Camp Smiling Tree

 

From st June 2010 kites

 

It was hot today and everyone seemed to be happy hanging out under the oak trees crafting.  We made a simple little kite  (which really works) and a colorful windsock.  Both crafts were very simple with lots of wiggle room.  With both the kite and the windsock we started by decorating the paper we used to make our craft.  I had stickers and stamps, felt pens and colored pencils.  Some of the kids were finished in an instant, others sat down and meticulously placed stickers side by side in a planned pattern.  We also had play dough out.  The kids seemed to really enjoy working with the playdough too.  Today was an example of how kids like to revisit the familiar.  Paper, felt pens, stickers, stamps, playdough, rolling pins, water play, hanging laundry….these are all things all these kids are familiar with.  This hot day was the perfect time to hang out in the shade and work with familiar materials in a comfortable way.

It was so hot that we didn’t eat our lunch out on the front lawn as we usually do.  It seemed cooler in the craft area so I spread the blankets out on the gravel in the shade.  As everyone ate lunch I read some poetry…..it was a very sweet moment.

 

 

 

From st graton art day

I’ve been excited about this class ever since I came up with the idea.  My inspiration was from a kids’ art blog, Laugh, Paint, Create.   I’ve made several trips to the Graton Art Gallery, had several telephone conversations with Pam Lewis, one of the resident artists.  To make this a fun outing for the kids and adults I put together an “I Spy” which directed everyone through the current exhibit.  Each adult/child had a mini clip board and a list of things to find ie angry red dog, spiral strawberry,  white house etc.  I encouraged everyone to talk about the art, look for familiar shapes, favorite colors, texture; we talked about stills life’s and abstracts.  It was great seeing every comfortably exploring the art gallery.  We talked about being respectful of the art and all the kids were welcome to touch all the art that was in the sculpture garden.  Before we left the gallery Pam generously offered one of her art print cards to each of the children.

 

 

 

From the gallery we came to Smiling Tree.  We had a snack, a story and created a still life and abstract painting.  I love when parents and kids work side by side.  Each had their own canvas and their own interpretation of the art.  Aren’t the side by side photos adorable!  I loved this workshop and hope to do it again!!!

Sometimes the kids’ art gets left here.  I love these two pieces so much I ”hung” them on the wall under our oil painting of Howard’s Cafe in Occidental.  My photography doesn’t do any of these pieces justice.  The kids’ art has a lot of texture and movement.  These pieces have inspired me to offer some “real art” classes in the future.  I’ve changed the way I set up the paints for class.  Lately I’ve been giving each child a pallete (pie pan) with three colors.  They get to mix their colors and see cause and effect right in their pallete.

 

 

 

 

From Cassidy & Jackson w/Gail

 

 

 

From Collages

 

From st autumn

 

I loved these pumpkin projects.  I like to make a sample of the projects before camp and it’s always fun to see what the kids do with the materials provided.  They always find a way of personalizing their work.  I’ve seen paper bag pumpkins before.  They look like paper sacks stuffed and painted….cute.  Our paper bag pumpkins were little works of art!!  This was a two day project.  Each child  started with a pallet of yellow, red, and a little dab of golden color .  It was fun seeing the kids mix their colors and create orange!!  We talked about how pretty the bright clear spots of red and yellow looked with the blended orange.  The kids put the paper bag on one hand and painted with the other.  I saw these beautiful (I think they’re beautiful) pumpkins on the website That Artist Woman .  We found twigs and real leaves in the yard to complete our project on the second day.  The fun thing the kids did was not limiting themselves to one stem or one green pipe cleaner to finish off their pumpkin.  Some pumpkins had fist fulls of moss covered sticks attached and a whole range of green fuzzy spiraled tendrils….wonderful!!

 

 

 

More Pumpkins!

 

Our other pumpkin project was made of yarn….very simple.  I found this project at Make and Takes.  We changed the yarn from red to orange and changed a little red apple to a little orange pumpkin!  The kids wrapped yarn around a piece of cardboard 80 times!!!  It was an opportunity to have fun with counting and they ended up with a sweet little pumpkin.

 

From Collages

 

More Pumpkins!!

We made Pumpkin Cookies a couple weeks ago and I promised to post the recipe.  Here’s the 2 cookie recipe we used at camp made with whole wheat flour and honey  and another recipe for pumpkin cookies I’ve used for years that make lots of cookies.  As you can see by the condition of “The Great Pumpkin” recipe it has been well used.  I’ve gone from using the full amount of white sugar to none to finally settling on “about” half the original amount.  I don’t usually make these cookies as large as the recipe calls ….too big for little ones.  When my kids were little I made these with the stem, no white sugar and outlined with orange buttercream frosting and two little buttercream leaves on top….plenty sweet

 

 

From st misc october 09 pumpkins etc

 

  We often have the kids do “real” sewing at camp.  Today was a little different, we did a group project.  With real “pointy” needles the kids sewed a face for our scarecrow, stuffed a shirt, coveralls then put everything together to create the body then plopped the head on top.  During the process some kids were stuffing, some were sewing the face and at one point everyone was sewing colorful patches on the scarecrow’s shirt and coveralls.  The group aspect made this really fun.  There were a few pokes with the needles but no tears and everyone learned what sharp means.

 

From scarecrow collage

 

From Collages

 

I often say “it’s the process, not the product”, meaning enjoy the art of getting dirty, learning by experimenting, put out all the supplies and let the kids enjoy creating their own work.  The “tie dye project I had to remind myself of that theory.  Don’t worry about the end product just enjoy the process.  I must admit I was disappointed in the end result but the process was very colorful and fun.  I saw this project online and experimented as I usually do before offering a project for camp.  I used Dollar Store tissue paper and it didn’t work at all.  I searched all over town for “bleeding tissue paper” which was recommended, so once I found it I figured it would work.  But, no,  we barely got any color transfer but like I said, the process was fun.  The other project, marble painting was fun and the end result was great.  I think so any way, on both counts.  I put out small tubs of paint and a big bowl of marbles.  The kids dropped marbles in paint then transferred them with a spoon to a box with a sheet of paper on the bottom.  The kids rolled the marbles back and forth, creating their painting.  One of the interesting things about this technique is that the kids could add as many colors as they like and the art still didn’t get muddy.  The kids got to choose their paint colors, practice transferring with spoons, then picking up paint covered marbles with their bare hands and some of the kids even washed the marbles…..more messy fun at camp.

From chickens at camp

We’ve had a chicken inspired time at camp. In anticipation of our neighborhood chickens coming for a visit we had a few projects for grown ups and for the kids.  The moms cut out felt chickens and spent a few minutes each week sewing as I “worked” with the kids.  We worked in the garden digging compost and  looking for worms.  We planted Swiss chard seeds and painted cardboard chickens .  While the kids and I explored and created the moms chatted and stitched.  One mom said her family would be impressed that she “made” something.  I think even if you’re not particularly crafty or creative just having a little time to “play” with creative materials can be relaxing and inspiring for adults.  We topped off our chicken series with a visit from our neighborhood hens, Rosalita and Mamacita.  Everyone had a chance to hand feed these gentle birds and all the moms who started a felt chicken, finished it!!!   

 

 

From mouse house

 

I had so much fun making this little house.  I saw a similar one at the Bennett Valley Preschool and fell in love with it.  I’m told there’s one at a school in Healdsburg as well and a whole story that goes along with it.  It seems there’s a little mouse that lives in the house and is away working at the cheese factory while the kids are at school.  I built our Smiling Tree, house out of scraps of wood and twigs, stones and moss.  I built the house and painted some little stones with mice and bugs and an owl.  I tried not to draw too much attention to the little house even though I was excited about it.  I’m thrilled to see the kids stop to play with it and sit and imagine.  Today three little boys sat together and discussed what might live in the house.  One of the boys was quite sure that a fairy of some sort lives there…..so cute!!

 

One of our books this week was ”Not A Box” by Antoinette Portis, also the author of “Not A Stick”.  Who hasn’t at one time in their lives preferred to play with the box more than the gift inside?  In “Not A Box” , the simple stick figure rabbit imagines his/her box is a boat, a rocket ship, robot; everything but a box.  Of course in “Not a Stick”  the stick is a sword, fishing pole, conductors baton…..  I love these books and so do the kids.  It’s an open invitation to imagine whatever they like.

From Collages

 

 

Since we did this project I’ve had some feedback from parents and actually got to see how the kids are playing with their “boxes”.  Emma turned her house upside down, and turned it into a “SUV”  she doesn’t have a SUV but that’s what she told me she was putting her stuffed animals in.  In they went , Emma joined them and took them for a drive.  In and out, in and out up and over, she had lots of fun with her box (not a box)car.  Emma’s box was just a box with a door cut into it.  River’s box was a little more sophisticated.  She had a windshield and steering wheel.  I’m told she has been “driving” all over town.  What started as a fun painting project at camp lives on at home.

We also decorated little “treasure” boxes….glue, glitter, sequins, stickers!!!!  what fun

From st gemma theo joel lucas from theo mom

 

Here are a couple pictures I love that were taken way back last winter/spring.  Theo’s mom emailed them to me and I just figured out how to save them to my computer then move them to my Piccasa account for use here……wow!  I did it but it wasn’t easy!…..I’m so not a computer person!

 

At any rate it was a beautiful day and we were having fun with the scarf chase game and a walk to our “listening tree”  We haven’t gone to the listening tree all summer.  It’s just outside our gate and down the gravel drive way.  I go out with the kids and a few parents (not necessarily all of them).  We stop at the big oak tree and just listen….quiet!…..listen…..

 

From st gemma theo joel lucas from theo mom

 

 

 

 

 We had fun with worms today.  We built a worm farm by layering dirt and sand in a clear plastic bottle then dug up worms from the compost heap and added them along with some food (lettuce, apple peel) .  We also painted toilet paper roll worms and peeled some organic apples with worm holes…..no worms there!  The idea with the worm farm is that we cover the bottle with paper so that the worms have darkness which they like .  Then you can peek at their work by removing the cover and seeing where the worms have been by the trail of sand they leave.  I’m anxious to hear back from everyone to see if their worms ate the food and made sand trails up and down the side of the bottle.  Everyone can enjoy watching their worms then dump them out into their garden so they can help make the flowers and plants grow stronger.

 

 

From st misc + worms

Joshua loves peppers so he helped me harvest a “sweet treat”

From st misc + worms

 

I’m happily doing some more nanny/doula “work”.  The family I’m helping has a charming and bright 3 1/2 year old girl and a sweet new 3-4month old baby boy.  I brought our prayer flag project to do with Emma.  We put a little spin on the project though.  Instead of using koolaide to dye the flags we used beet juice.  The beet juice was great because it gave Emma an opportunity to taste fresh cooked beets.  I boiled, peeled and sliced the beets then had Emma use a small cookie cutter to cut the beets into Teddy bear shapes.  That was all well and good, she cut the beets and arranged the little beet bears on the plate but was quite sure she didn’t want to eat them……we’ll try again another time!  The other thing that was different about the project was that Emma stitched the flags on the cord.  At camp we stapled the flags on but with plenty of time Emma stitched the flags herself.  The way we did the sewing was I poked the needle in and she pulled it through until she got the hang of it and then did it all herself.  I helped by holding the work for her. 

I explained to Emma that the idea was that when you hang your flags and the wind catches them it takes good wishes all ’round the world.  She asked if good wishes would go to her Uncle Jeff and I said yes…so sweet!

 

When my kids were young we made kick the can ice cream.  It was so much fun.  We put our ingredients in a coffee can, added a spoon as an agitator then taped it up with duct tape then put that can into another can with ice and salt then taped that can up then proceeded to kick or roll the can back and forth until we had ice cream.  This is something my kids still talk about.  Well, I found an easier way with zip lock bags.  Here’s the You tube link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLRDsW_p4LA

 

 

I didn’t get many pictures but the ice cream did turn out……..delicious!  A couple things I’d add to the instructions is to be sure to use heavy duty freezer bags especially for the milk mixture. The bags are great because you can see how your ice cream is setting up. Be careful with the salt.  We make our ice cream on our front lawn so I asked everyone to be careful when they opened the bag not to spill the salt water.  Remove as much air from the inner (milk) bag this way the liquid gets the most surface to coldThis only make a small portion but enough to enjoy the magic of turning milk and sugar into ice cream in less than 10 minutes.   Truth be told the parents probably were more intriqued with the process than the kids but everyone enjoyed the ice cream.  This is something I’d do over and over.  Make it a summer tradition the kids will want to repeat and will remember.

From st misc windsocks

 

Stephenie my niece (great-niece) and helper often makes our samples.  Here shes’ making a Smiling Tree Camp windsock…….thanks Steph

 

 This is a fun project we did earlier in the summer and I’m just now posting it.  This was a great project because the kids had fun making the windsock then took them out to the front lawn for a run and when they were tired we all enjoyed watching them blow in the breeze.

Do you remember dyeing carnations when you were a kid?  I do.  We’d put white carnations in jars with colored water and the carnations would change color….magic!   I saw some Queen Anne’s Lace dyed the same way…..beautiful!  I thought it would be a fun project for camp so I tried it.  I learned you need to start with darker water than I used.  After a few days I noticed a faint color change but not much.  The flowers were pretty in the colored water jars though.  You can find Queen Anne’s lace growing along the road side all over “West County”.  I don’t think anyone minds if you pick it.

 

 

 

 

We had a busy day at camp. Started by picking blackberries then everyone made cheesy pretzels. I wanted to try dyeing Queen Anne’s Lace with food coloring but my prototype didn’t work very well so I went ahead and picked a big bouquet of flowers for the kids to cut blossoms from to make “flower arrangements” in baby food jars. I encouraged the kids collect greenery from around the yard to add to their creations. The pretzels were left to rise while the kids played and had fun with their craft projects.

 

The pretzels were delicious!  I’m always amazed how well the recipes we use turn out.  The recipe may call for 1/2 teaspoon of yeast but the kids sometimes measure out 1/4 teaspoon or 1+!  If the grown up has an eagle eye they can compensate with the other ingredients or add a little something more to make the  concoction  closer to the recipe.  One way or another our baking always turns out great.  Here’s the recipe for our pretzels

 

From st anne’s lace cheese pretzels

Cheese Pretzels……makes 2-4

 

½ tsp yeast

3 TB warm water

Let dissolve

 

½ tsp sugar

½ cup flour

2 TB grated Cheddar cheese

Stir & Knead

 

Cut into 2/4 pieces

Roll into “worms”, shape

 

Brush with beaten egg

Sprinkle with kosher salt …. I’ve also sprinkled sesame seeds and garlic granules !

Bake at 425degrees 15minutes

 

Enjoy

It was an easy, breezy day at camp. Everyone seemed to be drawn to the hammock…..ahhhhh….a quiet moment

We started camp with a quick run around and a few songs then off to explore and create.  Our project this week was our take on Tibetan Prayer flags.  I’m sure you’ve seen these flags flying in different places around town or maybe seen pictures of them flying on mountain tops in Tibet…one of our moms has been to Tibet and has seen the flags there first hand.  The colors of the flags represent different things:  yellow-earth, blue-space (spirit), green-air (wind) etc.  Each flag has a prayer or good wish for healing, happiness in the world.  The idea is to hang the flags where the wind will catch them and blow the good wishes ’round the world……..wonderful!  Our flags were made on unbleach muslin, decorated with permanent markers then dyed by dipping in a solution of koolaide, vinegar and salt.  This “dye” is not permanent on cotton but was fun to work with and safe.  The kids hung their flags on the clothesline to dry then we strung them together so they could take them home and find a place to hang them so the wind will catch them.

As you can see in the slide show a couple grown ups found a moment to themselves to create.  I love when parents have a moment to themselves.  When you have small children that is often hard to come by.  Most parents don’t have a chance to create and play with art so when they can do it here at camp I think it’s a special treat.  While I set the projects up for the kids and ask parents to let the kids do their own thing I love the bonding that occurs when parent and child work side by side; parent available to help if needed, child free to explore as they choose.

 

 

 

Our neighbor horses came for a visit at the fence and all the kids who wanted to fed them watermelon.  I usually instruct the parents on how to help their child feed the horses but today I helped the kids.  I learned this from a “horsey mom”….hold the food by the end with plenty sticking out for the horse to get…carrots, long pieces of watermelon etc.   The child holds the food and the grownup covers the child’s entire hand with their own (protecting the child’s fingers).  I’m not comfortable with the method of holding the food on my out stretched palm….too many little fingers to get in the way!

After feeding the horses we buried the rest of the watermelon rinds in the compost pile.  This was another object of fascination.  The kids love looking at all the wiggly worms.  We’ll be making a worm farm in the next couple weeks…..the kids will love that!

 

 We used markers, stickers and rubber stamps to decorate cardstock (1/4 page) and make postcards.  The kids and parents made their postcards then addressed them to Mom, Dad, Grandma and Grandpa.  I made arrangements for our mail man to drive back and pick up our handmade postcards.  The kids where thrilled to have the mail truck drive up and hand their cards to the mail man.  It was fun and funny to see how excited the kids were…..who’d a known!

 

 

 

We had fun with parent/child yoga at camp.  Everybody got in the act with tree pose, plough, cobra and a nice relaxing balloon breath.

 

From Collages

Inspired by an article in Mothering Magazine we gathered herbs and flowers from the garden; lavender, roses, thyme, sage, rosemary, mint, and some unidentified bits of green the kids found.  We made a tea with the fragrant herbs and flowers and while the tea steeped we wrapped more herbs and flowers in a square of fabric with a cotton ball to absorb a few drops of grapefruit essential oil.  The fabric sachet was to take  to enjoy a foot bath at home then the hot herb tea was added to a small tub of cool water for the kids and moms to take a foot soak…..so sweet!  I hope everyone will find time sit with their kids and soak their feet and share a special moment.  I imagine a cool soak on a hot afternoon while sipping iced tea or a warm soak on a cold day with a story and maybe a cup of hot cocoa.

 

 

From st foot prints

This was such a sweet project.  It is of course more than a foot print scroll to hang up and admire.  It’s the special closeness of moms and dads and grandmas holding their little one’s feet; a little tickle, a little joke , painting their feet then lovingly washing them.  I loved this.  When I say it’s the process not the product I guess I mean it because I managed to not take a picture of the finished scrolls, just the closeness of making them.

 

From hand prints plaster relief

This was a fun project.  We made playdough molds of the kids’ hands and feet then filled them with plaster of Paris.  All the little wrinkles and lines showed up.  Some of the prints were given as Father’s Day gifts

 

 

From st button flowers, scarf hunt

Todays main project was a sewing project for the kids and moms to work on together.  I got the idea for this project online at Chasing Cheerios. I got everything set up in advance by using an iron- on fusible webbing to attach green gingham stems and floral leaves to the blue and white background.  The children chose their buttons and with the help of their grown up sewed them onto the background.  My suggestion was that the moms start by pushing the needle from the bottom up through the button.  The kids pulled the needle and thread through then poked it back down through the button.  Mom and child worked together to sew the buttons on.  Once the buttons were sewn on the kids chose felt and fabric to create their flowers.  Moms cut a slit in each fabric piece so they could practice buttoning while they create their flowers.  This was a sweet project because it wasn’t too much for the kids, it caused them to work closely with their parent and the moms were free to add their own personal touch.  I had intended to mount the finished piece on a piece of foam core board so the kids could take their button flower board with them and “play” with it as they practice their buttoning.  One of the moms had the idea of making the piece into a pillow.  The idea was a hit so most everyone took their project home to complete.

 
 

 

 

 

From smiling tree camp starts May 09

 

There’s a different feel around Smiling Tree Farm…..summer’s in the air!  The days are warmer so we’ve got the wash tub out and the kids are washing laundry and hanging it on the line.  The quilts and wool blankets are off the beds and spread on the front lawn for our picnic lunch.  We painted flower pots and planted marigolds in the pots to take home and planted some in the garden to enjoy here at camp all summer long.  I’m looking forward to having lots kids and parents spend some quality time  together here in “wine country”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From smiling tree last of the carrots

 

 

 

This group of kids seemed to enjoy picking the carrots from the garden at Smiling Tree Farm the most.  They treated it as a hunt….hunt for carrots, hunt for worms, hunt for bugs and snakes.  Today we found a fuzzy catepillar and picked the last of the winter carrots before getting ready for our spring / summer garden.  While Katie and the others painted pine cones, Mac decided he wanted to paint a stick (5 feet long!) he found…..it’s all good!

 

 

This is just a follow-up to the April Newsletter…………

Rattle Snakes…..yes

 

Yes, we live in rattle snake “country”.  I received an email from a mom who has enjoyed the sculpture garden at Paradise Ridge Winery and wanted to report that she saw a rattle snake there.  It wasn’t this spring but you can be sure that there are snakes all around Santa Rosa.  My feeling is there are snakes and mosquitoes and ticks and poison oak and all the lovely little critters surrounding us in nature. I don’t believe this is  a reason to avoid the great outdoors. 

 

 

To get more info on rattle snakes and reinforce my idea that we should be out in nature I called the Spring Lake Environmental Discovery Center and spoke with Kristina Stanton.  Kristina who happens to be a mother of a 2year old agrees that we should be out in nature enjoying it safely with our children.  She shared some basic guidelines for staying safe outdoors and general information about being in nature.

 

·         Stay on the trail….most county parks have maintained trails.  By staying on trails you can see where you’re walking and what’s ahead

·         Avoid tall grass….that’s where ticks hang out….again, stay on the trail!

·         Lyme’s disease is rare in Sonoma county

·         Hike in the morning….avoid the heat of the day;  that’s when snakes come out

·         Don’t climb on or turn over large rocks…..that’s where rattle snakes hide

·         Baby Rattle snakes are more dangerous than adults. 

·         If you see a snake on the trail stop, back away, don’t threaten the snake and pass only if safe

·         King Snakes (black and white stripes) are quite docile and safe

 

The Environmental Discovery Center is near the east entry to Spring Lake on Violleta Drive and is opened Wednesday through Sunday 12noon to 5pm.  From the center it’s a short walk to the look- out deck which overlooks Spring Lake and Santa Rosa.  I must be honest, it’s been years since I’ve been to the center but my kids loved to go to the look-out deck and play in the amphitheater behind the center when they were little.

 

The cost to enter Spring Lake Park is $7. Per car

 

A few more things:

 

Smiling Tree Farm Camp…  Next Wednesday will be the start of a new 3week session.  In my excitement to send the last newsletter I left out some important information.   Age range for camp:  2-6years .  I’ve had younger and older kids but the range is usually 2-4 with the occasional older sibling….there’s something for everyone. (sibling discount)   Babies are always welcome at no charge.  The time for camp is 10am-12noon. 

 

There’s still room in the Wednesday group.  I have Thursday available for private groups if you’d like to set up a one- time class (minimum 4 kids). 

 

Check the website for details and summer schedule

 

Yoga-Art-Cooking

I’m planning a special mini- camp for 6-10year olds.  This camp will be Wednesday, Thursday, Friday 1:30-3:30 or 4pm, June and July.  Still working out the details but it will be approximately an hour of yoga with art and a cooking project.  Let me know if you’re interested.  I’ll set the date soon.

 

Free Yoga…Alfresco (Outdoors!)

The Friday morning yoga class I mentioned in my last newsletter is for adults.

  Please contact me if you’d like to come…FREE….really!

 

 

Thanks, now get outside and play!

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’m still making sock monsters for anyone who brings a sock to class. Here’s Megan with her new monster.

From misc for website

We’ve been “working” in the garden.  This day we moved buckets of compost down to our new kids’ strawberry patch.  Everyone was intrigued by the worms.  Katie used her hat to hold her temporary collection of worms.

 

From st gardening worms etc

 Here’s a new favorite song from the very sweet book “Wiggle and Waggle” by Caroline Arnold 

A Digging Song

We wiggle and waggle, squiggle and squirm. 

 Digging in the dirt is the life of a worm. 

We Dig and we sing all day long,

Our wiggly, waggly, gardening song.

 

 

 

 

From st body tracing

 

 

I’ve been studying anatomy for my yoga teacher training class.  As you can see Cecil has been my study partner.  The body tracing we did for my class was fun so I decided to make tracings of the kids at FUN School.  We measured the kid’s height then traced their bodies and talked about different body parts.  Emma drew in her ribs on the tracing her dad made of her.

From Collages

 

 

 

We’ve been having a great time at FUN School.  We made bagel peanut butter bird feeders and yummy oatmeal apple cookies.  Every week we take a little hike to the “listening tree” and have been crowing to the neighbor rooster.  The listening tree is just a stones throw but seems miles away to the kids especially if they leave their mom or dad back at the house.  When we get to the tree we stop and listen…..we hear birds and the wind and airplanes and cars.  Some mornings we do yoga and sing songs and play in the rice hulls outside.  The weather continues to be good with not enough rain.  We even play tag on the front lawn with our colorful scarves.

 

 

From Drop Box

 

What a fun day!!!  We started inside with a few songs, marble games and some craft projects.  Then I went outside with the kids while the moms stayed in next to the fire and hand stitched some ornaments.  We played outside then back inside to bake some cookies (snickerdoodles) then had lunch together….very sweet day.

 

From Collages

From Collages

From Collages

Oh my it was cold this morning!!  We went out side to play and explore and found some ice with leaves frozen inside….beautiful!

 On this day at Fun School we had a group of old friends.  All these kids and moms use to come to PlayDATE and meet as a playgroup weekly.  They’ve now added Smiling Tree to their weekly activities….how fun!  The older kids in the group I’ve know since they were one year old and the little ones use to come to my classes before they were born!

From st bigi s pics 10 08

From st bigi s pics 10 08

 

From misc st replace photos

The kids took a little baby food jar and put gravel inside then collected moss  to create a terrarium.  I thought we might decorate the lid but the “organic” lable is kind of cute I think.

 

From misc st replace photos

These terrariums should stay green and growing if kept loosley covered and out of direct sun light.

From halloween turnip

  When you live in the country and your kids are all grown you don’t get trick-or-treaters.  That didn’t keep me from enjoying the spirit of the season.  I bought this turnip to test out thinking I might buy enough for the parents who come to Fun School.  I opted to buy miniature pumpkins for the kids to decorate instead of having knives and carving for the adults.  This was fun!  I hollowed out the turnip then carved a design on the outside.  As a bonus I cooked the turnip “meat” I scooped out and served it with dinner….it was good; kinndaI will do this again and recommend it for your adult Halloween party; less mess than pumpkins and so cute….don’t you think?

 

I had so much fun making clothespin dolls with the moms and kids at camp that I started making them myself. Everytime I walk past my new dolls they make me smile.  Now I have more than I can “play” with so I’m offering them for sale.  The play for me is in the making.   I think these dolls are special enough to sit on a shelf and admire but I hope a child will actually play with them.  Here’s my latest line up but I’ll gladly made a set of dolls to order with colors of your choice and “maybe” even a theme…storybook, ballet, ??? Please order early …

From st clothes pin line up

I have two different sets available (3dolls in each set):

Fun & Fancy $30                                                                                                                                                 

Fun & Simple $18

These dolls are sturdier than they look  but of course children can love their toys to death.  If you buy a set of dolls and they need “fixing” just bring them back to me and I’ll give it a loving makeover for $5 per doll

From st scarecrow

It was chilly and damp this morning so we started class inside and sang some songs, made a scarecrow and decorated some “cookies” . We spread lightly sweetened cream cheese, colored orange, on Carr’s whole wheat crackers (my husband’s new favorite snack) then decorated with raisins, prunes, nuts and mint leaves. For the scare crow we filled an old pair of jeans and shirt with crumpled newspaper then safety pinned them together. The head was a fun sewing project in its self. The kids sewed felt pieces for eyes and mouth with a little help from me. Once we finished our inside projects the sun came out and the kids went outside to play and went on a pumpkin finding hike. The kids each found a pumpkin then decorated it with glue, googley eyes, colored pom poms….so cute!

We decided to have lunch inside today. The kids sat at their little table and the parents (some of the parents) enjoyed their lunch and a cup of tea at the dining table. It was a great day!

 

 

From st scrarecrow brussle sprouts

Another beautiful fall day.  I know we need rain, I know the weather will change but for right now, today, it’s perfect!  It’s warm, the leaves are changing and it smells good!  I love spending these mornings with my friends at “Fun School”,  This week we made scarecrow mobils, did some car painting and collected seeds on our sticky collage.  It was a fun day and as usual I shared something to eat with my little friends.  This week I steamed some brussel sprouts and brought  another pomegranate to share.  I like to share a new food more than one time.  Last week and this week we had a pomegranate.  Some of the kids really like it others were just curious………..just like the parents,  This week I also shared brussel sprouts.  I steamed the sprouts and then finished them with garlic and olive oil then had sour cream as  a dip.  A couple kids ate the sprouts, some licked the sour cream off, nobody spit them out so that’s a good thing.

 

From andy gump

These two little clothespin dolls were left unfinished at camp so I decided to have some fun myself.  I added some hair and clothes and little eucalyptus caps.  I put the two little dolls next to Andy Gump just waiting to be found by one of my young friends to play with.  Andy Gump is an ashtray holder made by my husband’s great uncle probably in the 1920’s.  He is a treasured family hand-me-down with stories of my husband and his sister dancing with him when they were young and a special “friend” of my own children…..isn’t he cute!  

From andy gump

 Try this simple “recipe” for a fun Halloween project/treat.

This was a fun project, not really cooking but food related.  We did this sometime over the summer.  I was on a spider kick because there was a big garden spider spinning its web at our front gate.  We made these cracker, peanut butter, pretzel spiders and oak gall spiders another day.  

 

From st spider crackers

More cooking……..we made Apple-Raisin muffins; funny how we all used the same recipe and they all turned out so differently. These recipes are so forgiving!

 

From st wheelbarrow leaf art

Recipe for 2 Apple-Raisin Muffins

Flour Mixture …I mix this before our little bakers come to class

1 cup sifted flour (sift before measuring)

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/8 tsp salt

2TBL sugar                                  Mix dry ingredients……..this is enough for several batches (6?)

Here’s the recipe we used at FUN School:

2 1/2 TBL flour mixture

1tsp oil

1 TBL milk

1/2 TBL beaten egg

Stir to moisten mixture….Do not overmix!

2 tsp chopped apple + 7 raisins + a pinch of cinnamon…….push fruit into batter without much stirring

pour into two paper-lined muffin tins.           

    Bake 400 degrees about 13minutes

I’m going to try this one again…..not my favorite recipe but great for kids…..I’ll let you know how it goes.

There’s something so sweet about our little camp I can’t stand it at times.  Every kid and every parent has a different approach and style.  Cyrus and his mom  and dad come to camp and Cyrus gets to fly through the willow tree in our hammock swing……carefree and happy

From cyrus swing

Our book this week was Bumpety Bump by Pat Hutchins.  In this story a little boy gets a wheelbarrow ride from his grandpa as they dig potatoes, pick beans and tomatoes in the garden;  just like we do at camp.  I lined my wheelbarrow with a wool blanket and gave the kids a bumpy ride through the yard……..such fun!

ready for lunch and a good story

From bumpety bump

From st wheelbarrow leaf art

From st wheelbarrow leaf art

 

From st bumpety dolls andy gump

From st bumpety dolls andy gump

From Acorns pumpkins cecil

From Acorns pumpkins cecil

 I feel a little like Henny Penny.  Acorns are falling like little bombs…..really, they hit the roof and deck with such a loud sharp thump I jump everytime.  This is a particularly heavy “crop” of acorns this year.  It works that way; some years there aren’t many and other years the trees are loaded.  It seems to me that there’s some folklore that indicates that lots of acorns means a severe winter or maybe it’s just a normal cycle. (?)  What ever it is there are tons of acorns falling and the kids are gathering them up like little treasures.  Here’s a tip:   yes, kids love to gather acorns however, there are little worms that live in acorns and come out once they hit the ground or when the kids bring them in the house…………Yuck!  If your kids bring in a collection of acorns put them in a warm oven (350 degrees) for about 10minutes…..no more bugs!

We made chocolate chip cookies…..yummy, yum, yum!  Here’s Isaac and Michelle mixing ‘em up.

From st cooking cookies pizza

This photo was taken earlier this summer but I just came across it again and cropped it close.  I love it.  Adam was adding his bold stroke of yellow to our oversized “canvas”.  I love seeing the kids in their quiet moments of discovery and creativity.

From st apple pie

I found the cutest book in the library and had to plan a project around it.  The story is about a grandma cat that makes an apple pie and serves it to her family; there’s one piece left.  A family of mice find the pie and enjoy it, leaving a few crumbs which a family of ants find.  The illustrations are wonderful and in the end everyone pitches in to help make a pie to share.  This week we read the book and everyone pitched in to help make apple pie!  Yummmy, yumm, yum!!!

From st apple pie book

From st apple pie book

 

 

 

 

Itsy Bitsy spiders……we hunted for these oak galls then transformed them into spiders!! Everyone had a chance to sample the Swiss chard and green beans too. It’s too cool for water play so we have rice hulls and bird seed to play with.

Today Caroline had a first at camp; she ate a green bean! We picked beans and sampled them raw as well as steamed. Rosalie tasted several herbs in the garden, basil, tarragon, sage, mint, of course green beans and no tomatoes! She says she’ll like tomatoes when she grows up.

What a fun morning! We had a great tour of the fire station…..not too much but enough to engage the parents if not the kids. What is it about fire trucks and fire fighters that kids (and grown ups) are so taken with? I like the shiny red trucks but kids seem to light up when they see a fire truck. I must admit before we started our tour there was a little boy who lit up at the sight of the UPS truck so I guess it’s not the shiny red. This was a perfect field trip for little ones. They got to climb up into the trucks and engines and pretend to drive. They were able to hold the big fire hose and pull the nozzle to squirt water clear across the street. Everyone got a Graton Fire Dept red fire hat, a sticker badge and a Smoky Bear coloring book. Thank you to Jeremy and Josh for making the time to show us the fire house and all the equipment and gear.

This week continuing with our food and “cooking” theme we made peanut butter, cracker and pretzel spiders……more messy fun and tasty too (did I say cute)!! Our neighbor horses have become a regular part of camp. I don’t see much of them throughout the week but when the kids are here they come to check it out and see what goodies we have for them. I usually have watermelon and sometimes carrots for the kids to feed the horses. Everyone’s intrigued with varying levels of braveness.

Water, gravel, Tonkas and horses……….the fun just keeps rolling on!

One of the moms in our Tuesday group suggested we make onigiri to tie into our food month. Onigiri is essentially a rice ball. I made sushi or sticky rice and the kids with help from their grown ups made a ball then poked a whole in it then filled the opening with goodies. We had poached red snapper, green beans, carrots, tempeh, egg, avocado, peas, sesame seeds and nori (sea weed). I think it was a good food project, the kids were very clear about what they wanted in the rice balls; some plain, some with only avocado, some with everything!!! I’ll do this project again; maybe with the bigger kids cooking class and during the winter when we have our Happy Hour with a maximum of 6 kids………easier with fewer kids……

Thank you Justine for the inspiration and bringing fillings and toppings for our Origiri!

River loves seasoned seaweed

Justine sent me this quote from the book, “Fun & Fancy Sushi” pretty good words to live by even if you don’t make onigiri!

click picture to enlarge

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