Birdhouses and Owls

Our birdhouses are taking shape as you can see.

The kids seem to love doing them and I was worried they would be a bit too much of a challenge. Obviously they are rising to the challenge. In the next few weeks I hope we can start putting them together.

This week we had a break from birdhouses and put together what started out being owl cards but were so cute I just had to put them into frames, signed and dated.

They all had a great time looking in the garden for things they could use as eyes, wings and beaks. I think they did really well, don't you?

Term Two

Birds, birds, birds. They seem to be everywhere. Everything pointed to birds this term. I was cutting down some of the branches in my lilypily trees in the backyard and they wouldn't all fit into the bin. I hate throwing things away if there is the remote possibility of being able to use it and so I kept some of the branches and stronger twigs. I'm glad I did because they have both found a place in week one and two of this terms art class.

Week one saw the kids draw their own birds. They could be anything from a budgie to an owl and I gave them some tips on different ways to draw legs, wings, bodies and eyes. They then all had a turn on the sewing machine to sew through the birds and then tie it to a stick therefore creating their own mobile.

One problem...they had so much fun with the sewing machine that they then started to add suns, moons, apples, squiggles and letters just so they could sew them. I think I may have started something.

Week two began with chosing what colour to paint their branches which will later house their very special birdhouse that they will be working on over the next few weeks. The kids were all superfast getting the branches finished that they were able to start on putting together the walls of the house.

I think it helped having one partially completed so they could see just what they are going to look like. Now I have to work on just how we will make the bird...

April School Holiday Class

Once again we ran our successful school holiday kids art class at the local scout hall. Morning and afternoon classes were separated into 'art' and 'craft' though most kids opted to do both (or maybe it was parents...)

The morning class had fun creating their own painted paper design which was then used to put together an underwater image. Again, there was lots of mess, paint, laughing and creativity which is all we really hope for. It makes for such a fun experience.

The afternoon group got their hands dirty making their own herb pot. With the left over paper from the morning class, they created their own mosaic pattern on their pots, sealed them and then planted their chosen herb. They also went collecting their own sticks and attaching labels to place in their pot indicating which herb they had selected and what it could be used for. By all accounts, herbs are still growing strongly!!!