By Casey Kelly Barton

I take a lot of field trips with my kids and friends, and by far the best one we took in 2008 was a visit to Wimberley that included a glassblowing demonstration at Wimberley Glassworks.

When I first called to arrange the visit, I was pleasantly surprised that they would welcome a group of school-aged kids into their showroom filled with lovely (and expensive) breakables. They did, and our little group made it safely to the workshop in the back for the big show.

The viewing area was comfortable and safely separated from the kilns and open flames by a low wall. The artisans did a 15-minute presentation, talking their way through the creation of a tall vase from a blob of molten glass. The kids loved it. Here were people getting to do stuff children are told *never* to do: get close to hot stoves, play with fire and toss glass around while whacking it with tools. WGW has a short video to give you an idea of what's involved: fire, hot glass, tools and a certain amount of derring-do.

After our demo, the craftspeople took questions from the children and explained where they get the raw material for their molten glass, how hot glass is cooled safely, where one studies to become a glass artisan and of course, all about those kilns that heat the glass. Although most of WGW's showroom items are designed for grown-up decor and budgets, my boys were able to pick up some glass paperweights with their pocket money. They loved being able to buy something from a real gallery.

Wimberley Glassworks offers free glassblowing demonstrations daily during certain hours or you can schedule a group visit for $2 per visitor. As field trips go, it's a great deal.

Readers: Have any Texas field trips you can recommend?