A Treasure Hunt of Sorts...

The summer is drawing to an end. One of the noises we will really miss this winter is the song of the cicadas. The children had so much fun collecting the empty shells last week. Each year they like to collect them and see who finds the most. We collected them off of tree bark, window frames, the grape arbor, the play set.

We decided they looked good on our shirts. How many could we pin to the shirt and keep on while running around the yard? Was it 16 bugs?

Then we caught a " live one" after hatching. It gave us a bit of a fright...

Bugs are amazing creatures. Who can deny it? See and hear you next year, little cicada!

Puzzle Masters

Recently our daughter got sick. Her illness lasted about 4 days and after sitting on the sofa not being able to read or focus on anything but not feeling good I decided to get out a puzzle. We had bought it for Christmas - thinking it would entertain the kids over the break time, but then it ended up in a back corner in the basement.

Not sure why I got to remembering it sitting there. It certainly came in as a total blessing when reading wasn't an option and the TV meter had run out... It also brought back memories of when the kids were little and loved puzzles so much.

Now I have to say you are never too old or too young to enjoy a good puzzle. The one we got for Christmas had 750 pieces (according the box) and showed a three feet wide panorama view of Portofino, Italy. Of course, we had to look it up on the map - and got in a little geography lesson at the same time!

At first the job was very daunting and near impossible. How to start? The patient was only remotely interested. Once our 12-year-old son and I picked out all the border pieces and the project started taking shape, everybody wanted to help finish this hard puzzle.

Even my husband - who mumbled something about the Germans and the French never getting along and how I enjoyed fighting crazy battles (did I hear the word maniac somewhere along the lines) - couldn't keep his hands of the pieces when we got near the end. After two days the task was finished!

As a child I did a lot of puzzles with my family. I guess I forgot how much fun it was since my kids are older now. I think this experience was a great because it helped us pass a difficult time while our daughter was sick and take our mind of the sickness. At the same time it was a fun way to teach about patience and teamwork. I am already on the lookout for another big puzzle for the family to do.

Dried Flower Craft for Kids

I was looking for an activity to do with a group of 5 year olds on the day it was my turn to be the host – as part of a group of mothers helping each other take care of the children during summer vacation (it's two months long).


After seeing a group of girls drool over a dried and dyed flower arrangement, I thought we could make our own. Searching the web I only found instructions for professional flower dying, using toxic dyes that require wearing protective gear. Well, that was out of the question!

I was not looking to achieve professional looking flowers and didn't mind if the colors faded after a while. I was looking for something fun and simple – and this is what I came up with:

First we went for a little walk and collected dried wild flowers and thistles.

All the spring flowers have dried up and we are surrounded by all different kinds of dried plants, dried seed pods, dried husks from wild grains and thistles - we just have to collect them!

When we were back, we diluted gouache paints in large pots and pans (When I say Gouache I mean the regular paints kids use in kindergarten – they might be called differently where you live).

I didn't measure, but in each bowl we mixed approximately two heaped table spoons of paint with five to six cups of water. (These paints stain – so we changed into work clothes first).

Then each girl dunked some dry flowers into a dye bath and swished them around a little.

We left the flowers to soak in the dye for a few minutes, letting the color absorb into the plants.

Then we set them out to dry on a piece of newspaper, each color separately, weight down with a stone.

When the flowers were dry, each girl made a bouquet from the different colors we made together.

It was interesting to see that each kind of plant reacted differently to the dying. Some hardly colored at all, and others were brightly colored. Generally speaking, fluffy and sticky flowers pods such as clover flowers, rabbit tail and sage retained more color and dyed stronger. Some plants only caught a hint of color but were still beautiful.
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This lovely post was written Dria Peterson who lives and creates Waldorf style toys in Israel.

Horse Mentorship Camp...Thumbs UP!

Eva is just now seven....and a huge horse fan. She has been on a horse's back since she was 19 months old and feels as comfortable there as she does sitting on a swing. And though she has never gone to any sort of camp before...when a friend told me about the Silver Horse Healing Ranch....I thought perhaps this was the summer to let her have some camp time. My instincts were right.

The ranch is nestled in the mountains of Topanga Canyon. There are several corrals in the midst of immense trees and lush wild brush. The horses who are cared for so lovingly here are all rescues...and the most relaxed horses I have ever seen.

Diva and Laydee are large, gentle Percheron draft breeds. These were Eva's favorites...They were rescued from their lives of misery, standing in stalls barely large enough to contain them, continually pregnant and tapped for their urine for the hormone replacement drug Premarin. (An acronym, I learned, for pregnant mare urine.)

The ranch holds a one to two week summer camp and other classes all summer. They also have other programs, which are designed to help heal children and adults with ADHD, high functioning autism, depression and cancer survivors. The motto there is "Helping Horses Helping Humans."

It is run by an English gal who, I am convinced is part cow girl, part shaman....and whose name happens to be Sara Vaughan...well I think she just changed it to Sara Fancy! She has such a love and respect for horses and all living things...including children. On her site it says, "Children are taught how to tap into the horse's willing nature to gain co-operation and a reciprocal relationship. There is no pressure put onto the child or the horse to do things that are stressful to the child or horse." The experience Eva had demonstrates how true those words are.

One of the things I love most about Sara is the matter-of-fact respect she had sharing with the children all her knowledge. From a Waldorf perspective, when a child enters first grade, as Eva will this year, she looks to a single point of authority and yearns to learn about the world of adults. Sara has that authority with humor, a straight forward approach, wealth of info and a spiritual perspective on her world that makes her a wonderful role model, for boys and girls alike.

The day begins in her yurt, (equipped with an outhouse and a compostable toilet.) There she forms a circle with the children and gives the ground rules and the plans for the day. She might tell the histories of the various horses and share her convictions about why horses and every living being deserve respect and how it is an honor to be on a horse's back. Then they might play tuning forks together, learn to run in a herd around the room, or have a beautiful horse-related tale read to them, choose Indian names for themselves or discuss various animal encounters they had the previous day with a snake, or bee or coyote etc. Then it is out to care for and groom the horses. With just about one on one attention, which is easy to do because the camp is limited to nine children and Sara has two helpers, she shows them all the homeopathic medicines for the horses. "Nothin' in 'ere is toxic," she reaffirms. And the children smell and look at all the various natural ointments as she tells them stories of how she healed this horse and that one from the various ailments they had when they arrived in her care.

Day by day, the children deepen their appreciation for the horses, guiding them on leads with halters (Sara never uses a bit), grooming them, tending to any wounds, feeding them carrots or handfuls of hay, molding their own horses from clay, and learning to understand how horses think and feel and how human behavior affects them.

"Where is the riding?" you might be asking. It is actually a special time reserved for the end of the day. The children ride one at a time on a soft pad, led by Sara or one of her two lovely assistants. Eva even got to canter for the first time, with Sara running along, huffing and puffing!

But this is not a riding camp, per se. It is so much more. When Eva arrived, she was tentative around the horses, around Sara, around these unfamiliar grounds. By the end of the first week, she was marching around (with quiet feet, of course, so as not to startle the horses), directing any newcomers, getting bits of hay and feeding it to her favorites, or just having a tete-a-tete with Hank or Diva. From her posture to how she discussed her various opinions with Sara or relayed the day's events at home, her confidence, not just as a "camper," but as a little person, was deepening and growing every day as her bonds with the horses grew stronger. She and all the friends she made there shared a beautiful and fun adventure none of these children will forget any time soon.

One very funny coincidence that topped it all off for Eva specifically was that Sara has a rescued chihuahua mix named Minnie...and so do we! Here are the two Minnies with our Minnie on the right! This delighted Eva and the other children to no end!

I can't say enough to recommend the Silver Horse Healing Ranch's children's programs. What a natural way to spend the day, what a relaxed way to spend the summer, what a very special experience that will touch my daughter for a lifetime. We will be back for more!

Thank you for reading!
Rebecca Varon aka Nushkie!

Fun In The Sun Natty Kids Style

Check out what the Natty Kids were up to this weekend. What fun things did you and your own natural kids do? We'd love to hear about it!

Whether it be tending the garden

Or admiring the year's crop.

Bubbles are always a favorite, as is a healthy snack (just not at the same time!)

How about a quiet walk in the woods to spy some fairies?

 

No fun in the sun is complete without water of course.

Braving something new,

Some sensory play,

Or just the thrill of cooling off.

Fun in the sun is calling, what will you do?

Simple Nature Bracelet

Sometimes the simplest activities turn out to be the best. This was the case recently when I headed outside with my 3 year old, to make a nature bracelet. We used to do this in the preschool I worked at several years ago, and it's a suitable activity for even the youngest children.



I helped him wrap the tape around his wrist, sticky side out. Then we took a walk around our neighborhood and yard to find leaves and objects to decorate it with.



After only a few minutes of adding leaves to his bracelet, my son decided a belt would be even better! He thought this was the best idea ever, and I had so much fun watching him as he decided to roll around on the ground to see what would stick to him.





Grab some packaging or masking tape and head outside with your little ones while the colors are bright and leaves are in abundance!



A beautiful fall day, some fresh air and laughs with the ones I love, and appreciating how my little ones continue to teach me to appreciate the simple things in life. It doesn't get much better than this!

- Amanda, Just Hatched

Let's preserve Autumn leaves with Beeswax.

Hi, this is Donni from The Magic Onions. When we go for our daily walks, we always take a basket for our special finds. Lately, it has been all kinds and colors of Autumn leaves.


Today, we preserved our favorites, dipping them in melted beeswax. Aren't they beautiful...


To preserve leaves in beeswax, you will need;
*Beeswax (buy online or at craft stores. I carry these beeswax blocks in my shop, Fairyfolk)
* Collected Leaves with stems
* A bowl
* A plastic bag.


Put the plastic bag inside the bowl. you will pour the melted beeswax into the plastic lined bowl. The plastic will prevent your bowl from being ruined by the wax. When you are finished, all you do is let the leftover wax in the plastic bag cool. When it is cold, it comes away from the plastic easily and can be reused for another beeswax craft.


Melt the beeswax using a homemade bain-marie and pour the melted wax in to the plastic lined bowl.


Hold each leaf by it's stem and carefully dip it into the beeswax. Submerge each leaf fully.


Lay the wax coated leaves on waxpaper to cool.

Voila! You have beautifully preserved your Autumn leaves to enjoy long after the trees outside are bare and the snow is like a blanket of white across the lawn.


Visit The Magic Onions for more crafts to do with your children.
To see my felted acorns and needle felted toys, visit my Etsy shop Fairyfolk.
Blessings and magic to you,
Donni

How To: Nurture Art Appreciation in Kids

Muddy Feet and More is a rare treat: dragonflies, butterflies, foster animals and paper cutters all receive equal time. For the complete version of today's How To, be sure to take a look at Kelly's original post. There are even more great cloud pictures to 'oooh' and 'ahhh' over!

The development of art was one one of the first steps that mankind took on his path to civilization. Throughout history, great value has been placed on beauty, originality, and creativity. From cave paintings, shell beads and tattoos to modern day architecture, advertisements and photography, art is all around us, and in fact, embedded deep into our very being.

Exposure and communication. That is all we need to appreciate art. Exposure is easy, it's all around, right? You just need to look at things in a new way. Look at everything for the art in it, listen and feel too! Use your senses. The communication may be a little more difficult. We are a verbal species. We need to learn the terms for communicating what we are experiencing. We need to learn what questions to ask to evoke responses in ourselves and the children we are with. Okay, that's really pretty easy when you get the hang of it too!

So where to begin? Outside. No, really! Go. Visit the ever changing multi-sensory work of art that nature provides us with, that nature IS. For the first assignment, take a step back. Look up. Every day, the sky is different. Even here in Phoenix the sky is never quite the same shade of blue. The sunsets are never quite the same. Even the night skies are changing, moving. Rather than seeing sky, or clouds, or the moon, you are seeing art. Now discuss that. Ask questions. Make statements. Even get excited. Do this whenever you are outside.



"Wow, look at the cloud in front of the sun! It's really beautiful!
I like the way the edge is so bright. It really contrasts with the darkness
of the inside of the cloud and makes it stand out from the other clouds!
What do you think?"



"I really like the different cloud shapes and colors. Which ones
are your favorites? There are so many shades of gray in the clouds,
and so many layers. The blue sky behind is so bright. It isn't like
the paler blue we saw yesterday, is it?"



"Amazing! Going outside is like walking into a sepia photograph!"
(Actual conversation last night.) "The sun is being filtered by all
of the dust in the air, turning the sky this unusual color!"
(The next photo is actual color, it has not been changed.
It was taken with the same camera just a few hours after the ones above.)



"Isn't is amazing how many colors nature gives us?!"

Hopefully now you are beginning to get you child(ren) a little excited, a little involved in communicating about what they see. Don't forget to ask about sounds, feelings and smells too. "Can you smell the rain in the air? How about the dust? Do you hear any birds? Are the crickets chirping? Did you know you can tell how hot it is by how quickly the crickets chirp?" Tie in whatever might interest them. Or you. It's all about making connections. There is beauty in science, creativity in math (how can you solve that equation you've never seen before?!), and originality in writing. Art is everywhere.

What next? Break out that box of crayons, those watercolors (get some good ones - more on that later), construction paper and create something inspired by what you saw. YOU create. Don't just give materials to the kids. Don't even make it into an activity that "we'll all do together" unless you are doing it as a class activity. Kids need to see adults participating in the creative process for it to become something of value. Otherwise it is just "something kids do."

This does not necessarily mean draw clouds. This means use that blue you liked from the sky and the gray from the clouds. Let them mix and join with each other. Or make something abstract. Use the fluffiness of the clouds to inspire a world made of fluff. If you want to do clouds, try out some in different colors, and try to shade the colors in rather than drawing a traditional cloud shape. These activities encourage thinking out of the box. We don't want cookie cutter thinking, we want creativity. This may take time, but the example you set will inspire the children around you.

Muddy Feet, Kelly's Etsy shop, carries hemp jewelry and eco friendly toys in a variety of materials. "By giving children beautiful, creative playthings and showing that these are meaningful ideals to ourselves, they will come to treasure these values, develop them and use them in their own lives."

Bubble Bubble

Happy Thursday! Whip up some homemade bubble solution with Curly Monkey. It's the perfect activity for a lazy summer afternoon.

My son enjoying blowing bubbles for the first time!



Some bubble solution works better than others. Here's the recipe for making great bubbles.

1.Use a container to mix your bubble solution

2. Pour in one part liquid soap

3. Pour in four parts water

4. Pour in about 1/2 teaspoon glycerin per liter of solution. (Food Grade Glycerin* is available in drugstores. Glycerol is sweet-tasting and of low toxicity. When diluted with water it is not harmful to consume.)

5. Mix up the solution and Voila!!



*For Vegetable Glycerine: try your local health food store, Amazon.com carries it or I am sure Google can tell you a bunch of other places to find it online. This just in: corn syrup is a great substitute for glycerine!

Emmanuelle's Etsy shop, Curly Monkey, specializes in natural and eco-friendly baby products including cloth wipes, clothing, baby wraps, soft toys and receiving blankets. Soft, organic goodness for the little ones in your life (or little ones on the way).

Cornstarch play

This activity is perfect for a hot sunny day. Here's what we did...you can modify amounts depending on how many children are around!

Recipe:

7 children

5 boxes cornstarch

Aprox. the same amount of water.

Method:

Dump your cornstarch into a large container. Hold one box in reserve just in case you add too much water. Start adding water gradually while the children mix with their hands.



Add water and keep mixing until it is the consistency of pancake batter. Your mixture will become more fluid as the kids work it with their hands.

Cornstarch and water make a magical concoction. If you hit it with your hand, it feels hard. If you grab a clump, it feels thick like clay and if you try to pick it up, it dribbles from your hands in streams.

The kids loved pouring it on their hands and legs and even rubbing it on their faces. It dries very quickly to a clean powder. I had a group of kids aged 3-10 and they all had fun playing with this stuff!

The kids in my backyard used a 100 gallon horse trough to clean up. I used a garden hose to spray the picnic table clean and the leftover gunk went into the compost heap!

Add some watermelon slices and your sunny afternoon is complete!