1st Grade Art - Inspired by Kandinsky

My daughter’s school will be holding it’s annual “Arts Night” later this year.  As part of the event, each class will create a painting to be auctioned off to raise money for the school’s arts program.  The 1st grade classes used the artwork of Kandinsky as their inspiration and created these wonderful “Squared Circles” paintings.  I was so thrilled with how the paintings turned out, I thought I would do a quick “how to” post with instructions to make your own.  This is a great project to do with an entire class or at home with your own family.

First, a little background on Kandinsky — the most interesting aspect of Kandinsky is that he experienced a neurological condition called “synesthesia” whereby colors evoked sounds and sounds evoked colors.  Perhaps because of this condition, music played an important role in his life and greatly influenced his works.   In order to help the kids understand this concept, we played music (Brand New Heavies) while they worked on their project.

Materials Needed:

• Stretched canvas
• Acrylic paints (we divided the classes up by warm colors/cool colors/mixed colors
• Ruler
• Pencil
• Different size cups/glasses

To begin, determine how many square you will need in your painting.  We found that the following ratios worked best: 3 rows by 4 columns;  4 rows by 5 columns; 4 rows by 6 columns.  Using your ruler and pencil divide the painting up into a grid.  Using the different size cups/glasses, trace 3 concentric circles inside each block. Let 2-3 kids work on the painting at a time.  Give each child a palette with 4 colors.  Beginning with the center circle, have them fill in the circles with the paint, ending with the outside square.  It is not necessary to tape off the squares because you do not want crisp edges.  The paintings will look best when the edges are slightly blurred.

Tips for using acrylic paints with kids:

• Be sure to put smocks on the kids and a drop cloth or newspaper under your work space
• Wash the paint off the brush between colors by swishing the brush in a cup of water and then wiping dry with a paper towel.  Refill with clean water, as needed. This will keep the colors from getting muddy looking
• Although acrylic paint is permanent, if you get paint on clothing, wash with soap and water immediately.  There is still a small chance you can get it off if it hasn’t begun to dry

Totally off the topic note – if you watch the show Weeds, remember when Doug said he saw numbers in colors.  It sounds like synesthesia to me!

1st Grade Artwork - Cool Colors

Hello!

Yes, I realize it has been more than 52 weeks since we started this project, but we (being Deirdre, Jonah, and myself) have magnanimously granted ourselves an extension.

Our latest virtual trip has been to the nation of Japan, home of everyone’s favorite anime character – Hello Kitty.  We began our adventure by reading a great book from our library which described in  detail the various types of clothing, customs and housing in Japan over the past several hundred years.  The kids were particularly fascinated with how typical dress varied depending upon one’s occupation or station in life.  Really, who wouldn’t be fascinated by a gorgeous silk kimono and obi?

Vegetable Sushi - Yum!!!

For the culinary part of the adventure, we made homemade sushi, teriyaki salmon & veggies, miso soup and rice.  I found a really neat little sushi kit by Annie Chun which made it so easy to roll the sushi.   Honestly, I thought the kids would be a little bit more excited about making sushi rolls, but apparently, I was wrong.   However, they did down their bowls of miso in a matter of minutes.

Maneki Neko Cat - Spread The Luck

One of the highlights of this lesson was learning about the Maneki Neko welcoming cat.  This kitty has his paw raised to let people know that they are welcome into your home or shop.  You can read the legend of Maneki Neko at ActionCat. The good people at Action Cat suggested adding a link to an animal rescue group to continue the gift of the welcoming cat.  I suggest you check out Best Friends Animal Society.  You can also color your own Maneki  the Coloring Castle.

Finally, for our craft, we were inspired by Japanese woodblock prints and decorative fans.  We decided to use stamps and water color paints to decorate plain paper with vines, flowers, and even a few dinosaur pictures!  We intended to fold the paper into fans and tie the bottom with a ribbon.  But, since they didn’t come out as we expected, we ended up cutting our decorated paper into strips and making these cool book marks!

Next trip, we will venture to Kenya!

Cuddly Critter Ear Flap Hat

I designed this cuddly critter hat for a friend of mine who was having a baby earlier this spring.  It came out so cute that I wanted to share the pattern.  Although I made mine in 2 colors, it would also look cute in a solid color, or even stripes!  Right now, the pattern is only written for a size small (14″ circumference) which should fit a 3-6 month old.  I plan to revise the pattern at some point in the future with size medium (16″), large (18″), and x-large (20″).  Of course, you can vary the size by playing around with yarn gauge and needles size.

Materials:

• Worsted weight yarn (I used Debbie Stoller Stitch Nation Bamboo Ewe)
• Size 6 circular needles
• Size 6 dp needles
• Size G crochet hook (for ears)

Guage

• 5 stitches to the inch

First Earflap

• CO 5 stitches
• Row 1: K1, P1, K1, P1, K1
• Row 2: K1, K into F/B, K1, K into F/B, K1 (7 stitches)
• Row 3: K1, P1, K1, P1, K1, P1, K1
• Row 4: K1, K into F/B, K1, P1, K1, K into F/B, K1 (9 stitches)
• Row 5: (K1, P1) 4 times, K1
• Row 6: K1, K into F/B, K1, P1 (2 times) K1, K into F/B, K1 (11 stitches)
• Row 7: (K1, P1) 5 times, K1
• Row 8: K1, K into F/B, K1, P1 (3 times) K1, K into F/B, K1 (13 stitches)
• Row 9: (K1, P1) 6 times, K1
• Row 10: K1, K into F/B, K1, P1 (4 times) K1, K into F/B, K1 (15 stitches)
• Row 11: (K1, P1) 7 times, K1
• Repeat row 11 4 times; place onto stitch holder

Second Earflap

• Follow instructions for first earflap up through row 11.
• Repeat row 11 5 times (rather than 4)
• Leave second earflap on working needles

Body of Hat

• With second earflap on needles, CO 16 stitches (this will become the back of the hat)
• Knit first earflap off the stitch holder onto the working needles
• CO 24 stitches (this will become the front of the hat)
• Place marker and join in the round (70 stitches)
• Row 1: (K1, P1) 35 times
• Row 2 (P1, K1) 35 times (establish seed stitch pattern)
• Repeat rows 1 & 2 until hat measures 1 inch
• Switch color (optional)
• Continue in stockinette (knit all stitches) until hat measures 4 inches tall

Shape Crown

• Row 1: (K12, K2tog) 5 times
• Row 2: (K11, K2tog) 5 times
• Row 3: (K10, K2tog) 5 times
• Row 4: (K9, K2tog) 5 times
• Row 5: (K8, K2tog) 5 times
• Row 6: (K7, K2tog) 5 times
• Row 7: (K6, K2tog) 5 times
• Row 8: (K5, K2tog) 5 times
• Row 9: (K4, K2tog) 5 times
• Row 10: (K3, K2tog) 5 times
• Row 11: (K2, K2tog) 5 times
• Row 12: (K1, K2tog) 5 times (10 stitches remaining)
• Cut yarn and pull through remaining stitches

Critter Ears (optional)

• Using color A, make a ‘magic loop’
• Row 1: sc into loop 5 times, ch1, turn
• Row 2: skip 1^st stitch, 2sc into each stitch (8 stitches), ch1, turn
• Row 3:  skip 1^st stitch, 2sc into each stitch (14 stitches), ch1 turn
• Row 4:  skip 1^st stitch, (2sc, 1 sc) repeat 6 times, switch to color B, ch1, turn
• Row 5: sc into each stitch; tie off

Ties (each side)

• Pick up 4 stitches on bottom of first earflap (right side facing you)
• Work in I-cord until desired length is reached
• Bind off and tie a decorative knot at the end

If you decided to make your own, please post a link to a pic!

Side View of the Critter Hat

Colorful Powders to Celebrate Holi

India is such an enormous, diverse county, it was hard to decide where to start. Since it was lunchtime, we headed straight for the cookbook and whipped up a batch of banana (kela) lassi. Of course, mango lassi would have been more traditional, but we had to work with what we had in the kitchen.  You can check out our yummy recipe at the end of this post.  We decided to focus on food (of course), folklore, and festivals.  We checked out two books from the library which I would recommend.  The first, The Indian Storybook by Rani Singh tells 8 different Indian tales and gives a quick overview of some of the Hindu gods encountered in the stories.  The second, Festive Foods! India by Sylvia Goulding mixes simple (as if any Indian recipe could be simple!) recipes with culture and heritage.

Since we spent the weekend in NYC, we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to eat authentic Indian food on 5th Street in Manhattan.  Basically, the entire block between 1st and 2nd Avenues is is entirely populated by Indian restaurants.  If you are lucky (as we were), you can listen to live sitar music as you eat.  We stopped in at Raj Mahal, one of our long time favorites, although I don’t think you can go wrong with any of your options.  If you haven’t taken your kids out for Indian food yet, don’t be intimidated by the spicy dishes.  There are plenty of mild options that our kids love.  You can try chicken kurma (chicken in a slightly sweet, almond sauce), mulligatawny soup (turmeric spiced soup), and an order of vegetable pakoras (fritters).

We really wanted to celebrate Holi, the festival of colors, but the weather hasn’t cooperated.  During Holi, celebrants throw colored powder and colored water on each other to celebrate unity and the beginning of spring.  We thought this sounded like a really fun idea, but definitely an outside activity.  Even though Holi was officially celebrated last month, we might have our own celebration later in the spring.  We plan to make our ‘colored’ water with kool-aid, and use flour colored with dry kool-aid or jello mix for our colored powders.  I’ll update this post to let you you know how it turns out!

Banana or Mango Lassi

Ingredients:

• 1 ripe banana or 1 mango
• 2 cups of full fat plain yogurt
• 2-4 ice cubes
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• optional – pinch of cardamom
• optional – fresh mint

Put all ingredients in a blender and blend well.  Garnish with a sprig of mint and a bit of crushed ice.  Enjoy!

Next stop, Japan!

For our project, we made worry dolls.

Our Worry Doll Family

Legend has it that Guatemalan children would make these worry dolls out of scraps of thread and fabric.  At night, they would tell a ‘worry’ to each doll, and the doll would help make that worry disappear.  Here are some basic intructions to make your own!

Materials Needed:

1. Twist ties
2. Yarn
3. Fabric Scraps
4. Marking Pen

Instructions:

1. Bend twist-ties into basic T-shape for your doll’s body
2. Fold a piece of fabric over the top of the “T” for the head
3. Wrap yarn around the neck to secure head; wrap yarn around body, arms, and legs.
4. Tie on a dress or serape
5. Use marking pen to draw on a face

Step 1 - Bend Twist Ties

Step 2 - Add Fabric Head and Cover with Yarn

Step 3 - Add Clothing

Step 4 - Add Faces!

For our snack, we tried making dulce de leche cookies.

Dulce de Leche Cookies -yum!

Although not specifically Guatemalan or Honduran, they are still somewhat regional.  (we substituted corn flour for the corn starch). What did I learn?  Dulce de leche is REALLY hard to make.  Seriously, you need to stir it for, like, 3 hours.  The cookies came out tasty, but we probably won’t be making them again.

Next stop, by popular demand, India!

Eating our Home Made Ice Cream

Did you know you can make tasty homemade ice cream using plastic ziploc bags, soy milk, sugar, salt and ice?  Whether you are digging yourself out from “Snowpocalypse” or trying to beat the summer heat, you have to try this improbably easy and delicious recipe.   I saw a similar recipe in Highlights magazine a few months back and having been waiting for a chance to give it a try.  It was really fun to make and even more fun to eat!  Here are the basic instructions:

You Will Need:

• 1/2 cup flavored soy milk (we used chocolate and vanilla)
  

  Ingredients for Home Made Ice Cream

• 1 tablespoon sugar
• Ziploc bags in 2 sizes (we used sandwich size and quart size)
• Ice cubes (approx 2 cups)
• 5-6 tablespoons salt

Directions:

1. Pour the soy milk into the smaller bag.  Squeeze out the air and zip it shut
2. Fill the larger bag about 1/4 – 1/3 full of ice
3. Sprinkle the salt over the ice in the bag
4. Put the small bag of soy milk into the larger bag
5. Add ice on top of the bag of soy milk (leave about 1/4 of the bag empty)
6. Zip the large bag shut
7. SHAKE the bag for about 5-10 minutes until soy milk is the consistency of soft serve ice cream
8. Carefully remove the small bag and wipe off any water or salt on the outside of the bag (so that you don’t have salty ice cream)
9. Put into a bowl and eat!

Here is an action shot of the kids shaking their ice cream.  To make the shaking part more fun, we put on some Irish music on Pandora and danced a little jig while shaking it up.

Dancing a Jig While Making Ice Cream

Science Question – Why do you need salt to make ice cream?  According to WikiAnswers ,”Ice water is only 32 degrees F, and ice cream needs to be much colder to properly freeze. The salt lowers the freezing point of the water. The super cold water is what will actually freeze the ice cream. You can actually get the temp of the liquid water down to about 10 degrees F.”

We Love Ice Cream!

Lavender Field in Provence

Wow, have I been remiss in writing my post on France!  Between the various Halloween parties and some on-going home renovations, we really didn’t get a chance to do this lovely country justice.  As a starting point, we checked out a book from the library on life in France.  The book was told from the point of view of a 7-year old boy, so it really held the kids’ attention.  Their biggest takeaway was that life in France is not all that different than life here in the US.   Children go to school, ride their bikes, play sports, and live in houses with their families.   For many of the other countries, we focused on unique differences; in this case, we focused on similarities.

Ballerina in Pink - Degas

For me, you can’t study France without talking about art and food.  I decided that we didn’t have time, and the kids didn’t have the patience for a deep dive into impressionism, but we did spend some time reading about Degas.  I thought his ballerina paintings would appeal to Deirdre.  For cuisine, I tried my hand at making beouf bourguignon, and our Czech Republic pancakes seemed to have resurrected themselves in the form of crepes!

The highlight, of course, was spending an evening with our friends Laurent, Julia, Lucy and baby Emile.  Laurent is from France and the whole family is fluent in French.  This gave Deirdre and Jonah a chance to practice their “Bonjour” and “Je m’appelle…” among other phrases.  Although Deirdre still didn’t get an answer to her burning question of how did they get Marie Antionette to hold still when they cut off her head.  (too much Alice in Wonderland this fall)  Finally, a special thanks to Laurent for his delicious fall stew and for firing the pottery we made from our Bangladesh study!

Someday, I will actually visit the lavender fields in Provence.  In the meantime, next stop — Guatemala.

Pirate Girl

With Halloween only two days away, I thought I would post instructions for a super easy last minute Pirate costume.  My daughter and I made her version of the costume to wear to the Harbor Festival in Wickford Village earlier this fall.   This costume  involves no sewing and can be completed in less than 10 minutes, so it is great for a last minute costume party!

Materials Needed:

• 2 old t-shirts
• 36″ of ribbon
• scissors

Optional:

• Pirate Hat
• Old Skirt
• eye patch
• head scarf

Instructions

1. Cut t-shirts along green dotted lines as shown in the photo below.  The first t-shirt will be the “Pirate Vest”; the 2nd t-shirt will be the undergarment
2. Place vest over the undergarment
3. Lace ribbon through the holes in the vest as if you were lacing a shoe
4. You now have your complete pirate shirt!

Cut Along Green Dotted Lines

Closeup of Pirate Vest

Variations & Tips

1. This method can be used for either a child or adult; for adult, you may want longer ribbon for the ties
2. Use a white undergarment, black vest and red ribbon for a real “piratey” effect
3. Instead of a pirate hat, pair the costume with a headscarf and be a gypsy!
4. Cut a square neck on the vest for a different effect
5. Make more or fewer holes for the lacings for different effects
6. For a boy, use the same design, but do not cut holes for the lace up ribbon; leave the vest plain
7. I found that smaller size t-shirt work better since they stretch out when cut

And, since you are in the Pirate mood, here is some fun Rhode Island Pirate history for you.  Have fun dressing up!

A Very Cute Little Gypsy!

• Ancient Egyptians used honey  to help wounds heal and help prevent infections
• Beer and bread were staples in the Ancient Egyptian diet
• In the Old Kingdom Egyptians were even paid in food
• Some authorities credit ancient Egypt as being the birth place of modern medicine

I checked a book out of the library called Ancient Egyptians and Their Neighbors, an Activity Guide by Marian Broida which had crafts and activities associated with almost every aspect of ancient life.  I definitely recommend it.  The book covered everything from daily living and food to religion and the afterlife.  Based on the book’s instructions, we made a model Egyptian courtyard (just the right size for Polly Pocket), made a mummy out of Pink Bear, made our own Egyptian costumes, wrote in hieroglyphics and baked fig bread.

Model of an Ancient Egyptian Courtyard Garden

Pink Bear as a Mummy

Ancient Egyptian Dress

We also did a night of Egyptian cuisine.  The pictures don’t do the food justice — it was actually really tasty!  Our menu consisted of Egyptian Beef and Okra Stew over rice (yes, another excuse to use the okra in my garden), hummus, pomegranate, and fig bread.

Egyptian Cuisine - Beef & Okra Stew over Rice, Fig Bread, Hummus, Pomegranate

Finally, we found watched a series of video shorts on the Discovery Channel about ancient Egypt.  Next, we are off to France!

Dominica - The Nature Island

I have to admit, looking at pictures of this gorgeous Caribbean island made me want to schedule a vacation RIGHT NOW!  The things that most impressed the kids about Dominica is that fact that it has 16 active volcanoes, a boiling lake, and is surrounded by beautiful marine-life. And, as Jon pointed out, there is amazing kayaking to be found.

In the spirit of Dominica, we decided to create our own volcanic island in our backyard.  As luck would have it, I left the top off the sandbox right before a rainstorm, so we had a large box of sand and water right at our finger tips.  We made a mountain out of the sand, surrounded by our ‘ocean’.   The core of our  volcano was a bottle (Pilsner Urquell left of from Czech week!), and we used paprika to make our lava appear red.  Then, we just added some baking soda, poured in some vinegar, and voila!  A volcanic island!  Yes, I did spend the next 45 minutes bailing out the sandbox so that we did not end up with 0ur own ecological disaster.

Building our volcano

Pouring the vinegar

Kaboom! Lava flow!

After looking at pictures of tropical fish, turtles and other sea life, we decided to do an ocean-themed craft.  We actually combined the concept of traditional basket weaving and marine life to make these cute woven-paper fish.  They were fun to make, and Deirdre was able to do most of the cutting on her own, although she needed some help with the weaving.  Jonah decorated his fish like a ‘robot fish’.  I’ve included some instructions to make your own.

A School of Fish

Cut 2 Rectangles

Cut into strips, leaving about 1/2 uncut at the edge

Use basket weave technique to weave together your 2 pieces

Alternate weave until all pieces are woven together

Fold edges over and glue down

Cut fins along lines as shown

Give your fishy a happy face!

Next stop — Egypt!