art/craft

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 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!!!   

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 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!

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.

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!

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 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!

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

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 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