Inside Out Fun School

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

 

 

I’ve been having so much fun making Sock Monsters for the kids who are coming to FUN School. I originally thought this was something the moms could do while they stayed inside sipping tea near the fire on our cold days. I would take the kids outside to play and explore and leave the moms inside. As it turns out we didn’t have that many cold mornings. This last session I asked each child to bring an old sock and I made these fun “monsters”….more to come!

From misc for website

I read some poetry to the kids today.  They liked it, the moms liked it, I liked it………….

 

My Favorite Word

There is one word-

My favorite-

The very, very best.

It isn’t No or Maybe.

It’s Yes, Yes, Yes,Yes, YES!

“Yes, yes, you may,” and

“Yes, of course,” and

“Yes, please help yourself.”

And when I want a piece of cake,

“Why, yes.  It’s on the shelf.”

Some Candy?  “Yes.”

A cookie? “Yes.”

A movie?  “Yes, we’ll go.”

I love it when they say my word:

Yes, Yes, YES! (Not No.)

                                            Lucia and James L. Hymes, Jr.

TREE HOUSE

A tree house, a free house,

A secret you and me house,

A high up in the leafy branches

Cozy as can be house

A street house, a neat house,

Be sure and wipe your feet house

Is not my kind of house at all-

Let’s go live in a tree house.

                                                                  Shel Silverstein

 

 

We did all things lemony today at Smiling Tree.  After comparing notes I realized that nearly everyone coming to Smiling Tree right now love lemons.  A couple of the moms have lemon trees in their yards and  heavy branches of lemons hanging over the fence from their neighbor’s tree.  I have a little lemon tree as well and have been bringing lemons from my cousin’s lemon tree in Sacramento.  So we have lemons!!! 

From Collages

 

 

 

Today the kids squeezed lemons and we made lemon bars….yummmm, lemon curd….yummmm, and lemonade….yumm!!!  We sampled all our creations with lunch and there was lemon curd and lemon bars to take home.

 

Here are the recipes:

 

Lemon Curd

(from the Joy of Cooking)

makes about 1 2/3 cups                                                                                   

In  a medium stainless-steel or enamel saucepan, whisk together until lignt in color    :

3 large eggs

1/3 cup sugar

grated zest of 1 lemon

Add:

1/2 cup lemon juice

6 tablespoons butter cut into small pieces

Cook, whisking over medium heat until the butter is melted.  Then whisk constantly until the mixture thickened and simmer gently for an a  few seconds.  Using a spatula, scrap the filling into a medium-mesh sieve set over a bowl and strain the filling into the bowl.   (I skipped this step…no straining for me) Stir in:

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Let cool, cover and refrigerate to thicken.  The keeps, refrigerated, for about 1 week.

I served a sampling of the lemon curd on buttered bread and sent everyone home with a small container each.

 

Tangy Lemon Bars 

makes 16 large or 24 smaller bars

for the crust

1/4 cup sugar

3/4 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp salt

8 TBL (1cube) butter, melted

1 cup flour

for the topping:

1 cup plus 2TBL sugar

3 TBL flour

3 large eggs, lightly beaten

1 1/2 tsp finely grated lemon zest

1/2 cup strained fresh lemon juice

1TBL powdered sugar for dusting

Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Line the bottom and up the sides of an 8-inch square baking pan with foil, so that the foil hands over the edges.

First, make the crust.  Put the sugar, vanilla and salt in a medium  bowl and stir in the melted butter.  Add the flour and mix just until incorporated.  Press the dough evenly over the bottom of the pan.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the crust is lightly browned at the edges and golden brown in the center.

 

While the crust is baking, make the topping.  Combine the sugar and flour in a large bowl and mix thoroughly.  Whisk in the eggs and stir in the lemon zest and juice.

When the crust is cooked, slide out the rack with the pan and set it on a work surface.

Turn the oven to 300 degrees.

Pour the filling into the hot crust and carefully slide the rack with the pan back into the overn

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until the topping no longer jiggles in the center when the pan is tapped.  Remove from the oven and set on a rack to cool completely.  Lift up on the foil and transfer to a cutting board.

If the surface is covered with a thin layer of moist foam, blot it gently to reveal the zest.  Lay a square of paper towel on the surface and sweep your fingers over it gently to absorb excess moisture.  Remove the paper and repeat with a fresh piece if necessary.

Use a long sharp knife to cut into 16 2-inch or 24 smaller bars

Put the powdered sugar in a strainer and shake it over the cut bars.  Transfer to a plate and serve immediately.

 

The bars can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator of three days without the crust becoming soggy.  To do so, do not use the powered sugar ; instead, shake it over the bars immediately before serving.

 

Lemonade

I just added water and sugar to fresh lemon juice….excellent!

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

From Collages

Everybody loved playing in the gooo!  We measured out corn starch and water (didn’t need to measure but it’s part of the process).  I put out food color and the kids explored mixing colors and creating new ones.  This goo is interesting in that the colors blend and separate and swirl around before blending again….fun!  I wanted to get these photos online so I’ll continue with the actual recipe and maybe a link to related stuff…

 

From Collages

 

 

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

 

 

 

From Collages

 

 

This was a great day at FUN School. We played with play dough making figures of our dog Cecil, birthday cakes and little worms. Emma’s dad taught us and wiggley worm song then we went out in the garden to dig for worms. The kids had fun holding the worms then digging a deep hole to put them back in the ground. I was going to look in our compost pile for worms but found a sleeping snake instead……wow, what a day!

 

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

 

We got a little bit of a late start….everyone wanted to watch our new president  being sworn in and listen to his inauguration speech.  It was an especially wonderful day.  We made hand print momentos of the day and shared a special little gingerbread muffin treat in celebration.

 

From inauguration 2009

 

I’ve been visiting some wonderful blogs, many of them posted by homeschooling families.  While looking at Camp Creek Blog I realized we’re all homeschoolers! I believe everything we do is teaching and so home and car and super market are all “school”.  Much of what I do at Smiling Tree is what a homeschool family might do. The setting here is relaxed with lots of opportunities for exploration and discovery plus specific materials provided for special projects.   A term I learned on one of these blogs is “strewing”  , this is something I like to do at Smiling Tree; just place something out without mention and just see  who discovers it and what they do with it.   I usually have a plan for the materiels I set out but it’s always fun when parents and/or kids come up with new and different ways to use familiar materials.  It seems when ever there is paint out, leaves and rocks and oakgalls get painted along with paper.   I make an effort to set out or “strew”  interesting thing for the kids to find; little hand made dolls at kid eye level, a shark jaw in the bathroom, stethescope on the end table, magnifying glass on the picnic table.  On one particularly cold morning I didn’t have to do anything special for the kids to make it a “special” morning.  I took the kids outside while the moms stayed inside next to the warm fire.  During our walk outside we found a puddle of water frozen  with leaves suspended inside.  The kids loved breaking the ice and holding the frozen “stained glass” up to see the sun shining through the frozen leaves.  …..simple pleasures, wonderful discoveries….”home schooling”!

http://www.whiteoakschool.com/camp-creek-blog/

 

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

We went outside to feed the horses and they never came over so the kids decided to eat the carrots themselves.  We played in the rice hulls,  found a lady bug and went on a hike.  It was a fun and cold morning.

From Drop Box

I made these little cotton hankies for the kids who are coming to my last FUN School class before Christmas.  I’m not sure if they’re hankies (wipe your nose) or napkins (wipe your mouth).  Either way I think they’re pretty cute and I hope they’ll be used and reused over and over again.

How to:  cut a 12″ square of cotton fabric, press a double 1/4″ hem, stitch the hem, embroider the initial (monogram)

 

From st thanksgiving turkey handprints etc wild turkey

Is there such a thing as too much handprint “art”?  Of course not!!!!   Aren’t these cute.  The trick here is to paint the kids’ hand then have them open wide then help them press down to make the print.  You can get two or three prints from one painting.  Don’t forget to have your child dip their pointer finger in the red paint so they can add a waddle.

 

From st thanksgiving turkey handprints etc wild turkey

 

From ST thanksgiving turkey hats 2008

We had some fun with Thanksgiving crafts and songs at Smiling Tree this week.  Here are a couple “turkey” songs we sang:

Gobble, gobble turkey, Thanksgiving-time is here; gobble, gobble turkey, Thanksgiving-time is here……… that’s it, over and over again until you’re tired of it!

From ST thanksgiving turkey hats 2008

“Strut Mr Turkey”

Who’s that struting ’round looking mighty perky?   Looks like it might be old Mr. Turkey. Strut Mr. Turkey that’s a fancy way to walk.   Strut Mr. Turkey that’s a fancy way to walk. 

We pranced and strutted around while we sang this song………so funny and fun!

 

 

From ST thanksgiving 2008

We made these cute turkey hats using brown paper grocery bags and construction paper.  The head band is aprox 3″ wide,  the face is a  3 1/2 “circle , both were cut from the bag. Even the littlest kids helped cut out their hats and used glue sticks and white glue to put them together with their mom’s help.

From misc st replace photos

Leaves, twigs, acorns + glue and just a touch of paint…………..art!

 

 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 st terreriums colored acorns cookies luncheon

Now that the weather is damp we’ve moved inside for lunch.  I miss our picnics on the front lawn but there’s something very sweet about having everyone inside.  We’ve been having the kids sit down at their own table ; parents help the kids get settled and if the kids don’t need anymore help the parents sit at the big table.  I’ve been serving the grown ups a cup of tea and our Wednesday parents actually had a little time in the house while I took the kids outside to play tag on the front lawn.

From st terreriums colored acorns cookies luncheon

See the moms in the background enjoying their lunch and a cup of tea while I sit with the kids and read them poetry and a short story.

 

 

From st terreriums colored acorns cookies luncheon

See the little round dishes?  I served the kids some Swiss chard which Ty pick from our garden.

From st terreriums colored acorns cookies luncheon

Sometimes baking with whole wheat flour and honey just doesn’t quite make it.  I remember back in the early 70’s (yes, early 70’s ) I tried to substitute honey for sugar in everything I baked; honey and whole wheat flour and often (too often ) I ended up with heavy not so good baked goods.  My baking has evolved and I usually use a blend of whole wheat pastry flour,  unbleached white flour and white sugar because sometimes that’s what’s best for the dish.  Well, I must say this recipe uses 100% whole wheat flour and honey and is delicious!  These are moist, perfectly sweet cookies.  That being said, there is quite a variable when 2 and 3 year olds are doing the cooking! and everything is always delicious!!  Our recipes are designed for children to make individual servings.  This recipe makes approximately 3 cookies.  Here’s the recipe we used for our cookies this week:

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Raisin Cookies

1/2 tablespoon butter

2 teaspoons honey

mix well

1 tablespoon pumpkin

1 1/2 tablespoons Flour Mixture

Flour Mixture

3/4 cups whole wheat flour

1/2 teaspoon soda

1/4 teaspoon cloves

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon beaten egg

1 tablespoon chopped nuts

1 tablespoon raisins

Mix

drop by spoonful (makes aprox 3 cookies)

bake 350degrees for 12 minutes

 

From st terreriums colored acorns cookies luncheon

From st terreriums colored acorns cookies luncheon

 As part of our cooking “class”  I demonstrated how to scoop up flour in a tablespoon then use the back of a knife (plastic) to level the flour off.  A funny and interesting thing I observed while the kids were outside playing in the rice hulls; in their play I saw two kids scooping up rice hulls and leveling off the top before dumping it back into the “pot”…..hmmmmmm

 

From st terreriums colored acorns cookies luncheon

 

This is a fun and very easy project.  The kids took acorn caps and colored the inside with felt tip pens.  Then filled the caps half full with white glue…..then wait.  Part of the fun was watching the glue dry!!!  Really, as the glue dries the color from the felt tip pens leaches into the glue turning white glue into  beautiful ,shiny, almost jewel like colors.  On these damp days it takes as long as 24 hours (or more) to dry comepletly.  Once the acorn caps are dry the kids can spread them out color side down and play a matching-memory game.  For really young ones just learning colors is fun.

From st terreriums colored acorns cookies luncheon

From st terreriums colored acorns cookies luncheon

 I put a matching set of 8 acorn tops in a Altoid tin and think it would make a great travel game….what do you think?

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!

Last week I mentioned we tried out some Brussle sprouts with mixed reviews. Well, this week it was beets!  I cooked the beets then sliced them and used tiny cookie cutters to make beet teddy bears and cats!Somewhat unlikely food to offer kids but I’m a believer in giving tasting opportunities without any pressure to actually eat the new food.

There was a recent article in the Press Democrat about childhood nutrition which gave some ideas to help get your children to try new things. One suggestion was to involve your child in the food preparation and keep trying! It was noted that you should offer a new food as many as 15 times and not attached any pressure to try.

I’ll continue to serve up new and different veggies for my Smiling Tree kids to try; maybe an artichoke next week!

From halloween turnip

 Not just any beets but Teddy bears, cats and stars……I couldn’t help myself!

 

 

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.

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

It was a little chilly last Tuesday so we started camp inside with a cooking project.  We made yeasty, cheesy pretzels. This was another one of those projects that the parents enjoyed as much as the kids.  Everybody helped measure and stir but the kids were done before the pretzels were.  So, the moms finished the pretzels and visited while the kids played with my “vintage” wooden puzzles.  Once the pretzels were in the oven everyone went outside to play and paint then we sat together on the front lawn and ate our warm pretzels with mustard (and without)…….another sweet day at camp

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!