Dandelion Fritters.

May 14, 2010March 17, 201821 Comments

Wild edibles sometimes seem so… complicated. You have to find the time and the place to forage for your foods, you have to hit the season just right, you have to have good plant identification skills. While wild foods and foraging bring me great joy, it's not likely going to be something that everyone will want to jump in on full-force.

You're busy. I get it. But you are also curious. (Right?) So I thought maybe we'd take this wild edibles conversation down to perhaps its simplest incarnation. A plant that I daresay everyone reading this knows. The loved/loathed dandelion.

Much to the chagrin of our neighbors, we have a healthy crop of robust yellow flowers throughout our lawn. I'm guessing you do, too. Did you know that the leaves, flowers, and roots all have edible and/or medicinal value? Its true!

The kids and I whipped up a quick and easy batch of dandelion fritters using a variation of the recipe we found here. (We modified it by using freshly ground spelt flour.)

Sage picked a few dozen dandelion flower heads while Lupine and I made the batter. Then we dipped them in the batter and cooked them up like tiny pancakes. The flipping of all those flower-sized pancakes is the only time consuming part of the project, and Sage was a faithful flipper. I dipped, he flipped.

And the taste? Yum. Without reservation the kids (and adults) gobbled
them up. The recipe was so quick, so simple, so wild from our yard.
Very satisfying. (Sage was almost impossible to photograph. In his
words"I can't stop eating them. They are too good!")

So before you fire up the lawnmower this weekend, give it a whirl. It's easy. And quick. I promise!

Get Your Kids Creating.

March 12, 2010March 17, 20186 Comments

How can you get your kids busy making
puppets? Or drawings? Or masks? Or jewelry? Or costumes? (Or making
anything for that matter?)

Many parents don't know where to start to
help guide their children into more creative adventures. Here are a few
basic steps that should make your home the creative nucleus it secretly wants to be.

1. Make time.

If we don't make time
for our own creativity it is asking a bit to much to expect our
children to find the time in their own experience. They live what they
learn, so make time to be creative yourself (in the presence of your
children) and with your kids, even if it is just a few moments here and there. Draw with them. Make a fairy fort
outside. Make paper masks. Sew, knit, paint. Anything. Create a new family ritual. (Steal our idea for a weekend morning Jammie Craft featured here and here.) Carve out the time, even if it is just five minutes, two days a week.

2. Have supplies available.

Supplies that you don't ration.
Nothing squelches creativity like a parent hovering and being miserly
about their materials. My kids have their own yarn because they were
"borrowing" yarn from my project cabinet which was making me freak. And their having to constantly ask for tape made me buy them their own tape dispenser so that mine stayed in the office.

Some of our favorites kids' craft supplies are: wool and cotton yarn,
cotton fabric, wool felt, sequins and glitter (these are kept on a high
shelf and used when I help with setup), glue, needles, thread,
embroidery floss, watercolors, kite paper, regular paper (white and colored), pencils,
crayons, and wooden bits.

3. Organize your supplies

…so that
kids can find what they need easily. Self-service is important to
encourage kids to follow their creative spark. Think kid's eye level
and accessible day-to-day location.

We have a sideboard in our dining
room filled with supplies with labeled drawers. (The labels include pictures and words so that pre-readers can still find what they want.) We have a friend with a
devoted dresser of supplies. You'll find the right answer for your
space. It needn't be fancy – just orderly.

4. Unplug and Acquaint Yourself With Boredom.

(Now we're getting to the sticky ones.) Nothing brings a faster death to creativity than lots of screen time for a kid. The younger your child is the less media they should be exposed to. (A well-accepted standard is no screen time before two, thought many believe it should go much beyond two.)

Without screen time kids will get bored. And they'll whine. And fuss. And be dramatic. It will be uncomfortable.

And then out of pure desperation they'll engage their brains and get un-bored. And that's when the best magic happens. But you have to stick it out and have some great supplies at hand. Trust me. You'll curse my name along the way, but the destination will be so worth it.

Worth saying that the screen-time reduction should go for everyone lest it appear to be a demented parental punishment.

5. Find your inspiration.

Have some simple crafts up your sleeve for when you have creative time with your kids. Maybe they'll be old favorites from your childhood. Tap into your friends. Call your mom. Or come here to see what we're up to. Other great blogs for quick crafts are Crafty Crow and Artful Parent.

6. Plant Seeds.

"When I was a kid I made the coolest puppet out of a toilet paper roll
and some construction paper." Plant creative seeds for your kids to
nurture. They'll take the lead and come up with some great creative
ideas of their own.

7. Get out of the way.

It is
wonderful to nudge children in the direction of creative expression,
but then get out of the way. Busy yourself with your own parallel
project (making your own puppet for example), or quietly slip away and
make dinner.

Their finished project does not need to be perfect. This can be hard for us to learn. As parents we tend to offer too many suggestions, too many
ideas, too much direction. They know what they are doing. This is their
project – not yours. (Let the big pink strawberry star in that spring
puppet show.)

Enjoy the journey. Let me know what transpires this weekend in your craft zone!

Making Wool Fingerpuppets.

March 11, 2010March 17, 20187 Comments

My kids love putting on puppet shows. Today they started plans for their spring puppet show. Lupine requested a sun ("With beams sticking out all over").

As I stitched if for her, Sage offered this idea: "When she rises the sun up I will take a white silk that is lying on the table and slowly, slowly pull it away as the snow melts in the spring." (Or as my heart melts when his creativity goes beyond new designs for machine guns.)

He got into the process of designing and sewing his own puppets and focused for long periods of time on the project. He worked through frustrations and design challenges to create this:

And his self-satisfaction was evident in the sparkle of his eyes upon finishing his first puppet. One of the blessings I find in homeschooling is seeing that sparkle throughout our days, happening right here.

Lupine was happy to dictate color, placement, and design and then sit in my lap as she put me to work.

There are still more puppets to make before the big show. Lupine is requesting the appearance of a "huge pink strawberry" so we're all trying to work that into the plot. There is also a child in a tree that is in Sage's version of the story. Standby for updates as the plot develops…

Tomorrow I'll have tips on how to get your kids making things. Every kid is a creative kid. We just need to nudge them in the right direction.

Homemade Finger Paints.

March 9, 2010March 17, 20188 Comments

A quick aside before we talk paint: the survey responses from yesterday's post are so much fun. Thanks for all the good words! If you haven't participated yet please do so! I'll leave it up for a few more days. And I'll address the many questions and suggestions you made in the coming weeks.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Recall, if you will, the scent of store-bought finger paints (or tempera paint). Can you remember that smell? Like third grade? To me they smell of synthetic pigments, preservatives, and other mysterious ingredients found nowhere on the label.

The "Nontoxic" seal loses its punch when I smell that paint. And so I have never bought finger paints for either of my kids.

This week I got a bug to figure out how to make my own. There are loads of online recipes. The one I found here seemed very straightforward. I chose a recipe that included soap because… well, I'm a soapmaker. But I also surmised that cleanup would be easier since the pigments would be less likely to stain skin if soap was in the mix.

We stole a bar of soap and some corn starch from the LuSa Soap studio
and got cooking. We raided the fridge, freezer, and spice cabinet for
our colors. The process was very simple. Grate some soap, whisk into water, stir in corn starch. Then add your pigments.

We made three colors: Beet Juice Pink, Tumeric Orange, and Blueberry Blue Grayish-Blueish-Uglyish. (Blueberries, it appears, are fickle.)

The textural results, as you can see, varied greatly by color. The beet juice paint was too juicy (we just poured some beet juice off of some canned beets in our fridge) and the white was very thick but with some finessing I think we'll have it nailed.

It was quick and easy and Lupine loved painting with it, especially with a brush. (Finger painting proved far too tactile for both of my kids.)

As for the finished product, the blueberries became even grayer with time. The paint dried rather thick and flaky but it was still a wonderful process. (We don't save allot of artwork around here – we're more process than product – so it wasn't a big deal to recycle the finished product.)

Making Window Stars

February 15, 2010March 17, 20184 Comments

This post should be titled wabi-sabi craft: making window stars in our world.

Yes, these stars are imperfect. Yes, the scenery behind them is less than beautiful. Yes, my windows are filthy.

But whatever. The stars are still breathtaking.

Would you believe that they are simple to make?

We begin by folding kite paper according to some basic instructions. We have this book with many different patterns, but you can find clear instructions here for a basic star (like the blue one that Sage made below).

Fold carefully, attach points with glue stick, and hang. That is it! The kids and I enjoy making these thorough the winter. Sage has started to take creative license with the designs and mix it up with extra components.

And the cat? Happy for any sunshine these cold days (be it paper or real).

Please ignore his missing ear. He's my wabi-sabi cat.

Edited: I've gotten lots of emails asking where we get our kite paper. We buy ours locally from an online Waldorf supply store, Paper Scissors Stone. Click on their "Paper" page and scroll down.

Music For Children

February 13, 2010March 17, 20184 Comments

Lupine has developed a new daily routine. She pulls her little chair up to our homeschool supplies chest, facing the
Ipod and speakers. She smiles, sings, stares, laughs, and sings some more.

The inspiration? Lavender's Blue Dilly Dilly. Lupine loves Mary Thienes Schunemann.

She asks for it throughout the day. The pentatonic (Waldorf) music is magical and captivating to small ears. I can't recommend it enough for your favorite toddler!

And for the bigger kids? Sage perfers AC/DC.

What can I say. This CD arrived too late.

(Truthfully, we had This is the way We Wash a Day when he was young and he loved it as well.)

Have a wonderful Valentine's Day. See you all back here on Monday!

Kids Craft : : Valentine Candle Lanterns

February 12, 2010March 17, 20187 Comments

Lupine and I made Love Lanterns today. Simply crafted with Mod Podge, tissue paper or kite paper, and an old glass jar. Oh, and glitter. There is always glitter happening over here.

Love Lantern Tutorial

1. Cut hearts and other shapes from kite paper. As an alternative you may tear or hole-punch paper shapes.

2. Spread Mod Podge over half of the jar. Place shapes on wet Mod Podge. Overlap is beautiful. Lupine wanted plenty of open space on our jar, but I love overlapping coverage.

3. Coat with a second layer to seal paper in. Sprinkle with glitter while still wet and dab on with your brush.

4. Allow to dry thoroughly.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Edited: I've gotten lots of emails asking where we get our kite paper. We buy ours locally from an online Waldorf supply store, Paper Scissors Stone. Click on their "Paper" page and scroll down.

Kids Craft : : Valentine Babies

February 7, 2010February 11, 202024 Comments

6a010535f3a090970c0128777273c3970c We started a new tradition this morning: Jammie Craft. Smoothies, fruit, toast, scissors, glitter, and glue – all while we’re still in our PJs. I know. It sounds like a disastrous mix. But it was wonderful!

With Valentine’s day on the horizon we collectively came up with this project: Heart Babies.

A simple (kid-friendly) tutorial follows:

Supplies:

Wool Felt * Wooden beads * Acorn caps

Thread * Paper * Fabric scraps

Cotton or wool stuffing * Glue

Small match boxes * Glitter

Mod Podge * Paint brush * Needle *Scissors

The Box Top: Cut a strip of paper and a strip of fabric as wide as your matchbox. Cut long enough to allow 2/3″ overlap. Coat matchbox cover with Mod Podge and wrap with paper. (This will keep the matchbox printing from showing through the fabric). Secure overlap area with additional Mod Podge.

Coat the papered matchbox with Mod Podge and wrap neatly with fabric. Trim edges as needed. Coat again with Mod Podge and apply glitter if desired.

The Bed: Cut the fabric lining for your matchbox bed. To do so you can sacrifice one match box to make a pattern by slitting at the corners and pressing flat, or use or method and guesstimate. Notch out corners.

Mod Podge the inside of the box and carefully press lining into place.

Baby: Cut out two identical hearts suitably sized to fit into your matchbox. Select a head-sized bead. Check if the bead will fit in the box with the lid closed. If not, select a smaller head or don’t sweat it and let the box stay partially open.

Beginning at the “neck” area of the heart (top/center), use a running stitch or a blanket stitch to sew hearts together. Stuff with a bit of cotton or wool before closing. Sew bead to heart as follows: Heart, bead, scrap of felt (to secure head). Sew the head to body securely with a few stitches and tie off. Cut thread.

Select an acorn cap sized appropriately for your bead head. Coat top of head (including felt scrap) with a generous amount of glue and press acorn cap into place. Wipe off excess glue with a cotton swab or your fingertip.

After glue and Mod Podge has dried, tuck baby into bed.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Note: If you think these are lovely, please check back often. We’re pretty crafty around here and have lots more sweetness to share. xo Rachel

Go Outside and Play

February 3, 2010March 17, 20182 Comments

We strive to get outside and play everyday at home. Once, twice, sometimes three times with warm-ups in between. At home that can be a struggle at times. The backyard is only so interesting and town is, well, town. But when you are here:

getting
us all outside is beyond easy. We spent our time on thick ice on the
river, tromping through the woods, and playing games in the snow.

The highlight of the week for us all was a long hike past the spot where Pete and I got married (nearly a decade ago!). This grove of hemlock trees looks majestically over the river valley. The hill drops sharply to the river and rises steeply to its crest high above the trees.

The hike alone would have been ample, but with a recent warm spell the snow was crusted with a thick layer of ice. Enter our juvenile spirits and behold:

butt sledding and belly sliding. These photos belie how fast we were
going. Sage hit the trail so fast once we had to grab him by the coat
to keep him from continuing straight down to the river.

We slid and hiked and laughed to the point of exhaustion, then headed back to the cabin for dinner.

Crafting Supplies: Wooden Bits

January 15, 2010March 17, 2018Leave a comment

Our favorite craft supplies run the gambit from acorn caps to bits of wool and fabric to old boxes and cans. We have recently come upon something that provides us with hours of creative creation that I wanted to share.

Behold, the Wooden Bits.

We picked up a box of Assorted Wood Cutouts and Assorted Wood Pieces from Casey's Wood Products. (This is also where we purchased the peg people and acorns shown here.) They are sold by the pound and I see they now carry an assortment of "Bird Toys" which are essentially wooden beads and wheels. (We'll definitely be ordering those next time!)

Our Wooden Bits (as they are know around here) have become game pieces, painted dollhouse accessories, farm animals, building blocks, presents, ornaments, bombs, airplanes, and fences (off the top of my head). This week Sage helped Lupine with the gluing and she made a sucker and some cookies for her play kitchen while he did some science experiments and made a table for the fairies.

While free/found/pre-cycled craft supplies are our go-to items, these purchased cutouts and turnings are a wonderful addition. And biodegradable no less (before the hot glue anyway).