Growing Up Creative

Star of David foil ornament

My mom has the habit of bringing at list 2 cakes when ever she comes to visit: one cake is usually the girl’s favorite and the other is Oren’s (I am insignificant at that matter…I think she takes me for granted…or that she knows I like any cake, period.). After a couple of days I am left with 2 empty disposable aluminum pans that I cant reuse and I hate seeing them go to waste.

So this is my solution, inspired from some great traditional Mexican tin work I got from my dear friend Karen. I hope you will try this at home.

^{Mexican tin art}

^{our Chanukah tin art}

You will need:

• 1 mom that bakes 2 cakes every other week or any other disposable foil pans (could be take-out containers or baking pans)
• A pen/ pencil with out the tip/ or a thick nail
• Colorful permanent markers (such as sharpies and ArtLine)
• Scissors
• Ribbon
• Hole puncher
• Newspaper
• Star of David template

How to:

• flatten the aluminum pan, using your hands and a towel. you may cut out the corners if necessary
  
  
• Draw firmly a Star of David using a dull pencil or a tip less pen. You may trace this template to do so.
• Using scissors cutout the Star of David. The edges may be a little sharp, younger kids may need some assistance.
• Place the Star of David on a thick pile of newspaper, this is key to get nice texture.
• Use your drawing tool to deboss your design. if you turn the star over to the other side you will get the pattern embossed, the image you have drawn will be raised.
• the project gets even more exiting when you deboss areas in your drawing instead of just drawing a line, similar to filling-in shapes in a coloring book. only instead of using color, you are creating rich texture of raised and indented material. 

• Use sharpie markers (equivalent to ArtLine in Europe) to add color to your star. 
• Punch a hole at the top of your star, tie a ribbon and hang somewhere special. 

 
The sharpie markers over the aluminum are vividly luminous.

variation:

Try different holiday elements such as a menorah, an oil pot, a dradle etc.

Star of David template

I know what’s for dinner…

Do you remember the story of Jacob and Esau the twins, the children of Rebeca and Isaac. One was red headed, a hunter, and hairy and the other was smooth and clever.
Esau (the hunter) was selling his birth rights to Jacob for a bowl of a red lentil soup; can you imagine…it probably smelled really good.
Later in the story Jacob, with the help of his mother, tricked his father and Esau for the blessings.  Well… I am not criticizing Jacob; he did what he needed to get what he wanted.  What can I say; the guy had a vision…or was it his mom’s dream?

After reading Beth’s post in upper west side mom, I knew what I was making for dinner: Lentil stew/soup garnished with some story telling of Jacob and Esau. Check out her recipe for hot red lentil soup.

You can read the story of Jacob and Esau in the Torah (of course) genesis 25-29, you may also get jacob's story at wikipedia

Enjoy your dinner

tali

The Giving Tree

I volunteer in Zoe’s class room every so often, (she is already in first grade...oh my… time flies….). This week we have created the classroom ‘Giving Tree’, inspired by an old time favorite The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein.

 
You will need:

Empty water or soda bottles from your recycling bin (or your neighbor’s bin) could be a variety of sizes
Copy paper cut in half
Drawing tools
Clear tape
Permanent markers (sharpies) or stickers
A sharp knife and a pair of scissors
String
A tree (not too tall)

How to:

• Pre-cut the base of the bottles using a knife or scissors, then rinse and dry the bottles if needed.
• Get the kids together and introduce what you will be doing today. They always like to know in advance, it keeps them more attentive while you read the story.
• Read the story out loud. I usually raise questions, followed by short discussions on various segments of the book
• Follow the story with a discussion; ask the children to talk about the different things they gave to others that made them feel happy inside. 
• Ask the children to draw some of those things. (I also gave them an option of drawing something from the story.)
  
  
  ^{I am featured in Zoe's drawing (I have this green shirt I guess I wear too often...)}
  

• Insert each drawing, facing out, into a separate bottle. Secure the drawing with clear tape. 
• Let the children decorate the outside of the bottles with sharpies and stickers if they’d like to. 
• After all the bottles are done, go to the yard and locate the tree you wish to turn into a giving tree. Take a string, and then tie one end to a branch and the other end to a bottle cap. The bottle will protect the drawing from the winter weather. Try and hang the bottles in different heights but low enough for the kids to look at.
  
  

“And the tree was happy...”


tali

 

The Recycling Box, you must have one (or two)

Did you know that Sunday November 15th is National American Recycling Day? I didn’t, until I accidentally found out about it on the family connect newsletter. I thought to my self that this is a perfect opportunity to write about our Recycling Box. Not the one we take out with the trash, but the one that can turn into something else, the one that intrigues our imagination and is a source of great inspiration.

The Recycling Box is not just a collection of materials but it is rather a concept, the idea of turning something familiar into something out of your imagination, with hardly any waste.

It all started after our first visit to 'Construct' at LACMA 3 years ago, (which is an amazing free interactive exhibition where kids can make and build using mostly recycled materials). We felt we needed to have a little 'Construct' at home.

We immediately started gathering “clean” trash. Very quickly things started to get a little out of hand, and I was at a point that I had to snick trash into the normal recycling bin, the one that actually leaves the house, because Zoe wouldn’t throw anything away, the motto was that everything can turn into something therefore we need to keep it all (I know this may sound familiar to some of you)

^{yes, we have 2 recycling boxes side by side along with the craft supply.}
Over the past few years The girls have been making everything you can think of from the constantly changing items in the box…we had a honey teddy bear translucent airplane with rainbow fairies as passengers, a rocket ship, the big blue bus (the Santa Monica public transportation) a boat, houses, bedrooms, huts, etc.  Sometimes they worked great and sometimes they fell apart. Interestingly enough most of the items they made were used as toys rather than decoration, and after they lost interest in them they would end up in the OTHER recycling bin (after their approval, of course)

Currently in our Recycling Boxes (let me spill the 'trash' on the table):

• Toilette paper rolls
• Eggs cartons
• Milk cartons
• Cereal boxes
• Interesting boxes
• Plastic containers
• Bottle caps
• Circular things
• Mushroom baskets
• Etc.

HOW TO make A something out of the Recycling Box:

• Dig through the recycling box
• Come up with an idea of what you want to make
• Draw your idea before you start, it is a great habit to have.
• Pull out the items you want to use
• Have some masking tape, glue, rubber bands, strings etc at hand as assembly solutions.
• You will probably need a pair of scissors
• Think of how you would assemble the parts together, what type of glue or fasteners would you need, etc.
• Put it together
• Paint or decorate as needed

As a parent or educator the things you should think about:

• As loving parents and educators we tend to jump in too quickly when a child is asking for our assistance. You will be helping him/her more if you don't do the work for the child but rather let him work the challenge.
• I sometimes choose to work on my own project next to my girls so they can see that I’m also doing something creative, I am available to help them as I see necessary, without taking over their project.
• The big advantage of this activity is PROBLEM SOLVING, there is so much the child needs to work out, it really enhances his/her creative thinking. So when you help children with building something, Make sure you assist them and not think for them. If they ask you how to make something throw the question back at them and see if they can find the solution on there own, they usually can.
• This activity enhances INVENTIVENESS; many of Zoe’s projects were things she made up that i have never seen before and probably don't even exist. be ready to be blown away.

Making something out of the recycling box is a great afternoon activity, a creative solution for a rainy/ snowy day, an excuse to TURN OFF the TV and computer, and definitely something to do with friends.

So start collecting…
Make sure to show off some of your kids’ projects (or even your own) on the ecokids craft flicker pool.

Happy National American Recycling Day

tali


 

Swan Lake and a dancing Excavator

On the away to the desert a couple of weeks ago we were listening to the Ballet Stories audio book. When Swan Lake was playing, we were passing by a road construction site. There was an excavator situated on top of a small mount of dirt doing its job, turning, lifting and pouring. Having our windows closed we could only hear the sounds of swan lake and see the magnificent performance of the excavator that appeared to be dancing to those notes.

No, I didn’t get it on tape…but I did find this short video that is a choreographed version of what we saw. 

As for the Ballet Stories , I bought it at the LA Phil Disney Concert Hall store. They have a wonderful collection of CD’s for kids, if you happen to be in the area you should pop-in. The Ballet Stories audio book is a combination of classic stories with classic music, double pleasure. I highly recommend.