Mardi Gras and Birdhouses

Our fourth session in the after school program, and today it was so sunny and spring-like we had the children all paint birdhouses. Though some called theirs alien houses, which I love when the children can totally make something their own. We talked a little bit about African American month, and repetitive patterns in traditional African fabrics. We suggested to the children to try and use patterning on their birdhouses, and gave them different examples on the board. It's apparent when the kids have a specific idea they want to stick with it. So most children didn't do the patterning, but they did turn out some incredible birdhouses with scenic views on them. We like to suggest, and try not to hinder their own creativity. We also talked about Mardi Gras and what it was, and where it is celebrated. We also discussed the meaning of Fat Tuesday, and we all made Mardi Gras masks. They seemed to have a lot of fun with those adding feathers and sequins. We listened to a little bit of jazz music while decorating and designing their masks. In the very beginning of class I read a book called "Leo the Lightning Bug". It was a book about a lightning bug, and how he overcomes his fears, and believes in himself. Also, about how sometimes it is just easier to laugh at ourselves instead of getting upset. I think it is important for students to know that everyone learns at a different pace, and that practice can really make perfect. Especially in art when everyone has their own interpretation of something, that it is o.k. to be different. Below are photos from our projects this week.

Pink Kettle Corn

Kettle corn is one of the greatest yummies of all time. So the other day I brought some to our Craft Kitchen Valentine session. I got a good response from the kids and some adults who got the chance to sample it, so here is the recipe. My recipe comes from the Whirley Pop recipe booklet.

1/3 c. unpopped popcorn
4 T. sugar
4 T. canola oil (I used vegetable)
1/2 t. vanilla
6-8 drops of red food coloring
dash of salt (I think it adds some depth of flavor)

You should use a Whirley Pop type of popper. Unless, you have another method that will mix while popping. You can dump all of the ingredients into the popper, and then mix together while popping. Take off heat when you hear no more popping. Pour onto cookie sheet and let cool for 5-10 minutes if you can wait that long. I suggest you wait, because it is super hot, and surely you will burn your tongue if you taste it right away. I know, I've done it. You can use any food coloring. It looks nice and festive. Just a note: I tried using candy food coloring, and way too much I might add. The popcorn looked great, but it tasted horrible. So I think I'll stick with liquid food coloring.

Valentine Hot Pads

So this week we had a Valentine themed class. It was super fun and we certainly had difficulty trimming down what projects to do. We read about where Valentine's Day came from and who they claim Valentine was. We asked the children what they thought it was all about and why we celebrate it. To my surprise the children had spectacular ideas, and in fact, one child knew exactly who Valentine was. We talked about how to say "I love you" in different languages, and what things are giving for Valentine's day. One of the projects we made with the children is a fun heart shaped hot pad. The kids got to pick out the patterned back fabric, and draw a design on the front plain fabric. They were shown how to assemble the hot pad with fabric on the back, cotton batting in the middle, and their beautiful design on the front. We then helped them pin it all together, and then they got to help sew it on the sewing machine. Most children just powered the machine, while a few others also wanted to help guide their hot pad. We used fabric markers so their beautiful designs will be permanent.

Valentine Pop-out Cards

During our valentine themed class the children also made valentine cards for their special person. These were a fun challenge for the kids. They had a pop-out heart on the inside. They decorated the outside of the cards with stickers, foamie stickers, and colored. On the inside some children wrote on each heart. They turned out beautifully, and I think pretty special for whoever was at the receiving end of these heart bursting greetings.

Candycane Chocolate Hearts

These were really fun to make, and it made the room smell delicious. The kids were a bit distracted, but obviously so when you can small chocolate melting it can make you giddy. Once all of the chocolate melted, each student was able to squeeze their own chocolate heart out. I first showed them how to use the cookie shooter loaded with chocolate. They really liked doing this, and so did I. The hardest part was waiting for them to harden and cool. They were really delicious.

Clothes Pin People

During the second week in craft class we worked on clothes pin people. We asked the children to create a person or thing that they would like to be, and they all came up with some really interesting people/things. They cut fabric, used pom poms, drew with markers, and painted onto their people. They had a great time creating them, though I must say that we had some challenges with gluing the pipe cleaners as antennae. We also talked about Ground Hog day and the famous ground hog in Pennsylvania, and the meaning behind the day. Check out the beautiful clothes pin people below from class.

Here are a couple examples that we showed the children, my Tarzan guy and precious ballerina.

Chinese New Year Tiger Masks

Our second week in craft class we talked about Chinese New Year and the year of the Tiger. We read a book that discussed different symbols in Chinese culture and their meaning. We also found out what each child's Chinese zodiac symbol was, and we had a lot of goats and horses in our class. They got to each glue their mask onto sturdier paper, color, and cut it out. I helped them add the elastic so they could be a tiger all day. We sure heard a lot of roaring from our enthusiastic tigers. They all did a fabulous job coloring the masks. We talked about fortune cookies, and found out it isn't a traditional Chinese cookie, but an American made tradition. I'm o.k. with that because I love 'em, and it's always fun to read the fortunes. A happy heart is richer than money in the bank.

Journals and bookmarks

Our first Craft Kitchen session went really great. All of the children did simple bookbinding, and added a pocket in the back of the book to hold the bookmarks they made and a drawing tool. For inspiration today we read Shel Silverstein poems to the children from "Where the Sidewalk Ends". A favorite book from my youth that I read all the time. We talked to the children about ways to use their journals from writing poetry, drawing pictures, collaging, to even using as a diary. They were able to personalize their own journal cover with foam stickers, magazine cutouts, coloring, markers, and buttons. We encouraged them to use their journals as a creative outlet, and talked about what an "entry" is in a journal. I showed them a couple examples in my book so they could see the possibilities. Then at the end of the day we played a word game Hangman which they seemed to enjoy by letting them choose the words that the other children would have to guess. Overall, we had a great first session and we are looking forward to the rest of the classes being energetic and craftastic!

Here are the examples that I did to show the class. These gave them some ideas of how to make the front of their book interesting and personalize it.

The picture above is of two students journals and the back pockets.

The same students front of their journals. I believe they had a fondness for foam stickers.

Here a couple more students with their lovely journals above and below. What great modeling they are doing of the beautiful works. We encouraged them to layer images, which was difficult for some, and exciting for others.