Fairy Playground
Posted: October 3, 2013 Filed under: Art & Healing, Child Centered Activities 4 CommentsNeeded some magic today so we found a special place amongst the fading plants to create a play land.
Materials included objects from our last beach walk -shells, sea glass, stones, as well as items collected from around the yard – leaves, sticks, stones.
Making paths and trails…
Adding leaf boats…
Dinner Interrupted
Posted: August 6, 2013 Filed under: Child Centered Activities, Farming off the Farm, In the Kitchen, Permaculture & Home Renovation 3 Comments
Last night, as we prepared to eat dinner on the porch, our neighbor Steve came walking down the magical path to our house. He told us that there was at least one quart of red raspberries waiting to be picked on the canes growing behind his house. That was a call to arms!
Our four-year old daughter E loves picking berries, and so this offer was the equivalent of Halloween and Christmas combined, in August. We quickly finished our dinner and then E and I ran down the path to Steve’s house.
Like little Sal in the famous story “Blueberries for Sal,” E eats 10 berries for every one she puts into the bucket. Which was not a problem here.
Before too long, she decided to run back home while I continued to fill up the bucket. There was blueberry pie waiting for dessert. Early August in Maine!
Home-Made Blessings
Posted: August 5, 2013 Filed under: Art & Healing, Child Centered Activities, Permaculture & Home Renovation 3 CommentsWhile they are nothing fancy, they sure have great potential to be! I used fabric scraps and a black Sharpie marker (holds up great in the rain) to create our own Prayer Flags. Ours hang alongside the more official Tibetan ones. The intention is to bless our space, to bless ourselves and to bless all who walk with us. Peace be with you.
Happiness is…
Posted: June 9, 2013 Filed under: Child Centered Activities, Permaculture & Home Renovation 4 Comments
How do you like to go up in a swing,
Up in the air so blue?
Oh, I do think it the pleasantest thing
Ever a child can do!
Up in the air and over the wall,
Till I can see so wide,
River and trees and cattle and all
Over the countryside
Till I look down on the garden green,
Down on the roof so brown
Up in the air I go flying again,
Up in the air and down!
— Robert Louis Stevenson
Little Books = Big Stories
Posted: March 21, 2013 Filed under: Art & Healing, Child Centered Activities 15 CommentsYears ago I was lucky enough to sit in on some book-making workshops while still living in Chicago. The process was satisfying and the product prompted all sorts of ideas to use with children. Around that same time I became interested in using stamps/stamping to tell a story. Always looking for ways to help children tell their stories and realizing that drawing could be frustrating or intimidating, I thought about cartooning, which led me to the use of stamps and stamping.
Here I combine the media for use with my four year old. She has officially entered the magical world of inventing and reciting stories and wanting us to make up our own. And in good timing, a friend recently gifted us with stamps her children no longer use (thank you Ann!).
Here is a three point binding:
Using a piece of ribbon or yarn, come up through the hole on one end and down through the hole on the opposite end. Then come up through the center hole with each end of the yarn. You can tie a bow or knot with the ends of the yarn to finish off the binding. A bead or other small object can be added here for additional decoration.
For an accordion book, simply fold a long, rectangle-shaped paper, in half, then half again and again, until you are satisfied with the number of frames you have. I glued a second folded paper to my first to expand the pages I would have to work in.
Once we had our books prepared, I made a started sample to show my daughter the concept without giving her the whole story.
My daughter quickly got to work, silent at first then chatting away about what was happening on her pages.
And here is her finished book…
“Once upon a time there was a very lonely frog and he wanted a playmate and he stayed in the water all day long. He waited and he waited and he could not miss abong.” (couldn’t get to the bottom of what that last word means!)
“The hummingbird decided she would have the day off with no one.”
“Night came and the stars came out. The frog was still waiting for a friend. He yelled out to the darkness.”
“In the morning he noticed he had a new playmate and they had a big wedding and they kissed and kissed and had big cakes and pies. They had a BIG party. The End.” – the blue half circle with symbols are the “decorations”
What would be the next logical thing to do once you’ve finished making your own book? Share it!
THE END!!
Sick Day
Posted: February 2, 2013 Filed under: Art & Healing, Child Centered Activities 2 CommentsAmid the popsicles and PBS shows were stabs at identifying where the germs were in our bodies…not the easiest of images to see but do note the “germs” drawn by my four year old on her body tracing in the stomach, hair (!) and head spots. The elbow area is well, just her elbow!
Next we made a picture of what could help us get better. She suggested a “rainbow salad”. Below is her bowl full of fruits we drew together. Overall, a nice distraction and opportunity to connect with what is happening in her body and how she can help herself!
Christmas Trees are for the Birds
Posted: January 8, 2013 Filed under: Art & Healing, Child Centered Activities, Chronicles of a First Time Parent, In the Kitchen 2 Comments
First year ever. We bought a Christmas Tree.
Out into the fields, Little Miss E and I went.
We toasted marshmallows, drank some hot chocolate then ran among the trees, E shouting, “This one! No, this one! No, no this one!!” In the fading light of a mid-December dusk I made a quick choice and cut rapidly with the saw. Oh, what a big event, and its momentum carried through the holidays.
And then last Sunday it was time to take down the tree. Along the roads now, balsams lie discarded, heaped upon the snow banks, so much trash waiting to be carted away. “Where do they go?” E asked, and I really don’t know. It got me wondering.
In our home, the threat of discarding the tree was too great. E had a meltdown. And I had an idea. I remembered my mother, an avid birder, telling me that our feathered friends love to take shelter in the boughs and branches of the trees – whether rooted or cut down does not matter – and so a plan was hatched. “Wait, we can help the birds!”
While Becca grabbed cranberries from the freezer, and a needle and thread, E and I hauled the tree outdoors, into the sunlight of the front yard. We stood the tree upright in the snow.
E was thrilled. Back into the house, she dashed to the art table and insisted “I can do it!” I showed her how to hold the needle and thread, how to position the fingers while pulling the needle through, and she was off. In her typical fashion, she shouted, “I can do it, I can do it. Give me space!”
And for good style, she donned rabbit ears. Who knows why. It was quite a look.
We transitioned from meltdown to excitement. She ate loads of raw berries, then danced as we hung them on the tree. Later, while stringing popcorn, she ate far more than she strung.
But we put together enough garland to encircle the tree several times. And so we answered her question about where our tree will go: at our house, it is for the birds.
Donuts done right!
Posted: December 30, 2012 Filed under: Child Centered Activities, In the Kitchen Leave a comment
Diffusing the Mad
Posted: November 3, 2012 Filed under: Art & Healing, Child Centered Activities, Permaculture & Home Renovation 5 CommentsWell, I anticipated a bumpy Fall for our daughter starting Pre K, preparing for the arrival of a baby brother and gearing up to move into a new home. What I did not anticipate was the utter grief and confusion she would experience with her father’s frequent absences. David has been doing a good bit of the rehab himself and this combined with a full time job and preparing for another baby is enough for any adult to manage and try to cope with. To a 3 1/2 year old child, it’s enough to tilt her axis. I confess I have been less than my idea of a good mother through many of the melt-downs, and last night’s was epic. I sent her to her room following some acting out and anger directed at me. I told her to come down when she felt able to make different choices. She went upstairs and screamed and sobbed for “daddy”. I felt helpless. Quite honestly I feel as big as a boat and as tired as any 42 year old might be in the 3rd trimester. I’ve been at the wall with how to navigate through all of this.
I got out some paper and oil pastels and started making marks…marks to describe how I felt. Later, my daughter quieted and we had some cuddling and talked about things that make her feel better when she’s upset. She listed off things like rocking in her chair, listening to stories, and I asked if she would like to see the picture I started, showing the strong feelings that I was having. Soon she was adding to the picture with bold, frenzied, strong-armed marks and telling me how MAD they were. She seemed to walk back through that energy but in a more contained way with the marks on paper. It was something. I witnessed, I watched and I was greatly reassured that we will all get through this. Not around it, not over or under, but through.
It’s 9 at night as I write this. David’s task tonight is sanding the new pine boards in the kitchen/dining room. Our girl just yelled out for him and again, he’s not here. I went in to try and comfort her and surprisingly she didn’t refuse me. She asked why daddy wasn’t home yet. I explained what he was doing again and it FINALLY occurred to me to get her one of his shirts to sniff and cuddle with while she went to sleep. A big smile, two thumbs up and now, 20 minutes later it is quiet.
an Art Farm 