a few of their winter squirrelies out as they swung through the air and tried to hop farther than frogs. At the end of the maze, a carnival style wheel provided a fun way to recap amphibian information. We were all impressed with the special exhibit that runs Feb 7th-May 3rd.