Kleas

mosaic monday...and just like that, it's autumn

1. From the Archives - Shrooms on the forest floor., 2. Adventure Knitting 2!, 3. Happy First Day of Fall..., 4. Patrinia scabiosifolia, 5. Autumn, 6. Picked in my yard:), 7. Fall Flowers, 8. scarf nr° 20, 9. Untitled, 10. ribbon 'ghan, 11. i love neighbors that drop off beautiful bouquets from events they catered the previous evening. thank you @sfmotogrrl !!, 12. table runner

seed crafting at the preschool

In handwork this week we worked with seeds found in nature!

Well, I said on Monday that I wanted to come up with a craft for the kids at the preschool to make with all the horse chestnuts I had gathered.  Necklaces proved to be a nice simple way to put them to use (although they look suspiciously a bit like the conkers I said I would avoid).

The children each got to open up one of the seeds from it's prickly outer shell to the smooth and soft seed found inside.  We then used it to make these simple necklaces practicing more of our fine motor skills moving the beads through the needle.  I loved to see how so many parents honored their children by immediately wearing the necklaces they had made!  Children just love that.

 

Thanks to Jackie who told me "Buckeyes" are thought to bring good luck.

 

 

The second piece of our handwork last week was maple seed art.  We gathered the seeds on our daily walk around the lake and each child created and glued a maple seed art masterpiece.  I loved each and every one of them.

 

The Maple Seed by William Carlos Williams

 

The breeze stirs 

the lone maple

seed until it

cannot still cling

and the helicopter,

the whirligig,

spirals, twirls, whirls

daintily dancing

down to its

bluegrass bed

mosaic monday - horse chestnuts

1. "Zen stones", 2. Breaking out, 3. A conker, 4. I came, I saw, I conkered (conquered!), 5. Conker - Horse Chestnut, 6. Weapon of choice, 7. Conkers!, 8. Overflow // 11 10 13, 9. progression of things, 10. Breaking Out, 11. A nut of a horse-chestnut., 12. Horse Chestnut seeds // 12 10 13

Lately, on my walks around the lake I've been gathering horse chestnuts.  Of course I have to come up with a project for the kids at the preschool to make with these.  I love, love, love all the beautifully photographed ones found on Flickr and just had to put them all together.  Click on the above links for artist information about each photo.

I also love how easily they pop out of their sharp, prickly casing, revealing the smooth, brown nut on the inside.

I've heard that left around the house they act as a spider deterrent.  I have no proof of that but since I'm not a big fan of spiders, I'll give it a try.  Anyway, they look so pretty hanging out in a bowl.  

Have you ever heard of conkers?  I learned about it while researching horse chestnuts.  I love this description found here.  It sounds like a fun childhood game and tradition...not that I'll be introducing conkers at the preschool though...yikes! 

Hope you're having a lovely Monday!!  xx

more butterfly craft at the preschool

Continuing in the theme of the butterfly during handwork this week the children made sweet little yarn butterflies.  (These would look nice on a nature table, or parents could add a safety pin and wear it as a brooch!) This was a good time to see how adept the children are with their fine motor skills by stringing beads on a wire for the body.  The kids also wound the yarn around their hand (for the wings) which was good to see where they are with their hand/eye coordination.

 

• Each child used about a four inch piece of 24 gauge wire and bent it in half
• Then they picked out four glass beads for the body and strung them onto one half of the wire
• Using about a yard and a half of yarn, the children wrapped the yarn around their hand and then gently slid their hand out not to disrupt the wool "wings"
• Next, slide the yarn between the empty piece of wire and the other side with the beads
• Twist the yarn at the top (I needed to help all my preschoolers with this step) and form antennae
• Fluff out the wool wings...and ...done.

Later in the week was symmetry painting.

We brought a big word into our conversation...symmetry.  I was impressed at how many children already knew what this was.  We talked about symmetry found on our own bodies as well as that of other animals and insects, but especially the butterfly.  On our morning walks around the block, the children delighted in finding symmetry in the world around us.  So, in our second day of handwork we made a quick painting by adding drops of paint to our paper, then folding it in half to see symmetry work.

 

It had been a very long time since I had done this kind of painting and had forgotten how much fun it is.  

mosaic monday - butterflies on my mind

1. butterfly, 2. BlueMorpho, 3. butterfly-drawings-6, 4. Image from page 173 of "American entomology, or, Descriptions of the insects of North America : illustrated by coloured figures from original drawings executed from nature" (1824), 5. Monarch butterfly, finished., 6. 100_2677b full butterfly, 7. Shimmer Butterfly Fine Art Photograph, 8. blue butterfly, 9. butterfly grouted,

I most definitely have butterflies on my mind.  On Saturday we celebrated a beautiful day near the lake at The Monarch Festival with lots of friends from school.  It has been such a wonderful yearly event that my boys count on it each year.  

The Heart of the Beast puppet theater was a new and delightful addition to the festival this year!  Don't you just love the puppet show emerging from the suitcases?!

And we always enjoy the new crafts...masks and wet-felted caterpillars were fun.

They offered the steam roller printing again which was a huge hit the first time around (see here), I'm happy they continue to offer it.  And the sun prints (here) are always fun too.

Also, over the weekend we took care of Julen's first grade class caterpillars.  It was so much fun I think I gazed at them several hours each day.  I didn't realize how they can mess up that cage in a hurry!!  I learned quite quickly that caterpillars are like babies...all they do it eat and poop.

They truly are so fun to watch.  I took care of my friend Susan's chrysalis pods over the summer and had such fun watching them open into butterflies.  

Happy Monday Friends!!  xx

making paper butterflies

This week at the preschool we made fluttering paper butterflies in honor of The Monarch Festival that is being held in Minneapolis today.

I'll admit this was an ambitious project for the first week of preschool, but I really wanted a butterfly theme for handwork.  And...it did give me me the opportunity to see where all of our new children are with their use of scissors.   

Children had the choice to either use crayons (mostly for the younger children) or to glue on colorful tissue paper shapes (for the older children) to decorate their butterflies.  I used the butterfly template found here.

Also, I talked briefly about symmetry which most of the older children already had an understanding about.

After cutting out the shape it took two simple folds and a little bit of tape to attach the stick and soon we had butterflies dancing about.

It was so much fun for the children to watch as the wings fluttered up and down when they moved their butterfly.

 

Three Little Birds

Today was the first day back at the preschool.  I wasn't sure how it was going to feel, after eveything, but I had Bob Marley in my head all day singing, 

                                                "Don't worry about a thing,  

                                    'Cause every little thing gonna be all right."

thanks to my dear Sister who knows just how to nuture and care for me in my time of need.  She was my confidant all summer and knew I was sad and struggling and also knew just how to pick me up.  I found a package in my door from her yesterday with all the cheerful gifts above.  The note quoting Bob on the (One little bird) card said it all.  Such kindness.  

And such kindness from you friends.  Your comments yesterday and also emails over the past months have kept me afloat (I know, not ANOTHER water metaphor!) but truly, I have appreciated it all.

As for going back to the preschool today?  One look in those cherub faces and sweet smiles and all the adoring hugs and I knew I was in the right place.  No matter what.  It will be a great year.

(also, thanks to you, Mom.  xx)

under water

Funny.  I started this post in early July.  So why not finish it now?  This, the last day of August.  In my mind, the last day of summer.  

I've had a dry spell on this blog, while here in Minnesota we've spent a summer trying to conquer the damage all the past winters' heavy snowstorms followed by early spring thundershowers have had on our poor city.  It's been a season of some of the craziest flooding I've seen here.  Sink holes, street closings, many basements filled with water.  My daily walks around the lake by my house have been tricky all summer, trying to navigate the heavy waters that had pushed themselves, first over the walkers path, then the bikers.  Everyone shared the streets with the cars for a while.  We try to get along.  I loved seeing the kayakers (in the above photo) boating over the biker's path...an image I had to capture.

There has been a serge of wildlife moving in too.  Blue herons, egrets, raccoons and I even encountered a deer one evening on my walk, I was desperate not to frighten him onto the nearby highway.

I've missed this space, my happy place while I was away from the blog world.  I didn't have the best summer.  I'm trying to put it behind me and instead count my blessings, thankful for my boys who bring me the light and joy of each day. I won't get into the details of what went on, because really, I want to move forward, but my sweet school, my precious school that I've worked so hard to build suffered a blow so strong that it almost had to shut down.  A major conflict between my teaching partner and I left me believing there was no future for the school.  While we are not completely resolved, we are moving ahead, trying to work things out the best we can.

I've missed this space!  This space that motivates me to continue to create, explore, play and connect. I'm not ready to leave you yet.  I hate not documenting all my trials and experiments.  I'll be back.  See you in September!  xxx