University of Mississippi Museum Education Blog

It's the first Monday of the month at the Museum! And you know what that means...it's time to solve a mystery!  Today's mystery item came straight from our museum vault. Kept with many other treasures from our special collections, this particular item is very unique... Just by looking at this picture, can you guess what this is? This item belonged to Mary Buie. It was given to her in 1977 from India. It is made from wood, Esparto grass, and decorated cloth. Mary Buie had a large collection of items similar to this one.  Can you solve Monday's Museum Mystery?  Let us know what you think this item is and what is was used for... comment on our Facebook page for a chance to win a free week of Summer Camp in July!  CONGRATULATIONS to our Museum Mystery winner  Jennifer Harrell!  The Museum Mystery was a fan from Mary Buie's private collection.

This is a yummy (and healthy!) snack that we like to serve with our Chinese-themed summer camp.  It is similar to our Bird’s Nest Snack , so if you have some ingredients leftover, you can try that one out too! Ingredients Rice Krispies cereal Marshmallows Unsalted butter M&M’s Oreo’s 1) Prepare the Rice Krispies treats as directed on the box. 2) After the snack has cooled, cut as desired and roll each treat into a ball. 3) Place M&M’s on the Rice Krispies treat as the nose and mouth. 4) Cut one Oreo per treat in half to use as Panda ears. *Note: To make this snack peanut/nut-free, simply use the brands of Rice Krispies cereal and Oreo’s, and replace the M&M’s with Jelly Beans! Nutritional values per serving: Calories: 182, Total Fat 5g, Saturated Fat 1.2g, Cholesterol 1mg, Sodium 183mg, Total Carbohydrate 42g, Dietary Fiber 0.5g, Protein 2.2g, Vitamin A 6%DV, Vitamin C 10%DV, Calcium 1%DV, Iron 27%DV

Because of our visiting Chinese Ceramics exhibition, we have a lot of Chinese-themed projects!  This one is for the younger kids, ages 3-5. Materials White paper bags Markers (Red, orange, and yellow) Red tissue paper (cut into strips) Construction paper Elmer’s Glue Scissors Googley eyes 1) Color the white paper bag completely with markers, taking care to color the head and body different colors, if desired. 2) Glue tissue paper strips to the inside of the flap to resemble fire breathing from the mouth. 3) Glue two googley eyes on the “head.” 4) Cut ears out of the construction paper with the scissors and glue to the top of the bag. 5) Allow to completely dry and then play with your puppet!

We did these Wire Sculptures for the first time with our 3D Camp this summer, and they were a hit.  The students in this camp were a little older: middle- and high-school aged. Materials Wire – plain and colored Illustration board/Matte board (Yes, it’s really that simple – only two materials!) 1. Start out with some gesture drawings to illustrate movement.  We put on music and had someone in the camp dance around until a “freeze!” moment, and the other students in the class had to illustrate that person in their frozen position in 45 seconds.  (It is a fun way to wake everyone up in the afternoon!) 2. Choose one of the drawings to model the sculpture out of and create a base with the silver wire. 3.  Wrap the colored wire around the silver wire base to add detail and color.