The Write Start

Family Tree

I have been in the Thanksgiving spirit for a while now, even though we still have a ways to go until Turkey Day. I am particularly thankful for all of you, and the support you have given me and my book. I really and truly thank you -- you don't know how much each and every one of your kind words have meant to me.

And, as always, I am constantly and evermore thankful for my family, which is the inspiration for this particular project. We invented this crafty family tree a few Thanksgivings ago, and have been re-creating it in slightly new and different ways every year since. It all began when my son started asking some of those "who's who" family questions where you find yourself explaining all the relative relationships: Mommy's sisters are your aunts... Daddy's brother is your uncle... Our parents are your Grandparents. I drew a family tree to illustrate the concept, but it somehow fell flat. So we whipped up this 3-D family tree, in between pie-baking and potato-peeling. Conveniently, all the ingredients for this craft can be found at the grocery store. So it makes the perfect accompaniment to the Thanksgiving festivities, not to mention the perfect reminder of why we all gather together.

 
We typically start this project with a nature walk, collecting autumn leaves to use as models, and a fallen branch to use for our tree. Then we set up all of our supplies, which include:

     a leaf from nature

     a pencil

     natural-colored coffee filters

     a scissors

     red, yellow, and green liquid food coloring

     water

     newspaper for covering your work surface

     dark-colored marker or alphabet stampers

     white glue

     clothespins

 
The basic how-to:

First, trace around a leaf with a pencil. Kids can place their leaves right on top of a coffee filter, carefully stabilizing the leaf with one hand while tracing its shape with the other.

 
Next, kids can cut along the edges of their leaf outlines to create individual leaves.

 
Make liquid water color paints by squeezing many drops of food coloring into a cup, and then adding a small amount of water (the more intense you want your colors, the more food coloring you'll add.) Make sure your work surface is covered thoroughly with newspaper -- food coloring can definitely stain.

  
 
My favorite part of this activity is painting the coffee filter leaves. The filter paper absorbs and diffuses the watery paint in such a wonderful way. The colors blend and bleed into each other as you dab at the leaf with your paintbrush, creating that dappled look of real autumn leaves. And when the painted coffee filter leaves dry, they get the crispy feel of dried leaves, but without all the crumble. This part is a hit with kids (and grown-ups) of all ages.

When all of the leaves dry, kids can start writing family member's names on each leaf. The first year we did this project, Jack was a pre-writer, so we used alphabet stamps for the names, which worked beautifully.

  
Last, but certainly not least, we glue a clothespin to the back of each leaf. This simple addition makes this project what I call a "craftivity," a craft that turns into a forever activity. The clothespins make the whole family tree endlessly interactive. I put all the clothespin leaves in a basket next to a big branch that we "planted" in a flower pot (using scrunched up paper bags to stabilize it). The kids clip, unclip, arrange, and rearrange the leaves over and over again, learning more and more about their family as they play. And getting a fine motor workout all-the-while. I just love it.

 
A variation of this project is in my book, along with 50+ other activities that can be adapted to all different skill levels. I have to say, this is one of my personal favorites. Please let me know if you try it, and if creating it and playing with it becomes a Thanksgiving ritual in your house, as it has in ours.

Oh, and so many THANKS, again.

Mudpies on the Menu

Inspired by this amazing article, we set up a mudpie kitchen in a shady spot in the backyard. To tell you the truth, my kids really don't need to be enticed to play in the mud (I call them the "Muddy Buddies"), but I thought a kitchen would be a natural extension of their daily muddy mayhem. Not to mention that the kitchen made me all sorts of nostalgic for summer afternoons with my childhood best friend Jenni W. (She was Jenni W., I was Jenny H. -- which had the potential to be confusing, but we always knew who we were, so it didn't bother us a bit.) Our best mudpies featured dried azalea topping, a dirty delicacy we dubbed "gramble," and the occasional worm. Oh, and crab apples. I can't forget the crab apples.

We don't have any azaleas here, so I dried out some hydrangeas for garnish. And while there isn't a crab apple to be found, we have no shortage of stinky crab claws. I set that stuff out in buckets, along with a basket of basic cooking tools, and a big bucket of water as a sink. I turned over a large galvanized bin (that we usually keeps our sports balls in) and free-handed some spiral-shaped squiggles on the underside to suggest stove burners.

Then, the fun part. Making mud. We turned the spinkers right on to our kitchen (and Jack helped them along with buckets of water) and kept testing the mud until we achieved the perfect consistancy. Once mud perfection was achieved, the cooking commenced.

Mmmmmm. Mud!

Alfresco Art

A group art project was on the agenda at Camp Mom the other day. It was Baba's birthday, and I planted the seed for the three grandkids to work together to make her a piece of original art. I bought a large artist's canvas at the craft store (thanks to a handy-dandy 40% off coupon). Gracie, a mixologist-in-training, helped me with some color-mixing. I had some mixed media on my mind...

First, some bubble painting. I prepped for this by adding a little food coloring to some bubble solution (or bubble juice, as we call it around here). We added wands, blew, and enjoyed watching the bubbles add pops of color to the canvas. The effect reminds me of fireworks: the paint bursts from the bubbles, then drips down a little bit, and finally disappears. A definite crowd pleaser!

Then on to marble painting. The kids dropped marbles into paint that we mixed in small jars, swirled them around, and rolled them across the canvas. We used a kiddie pool to contain the canvas, when we found that we kept loosing our marbles in the grass. This was a fun-filled, free-for-all of color and movement and action. It kept their interest for a long time as they experimented with different colors, re-positioned the canvas to change the direction of the streaks, and tried single vs. multiple marble combinations. This effect reminded me of streamers across the canvas: full of intense color and motion.

Finally, we dipped one finger at a time into paint, and made little tiny fingerprints all over the canvas. One one hand, it was a way for the kids to "sign" their art. On the other hand, it was a great way to work on some more refined control after all of that big movement. In my eyes, these tiny fingerprints looked liked confetti on our "Carnival of Color" canvas. Simply beautiful. 

The biggest challenge with group art is finding a balance among the different ages and stages of the young artists. I found that all it took were a few easy yet creative techniques to equalize the art, and keep it engaging for all. In the backyard that day we erased the artistic differences between an abstract expressionist (Gracie, age 2), a budding impressionist (Courtney, age 4), and a realist (Jack, age 6). We created both a unified piece of art and a great cooperative experience. We gifted the painting to Baba along with a picture of the young artists. I hope she loves it as much as we loved making it for her.

Spelling in the Grass

Apparently the only thing better than playing with alpha rocks on the back deck...

is playing with alpha rocks in the grass.

Enough said. 

Alpha Rocks

We made some alpha rocks at Camp Mom last week, an idea that has been floating around in my head since I saw this post last summer. We prepared by picking up all of the smoothest pebbles we could find, and giving them a quick wash and dry. Instead of stamping letters on the rocks, however, I decided to show the kids how to use rub-on letters to 'up' the fine motor challenge a notch. (I grabbed the letters for 99 cents at Michaels; I see they're also available here.)

I cut out the individual letters. The kids took each letter, placed it on a rock (shiny side up) and rubbed over the letter with a stick until it "magically" transferred on to the stone. There is a momentary wow! factor which is quite reinforcing. Especially since it takes a bit of effort for little hands to stabilize the small rock in one hand while moving the stick with the other. This requires some coordination, but, once mastered, the kids are off and running. And you can feel great knowing that this kind of coordination also prepares them for other fine motor tasks that require one hand to take the lead while the other hand assists, such as stabilizing the paper while writing, cutting paper with scissors, buttoning and zippering, and so on, and so on.

And once you're done with all of that work you have a great set of alpha rocks which doubles as pretty, playful, and practical decor. Ours are planted on the backyard table right now for some naturally-occurring word play. So. Much. Fun. Especially when you find messages like this one...

This rocked my world the other day. Gotta love it!