First Day of School- German- Style!!

WooHoo!!!

Did you hear that?!  That is the sound of a mother who, although she loves her children dearly, is super-excited that they are going back to school!!!  We had a great summer and, in some ways, I will miss our lazy mornings and fun times, but the kids are tired of each other (and me) and not having enough structure in their day.  They might argue about that structure part, but I can see how much they need to go back to school.  My daughter, who is going into 1st grade (!!), doesn't go back until after Labor Day, but my son started his Pre-K class today.  Where does the time go?  I swear I was just posting cute infant pictures on Facebook yesterday!!  Anyway, we saw a cute idea in Family Fun magazine about a German tradition for the first day of school.  It's called a Schultüte (literal translation- school bag) and it's our new family tradition.

A Schultüte, sometimes also called a Zuckertüte (sugar bag), is a cone-shaped paper goodie bag given to children to celebrate the first day of school.  Traditionally, the first day of 1st Grade, but that seemed unfair so both my kids are going to get one.  I can't take any more cries of unfairness this summer! 

 

The tradition dates back to the early 1800's and started as a way to make the young children more excited about starting school.  The cones are usually filled with treats, small school supplies and other goodies.  Where were these things when I was growing up?!? 

Here is how you can make one for your darlings to celebrate the happiest time of the year (for parents anyway!).....

Schultüte
 For the project you will need:

• large thick paper or poster board
• strong tape or stapler
• tissue paper
• glue
• scissors
• stickers, markers or other decorations
• treats, school supplies, various goodies
• ribbon or yarn

1.  Take the heavy paper and twist it into a cone shape.  Tape or staple it so it will stay put.

2.  Take a piece of tissue paper about the same circumference of the open end of the cone and glue it on.  If your cone is really big, you might need another piece.  If it's a small cone, cut off the excess...they're gonna rip it off anyway, so don't get too fussy.

3. Decorate the cone anyway you want.  Or you could have wrapped it with some pretty gift wrap before the tissue paper.

4.  Fill your Schultüte with all the goodies and then tie up the end with the ribbon or yarn.

5.  Now you are ready to present your kid (who you actually kinda missed) with a wonderful treat to celebrate a great first day at school!  





They grow so fast.  

Art: Antarctic Style

When life hands you ice....

.... Do ice painting, of course!!  If there is one thing Antarctica has more of than penguins, it's ice.  A layer of ice permanently covers 95% of the continent and can reach a thickness of a mile.  So you'd think that the only color as far as the eye could see would be white, right?  Actually, the ice reflects the sky and beautifully creates shades of blue that are amazing.

 

The water runoff when the ice melts, and the surrounding seas are so pure and clean that the water is the clearest shade of blue you'll see.  Cold, but beautiful.



So we made a project.

Antarctic Ice Painting
For the project you will need:

• ice cube trays or small disposable cups
• water
• blue food coloring
• white paper
• toothpicks
• cling wrap or foil

1.  Pour the water into the ice cube trays (or small disposable cups) and add a small amount of blue food coloring to the water to make various shades of blue.  So pretty.

2. Cover the tray with wrap and poke toothpicks through for handles.

3. Put into freezer.  Wait, wait, wait.

4. When properly frozen, use the ice to paint all over the paper to make beautiful shades of blue.  We went through a few sheets of paper just painting and then I drew an orca so we had an underwater scene to paint.

This is a very relaxing painting activity that would be great on a hot day or with different colors to show color mixing.  Clean up is easy and leftover "paint" can be used to cool off your drink :)

Cheers to Antarctica!

A Little Luck For You

Moroccan Good Luck Hands

I came across this symbol when I was looking up some art projects for Morocco and it seemed perfect for us to do this week.  I mean who doesn't want more good luck?  Not me, I could use all I can get!  The symbol is called a Khamsa (Hamsa) and is a open right hand that can be decorated any number of ways. They are commonly made from precious metals, like silver or gold, and can be worn as an amulet or hung over doorways. 

They serve both to give the owner good luck and protect from the "evil eye".  You know, the "evil eye", that malicious stare that will (supposedly) cause illness, death or awful bad luck to the recipient.  Bad juju.  So it's better to be safe and make your very own Khamsa in case you run afoul of some big meanie giving you a bad look.  Lucky for you, you read this blog :)  See the good luck is already coming.

Khamsa
For the project you will need:

• aluminum foil (unless you have some extra silver or gold lying around)
• skewer or pencil
• markers
• glue
• scissors
• glitter or gems (optional- we didn't use)

1.  Take a piece of aluminum foil that is about 12 inches long and spread a thin layer of glue around it.  Fold the foil in thirds making sure that it's big enough to trace a hand on.  The glue will keep the layers of foil from separating once it's dried.

2. Trace your (or your kid's) right hand onto the foil with the skewer.  Or you can use a pencil or pen.  Cut out the shape.

3. Decorate your Khamsa with spirals, eyes, hearts, whatever.  I used the skewer first and then colored it in with the markers.  I think it gives a nicer texture and more dimension.  Or it would look pretty with some glitter or gems glued on. 

4. There, now you are protected and safe and have a cute little handprint keepsake. 

You're welcome.  Have a wonderful day!!!

An American craft

Americana Luminaries

We ended up with a lot of cooking project this week.  So while the kids are waiting for the fireworks to start here is a little easy project for them to do.  I will admit it started out as a different project that I saw on Pinterest- let's just say don't believe everything you see on Pinterest.  They were supposed to be painted jars with little peekaboo stars......FAIL! 

 

The paint looked all streaky and the stars didn't look like stars at all when we peeled the stickers off the jars.  So I removed the painting step and just kept the stickers.  What's that saying? K.I.S.S.- Keep It Simple Stupid.  I hate that word "stupid", let's pretend it's Keep It Simple Silly.  Here's the project!

Light up the Night Luminaries
For the project you will need:

• clean glass jars
• stickers (pref. red, white, blue)
• small candles (with adult supervision)

1.  Put stickers all over the candle.  We spelled out USA to make it extra American-y.  We used up ALL the red, silver and blue stars out of the pack of stickers!

 

2. Put a small candle in the jar, light it and enjoy your very special 4th of July candleholder!! 

Enjoy your evening!! 
 
 

Weaving Baskets

A Salute to Africa

Yesterday was July 1st- Independence Day for Somalia, Rwanda and Burundi.  These countries in Africa won their independence in the early 1960s, Somalia from Italy and Rwanda and Burundi from Belgium. 

They celebrate with festivities and parades on that special day, but their countries still have a large measure of violence and insecurity they are working out.  They are poor countries where the people have to make a living however they are able.  One of the ways they do this is by making intricately woven baskets to sell at market or use for their own households.

These baskets range from plain (but useful) to wildly colored and patterned.  They take so much work and artistic talent to make.  They are amazing!  They take reeds and weeds and turn them into useful and beautiful pieces of art-- amazing!!

Baskets can be made in different ways.  One way is to grab a small bundle of reeds and sew and twist them together in a spiral, adding more as needed and sewing them together with different colored yarns to make the pattern. 

Another way is to make a frame of strong but pliable reeds in a star (*) shape.  The weaver uses other smaller reeds to weave over and under the frame.  Around and around, changing sizes or types of materials to make a pattern.  They make it look so easy and fun. So we tried our hand at a little weaving.  Let me just say that I have a whole new respect for these weavers, it's NOT that easy!

Basket Weaving for the Beginner
For the project you will need:

• pipe cleaners
• plastic cup
• scissors
• tape
• yarn (optional)

1.  We are going to make the type of basket that is woven around a frame.  So take the plastic cup and make vertical cuts from the top almost all the way to the bottom, all the way around. 

2.  Take a pipe cleaner (or yarn if you'd rather use that) and slide one end through a slit into the middle of the cup.  Tape in place.

3.  Start weaving the pipe cleaner (or yarn) over and under the different pieces of cup.  This was a little hard with the pipe cleaner but I think would be easier with yarn.  Push down towards the bottom and add more length by twisting  the pipe cleaners together  when needed.

4.  Work your way around and up the cup until you've done as much as you want. 

5.  Cut some strips of tape and use them to finish the edges of the top. 

 

 

My daughter punched some holes in hers and added a handle

These are nowhere near as beautiful as the real thing but we tried :)

Leaping Lemurs

I've got a riddle...

What do you get when you cross a squirrel, a cat, a raccoon, and a monkey?  A lemur.  Ok, that was pretty lame, but I never claimed to be a comedian, just a Mom (and my kids thought it was clever).  Ok, seriously, you can't have a week about Madagascar and not talk about lemurs, right?  So here we go.

Lemurs are primates that are very distant cousins to the primates (monkeys, apes, etc) that live in other places of the world.  They were able to evolve and adapt in relative peace and quiet for thousands (millions?) of years on their isolated island.  There are around 100 different species of lemurs that range from 1oz. to 20lbs.  Before they became extinct, there were some Giant Lemurs that weighed almost 200lbs.!

They have all adapted to fit into the ecological area of the island where they live.  Many eat specialized diets of plants and fruit that only grow in the areas around them, because of this, the deforestation and habitat destruction that has happened over the last 2,000 years on the island has really endangered this animal species.  At least 17 species have become extinct and the remaining species are either on the threatened or endangered lists.  Sad, so sad.  I recommend you visit the library or search the web for some more wonderful facts about these adorable animals- maybe you'll be inspired to help save them in some way.

We really wanted to make a lemur project, but something different that we haven't done before.  So we made beady buddies.  Are you familiar with these?  They are little characters that you make with cord and pony beads that you can attach to a backpack or zipper.  My daughter made some at school last year and really enjoyed them.  So I found a template for a monkey and changed the design a little to make a ....

Ring-Tailed Lemur Beady Buddy
For the project you will need:

• black, grey and white pony beads.  My black and grey beads looks very similar on the pictures.
• 1 yd. plastic cord or yarn with the ends stiffened
• template - this is pretty roughly drawn, sorry.
• clip so you can attach it to things

1.  Fold your cord in half to find the center.  Slip the folded end through the clip and then bring the loose ends through the folded loop and pull to tighten and attach the cord to the clip.  This is called a half hitch.

2. String the first row of beads (that make the top of the head) on one of the strings.  Pass the other string through the same beads but going in the opposite direction.  Pull to tighten. 

3.  Put the beads on the string following the pattern on the template, bringing the strings through the beads from opposite ends each time.

4.  The ears have a special trick.  When you finish the 4th row (the one with the nose) put the two grey ear beads on one string and pass the cord through the beads in Row 2.  Put the other two ear beads on and pass it through Row 4 again.

5.  Keep going until you have finished the lemur's tail and then tie it off with a knot.

This is a little bit of an advanced art project.  Adult help might be needed but I was surprised by how quickly my daughter caught on.  I think it turned out pretty cute- my brother said it looked like a lemur that got run over.  Brothers can be so mean.

We also made a gecko that was a little easier.  I included that on the template too.  This is a good project for those long summer afternoons when you want a little peace and quiet.  There are hundreds of different templates online! 

 

 

Chameleons

Colorful Characters

Madagascar is known for having very unique animals and plants.  The lemur is possibly the most well known, and we will be doing a project on them, but I also wanted to do a project on another well known inhabitant of the island- the chameleon.

There are over 160 different species of chameleons, ranging in size from 3/4 of an inch to 26 inches, and almost 2/3 of these chameleons live in Madagascar. 

These reptiles are famous for a few traits-

• They have eyes that move independently of each other, allowing them a 360° view.
• Their feet are specially formed to live in the trees.  Their five toes are grouped into two pads that grip the branches.
• They walk with a back and forth motion to mimic the leaves blowing.  This makes them hard to see.
• They have long sticky tongues that can grab an insect or worm from inches away without the chameleon moving at all.
• They can change colors!!  This is perhaps their most well-known trait, but I (and I bet you too) thought this was mostly for camouflage.  It's not.  The chameleon changes it's color to show emotions, communicate with potential mates, and defend it's territory.
  

Chameleons are pretty cool alright.  So we made one to keep as a little pet.....

Pipe cleaner Chameleon
For the project you will need:

• 3 green pipe cleaners (at least)
• pink pipe cleaner
• scissors
• sharpie or googly eyes

1. Take one green pipe cleaner and make a loop about 1" long on the end.  This will be the head.

2. Cut a piece of the pink pipe cleaner about 2" long and attach one end to the "head".  This is the tongue.  You can curl it up to make it look cuter.

3. Take another green pipe cleaner and wrap the head to make it look more like a solid head.  This should take about 3/4 of the pipe cleaner.  Cut off the rest to use as legs.

4.  Wrap the piece you just cut off around the long piece of pipe cleaner that is extending from the head.  These are one set of legs. 

 

5. From the third green pipe cleaner cut another piece for another set of legs.  Attach them to the body as well.

6.  Coil the rest of the 3rd pipe cleaner (or use another pipe cleaner) until it looks like a spring.  Bend up the legs and slide the coil over them to make the body.  Pull the legs back out and arrange until it looks right.

7.  You should still have a piece of the 1st pipe cleaner (the body) sticking out of the back.  This is the tail.  Curl it under in a spiral.
The picture shows it curled up but it should curl under- I fixed it later. :)

8.  Draw on some eyes or glue on some googly eyes.  The googly eyes would look cuter but I couldn't find any!

9.  Bend the little guys feet and attach him to some plants (or your finger!)  Too cute :) 

This project was a little tough for my 4 year old.  He lost interest pretty quick.  My 6 year old was able to do it but it was a little challenging for her too.