SFC #6 Hand Knitting

 When I attended the VA Homeschoolers Convention in March, it was my first face-to-face introduction to the varied world of homeschooling.  I attended as many sessions as I could that told about different methods and styles, to get a feel for what's out there.  One of my favorite sessions was an introduction to the Waldorf method.  I walked away wishing I was sending my kids to a Waldorf school instead of homeschooling.  One of the things that especially caught my interest is the emphasis on art - drawing, painting, metal works, sculpture, pottery, and handwork, or fiber arts.  As part of the curriculum, all first graders learn to knit.

I just about died from swooning.  I learned to knit when I was about 10; I never got very good but I can follow a basic pattern, and I loved it (when I had time.)  The thought of teaching children very young how to do this sounded so right to me, I didn't need the justifications that often must accompany alternative education choices.  Here is a nice article about handwork in the Waldorf curriculum.

So I came home knowing I don't know enough about any homeschool approach to do it properly, but I know a little about a lot of things, so that's how we'll roll.  I definitely put knitting on my list of things to include. 

Then I remembered I'm an awkward knitter.  Somewhere along the way I adapted what I'd learned into a strange and inefficient style, and never knew it until my speed-Euro-knitter friend Kat pointed it out about 12 years ago.  I don't want to teach my kids a stupid way to knit!

So I did a quickie internet search on teaching knitting, and what I came across was even better - knitting progression!  Maggie's Rags suggested, first teach hand knitting, then loom/toddy knitting, then needles.  (Waldorf even has kids make their own needles!  Love that.)  Never heard of hand knitting, but nothing a quick YouTube search can't fix.  I made this green sample in a few minutes on Sunday:

Then Monday, for Summer Fun Club, we were off to the races.  A few minutes of instruction, a few more minutes of getting the hang, and voila, independent hand knitters.  

They each made a short scarf length, then we tied them off, and they played with them the rest of the afternoon.  Then today we went to Michael's and picked out a few more skeins of thick yarn so they can hand knit their hearts out on our drive to Massachusetts Friday (visiting my sister's family.)  Talk about a handy little skill, and they love it!

SFC #2 Porcelain Owls (2013)

Summer Fun Club continues its riproaring 2013 season with cousin fun!  This is the first year our nearest cousins have not been in daycamp/childcare in the summer, so we can get together and play more often during weekdays.  In preparation, my sister-in-law Michelle broke out her laminator, with which she and her kids made their own SFC badges, and also placed a summer-sized order with Oriental Trading Company, ensuring fun to last all summer.

One of the things she got was a crate of porcelain owls.  A trip to the paint aisle at Michael's, and SFC is ready to launch.

...after which there was wrestling, outdoor play, and general cousin shenanigans. 

Strega Nona Party

For almost a year, since her Chuck E. Cheese's party, Ginger has been saying she wanted a Strega Nona party.  A book-based party is right up my alley; I'm already in that mode from PeeWees.  Plus, a food-based book?  The party practically throws itself.

Kind of.

SYNOPSIS: Strega Nona is a good witch with a magic pasta pot who is getting older.  She hires the town fool, Big Anthony, to help out around the place.  One day he spies her using her magic pasta pot to make pasta, but he misses the key thing she does to make it stop.  When Strega Nona goes out of town, he uses the pot, against her express orders, to make pasta for the whole town, and be everyone's hero.  When he can't make it stop, pasta pours out of the house and starts to take over the whole village.  Strega Nona comes back just in time to stop the pasta.  The villagers want to string Big Anthony up, but Strega Nona says the punishment should fit the crime, and she hands Big Anthony a fork - he has to eat ALL the pasta!  The last page shows a miserable-looking Big Anthony with a huge stomach slumped against Strega Nona's house.

DECORATIONS:  Not much.  Balloons, streamers, Happy Birthday banner.  The usual.

ARRIVAL/CRAFT: As everyone arrived, during a nice little snowfall, we peeled off coats and shoes, and went straight to our craft (in the hopes the glue might dry by the end of the party.)  We used the colored pasta the girls and I made last week to decorate wooden picture frames from Michael's.  The girls had heart frames, the boys had ovals.  Later in the party I took a picture of Ginger with each guest; we will mail those with her thank-you cards, and they have the option of putting that picture in their frames at home.

DINNER ORDERS:  While everyone was working on their frames, Ed was cooking in the kitchen and Hazel was taking dinner orders.  She sat down with one guest at a time, and showed them the menu we'd made.  I also made some order forms for Hazel to fill out.  The menu had pages with photographs to show choices for drinks (water or root beer), pasta (hearts, bow-tie, or spaghetti), sauces (pesto, alfredo, or marinara), and fruit (grapes or strawberries.)  Garlic bread was served in baskets at the table. 

BOOK:  We couldn't really have a Strega Nona party without reading the book, so while Ed and Hazel executed the dinner orders, I read the kids the book, complete with my exaggerated Italian accent for Strega Nona, which both amused and embarrassed Ginger - she kept looking around at everyone when I did it.  But all these kids know me pretty well, and I don't think it fazed anyone I looked sounded like an idiot.

DINNER:  It was a hungry crew we fed, many asking for second, and third, helpings.  Heart-shaped pasta with marinara sauce, strawberries, and root beer, was the overwhelming majority of orders, but we had some outliers, and everyone clearly liked their dinner, from the empty plates and messy faces we had at the end.

 

We served the drinks in these cute cups I found at Target - I think they are for Valentine's Day, but I thought the straw looked like a spaghetti noodle going around the outside.  At the end of the party, we rinsed them out and included them in their goody bags.

 

GAME:  Us Hickmans try not to think too hard.  Pin-the-something games are always easy, and go with ANY theme.  Here, we took some of the cooked spaghetti noodles, and played Stick-the-Pasta-in-Big-Anthony's-Mouth.

 I know, my art work is astounding.  It was cool, though, that the spaghetti was naturally sticky.

DESSERT:  This was probably my favorite part of the party, because it was so theme-y but really so easy.  Spaghetti-and-Meatball Cupcakes!

 (It's just cream cheese frosting piped out like spaghetti, and a Ferrero Rocher chocolate on top, which looks remarkably like a meatball.  I've also seen this with strawberry sauce spooned on top, like marinara, but I liked them plain like this, and it was less messy for the kids to eat the chocolate.)

THE REST:  The rest of the party, we had only loosely mapped out.  We weren't sure how much time would be left a this point; there were about 20 minutes.  Ginger opened presents - being a 6-year-old girl is so fun!  Hair things, books, crafty kits!  So much to keep her (and her sisters) busy for many Saturdays to come!  (Even as I type, Hazel and Ginger are working on things from a Decorate-Your-Own Princess Craft Set.)  

I could tell the kids were wiggly and bursting with sugared hyperactivity, so I had Ed take over to play "Dad games" for the last few minutes.  Red Light, Green Light...

 ...and Musical Chairs.

The only rule was, no one was allowed to get upset if they got out.  Of course my kids were the only ones to break the rule.  Then parents started to show up.

FAVOR BAGS:  I didn't take pictures, but you can see them in the background here:

Last week Ginger spent her whole Sunday morning making and decorating the name tags for the bags.  Each bag contained their swirly-straw cup from dinner, a bag of "Sour S'getti", and a copy of another Strega Nona book, Strega Nona's Magic Lessons.  They also took their not-quite-dry pasta picture frames home.

How to Dye Pasta for Kids Crafts

Last week we dyed a bunch of pasta for a project for Ginger's birthday party, so thought I'd post the how-to while I'm thinking of it.

I'd seen colored pasta before, but didn't know if you buy it somewhere or if it's easy to do at home.  A couple pokes around the blogosphere assured me it's easy peasy.

One thing that's obvious, but I didn't necessarily consider until mid-dye, is that you're not starting with a white product; the pasta is yellow.  So attempts at red will be orange, blue will be green, purple will be brown.  To make true red, add more red dye than the proscribed 10 drops.  For purple, I made one with more red than blue (turned out a pretty rose color - second from top, above), and one with more blue than red (a deep purple some kids called black - bottom, below.)  For blue, I added a ton of blue, but it was still just a deep greenish teal - I bet a drop or two of red may have blued it up.  I'm no color theorist.  But it was fun to play with the colors!

Dyed Pasta for Crafts
1/4 cup rubbing alcohol
10 drops food coloring, all one color or mixed
1 to 2 cups pasta, whatever shape you like

1.  In a gallon-size Ziploc bag, add the alcohol and food coloring, swishing to mix.  Add the pasta and seal the bag, pressing out the air.  Swish the bag around with your hands to coat the pasta, and place on a surface covered with newspaper (or I did a baking sheet covered with foil, just in case of leaks.)  Flip and swish the bag(s) every 30 minutes or so for a few hours or until you like the color.  It fades a little, but not much, as it dries.

2.  Drain the pasta in a colander and spread out on thick layers of newspaper or paper towels to dry.  Now your pasta is ready for stringing, gluing, or whatever craft you want!