Little Campers :: Wrap-Up Party

Kids these days... you just can't conclude anything without a party marking The End, right? Or is it just me? OK, maybe it is just me... after all, it was the grown-ups who planned this whole thing...

*ahem*

On Tuesday we had our Little Campers conclusion/wrap-up party (sorry about the late share, back-to-school and all that, ya know). They had their last session last week, and it was kinda heartwarming to see how sad they seemed to be that it was all over... maybe we did do a good job pulling off this homemade summer camp, after all!

So to give 'em all just one more Little Campers day, we came together (sporting heavy, loaded sashes) for a little party and closing ceremony (of sorts):

We even awarded them little plaques with their pictures and a 'Little Campers' less-is-more logo, and got one last group photo...

...and thus concluded our homemade summer camp!

Little Campers :: Photography Lesson

Today marks the last proper "session" of our homemade summer camp, Little Campers (we took last week off to register our babies- all of them- for school). All four of our kiddos have some version or generation of these kid-friendly cameras, and they're all really in to them at the moment, so what better way to conclude all our projects than with a lesson in photography?

We talked about portraits vs. candid shots, making sure someone is OK with their picture being taken before taking their picture, composition, lighting, and thinking about what you want to shoot before snapping the picture. We also took a little walk around Keri's neighborhood to practice looking for interesting things to shoot. We even got to practice sharing, taking turns, and patience (all of us)... again.

While walking, we encountered a neighbor who generously invited us to come visit- and photograph- her pet tortoise "Bolt Tortuga." He won the day.

Some highlights of the kiddos' photo shoots:

At the end of our lesson, each kiddo received a camera pin of their choosing from a variety Keri picked up at one of her crafty haunts, then they posed for a portrait wearing his or her full sash (to be used later in something they'll be receiving at our little closing ceremony).

Last time: Cooking Lesson

Next time: Closing Ceremony!

Little Campers :: Cooking Lesson

Today we all gathered 'round the ol' kitchen island for another fun Little Campers activity- cooking! We decided not to do anything too complex due to the age (and coordination) ranges of our group, but instead went with a timeless standby: granola. We based our activity off this recipe from LuSa Organics' blog, which I've had success with before, and this recipe from Once Upon a Chef, which Keri has tried and tested. Each recipe was loosely followed with a few tweaks here and there to fit our tastes and the supplies we had on hand.

Everyone got a chewy granola bar to taste, their own jar of crunchy granola to add dried fruit to depending on their preferences, and for the conclusion of the session they were all awarded adorable hamburger enamel pins Keri found at the Target dollar spot.

And everyone went nom, nom, nom, all the way home...

Last time: Movie Making Project

Next up: Photography!

Little Campers :: Movie Making Project

Our Little Campers meeting this week was all about silly, creative fun- movie making! We talked about scripts, costumes, props, the role of the actor and the role of the director, and then the kids paired up and brainstormed their plots and characters. Finally they each made their own little movie using tablet devices, and that ended up being good practice for sharing and patience, too!

Once each pair had completed their movie, we gathered and watched them together, then talked about different film genres and how some people prefer one type of movie over another, but that doesn't mean one type of movie is right or better (because our group gets a little wrapped up in comparing work sometimes). Art is in the eye of the beholder!

Henry and Spencer's Movie:

Audrey and Piper's Movie:

Their badges for this activity were handmade by Keri:

The boys got a little lost looking for a plot, and some of the girls' dialogue was hard to catch, but everyone was proud of their end product, and we had a lot of fun watching them pull it all together!

Last time: Wild Plants/Foraging

Coming up: Cooking!

Little Campers :: Wild Plants/Foraging Activity

Today we hit the field for our Little Campers foraging activity, humidity and heat index be damned! The first thing we talked about were plants that poison (we found pokeweed and several unidentified mushrooms), plants that had edible parts but should be left alone by kids (specifically bull nettle) followed by what to do if you're not sure what it is (answer: don't eat it), and lastly we moved on to the fun stuff: the edibles! We walked around the field and found lambs quarters, purslane, oxalis, greenbriar tips and spiderwart, then brought it all back into the air conditioning for a big salad to go with our lunch!

The kiddos got a brass acorn for their badge this round, found at the same local craft shop that provided the wood cutouts for our very first badges.

A lot of the information from our discussion today came from Plants That Poison: An Illustrated Guide for the American Southwest by Ervin M. Schmutz and Lucretia Breazeale Hamilton, Western Edible Wild Plants by H.D. Harrington, and my frequently referenced fav resource, Foraging Texas.

Please note: plants vary greatly from region to region, and there may be poisonous look-alikes in your area that are different from what I've referenced here. Always use caution when foraging for wild edibles, and make sure you know it's edible via your own research before eating what you find!

Up next: Movie Making!

Last time: First Aid Lesson

Little Campers :: First Aid Lesson

Today for Little Campers we decided to commemorate the holiday that results so frequently in stupid accidents with a lesson in first aid. We covered the definition of an emergency (because kids, ugh), basic good practices and preventative care, minor burns, minor cuts, and venomous stings/bites, including snake bites (I insisted on that one). Then we gave everyone "scratches" and "stings" with a washable red marker, and the kids got to practice doctoring each other up for all the different scenarios.

We concluded with a discussion about how to be safe around fireworks, and awarded first aid pins (which were just painted wooden circles with fasteners glued to the back).

Aside from the common sense stuff, we found a lot of helpful first aid tips at redcross.org.

Up next: Wild Plants/Foraging Activity!

Last time: Nature/Solstice Project

Little Campers :: Nature/Solstice Project

Happy Summer Solstice! Today for our Little Campers session, we blended some of our well-loved family solstice activities with our weekly LC activity: we took a nature walk to gather summer flowers, we talked about the tradition of the Solstice and how important science and asking questions are...

...we made blackberry lemonade...

...and then with our bevs within reach we broke out the beads and pipe cleaners and made some firey-colored solstice ornaments!

 

The ornaments we made in this session will double as our Nature/Solstice Badges.

Side note: As you may know from past blog posts (like this one and this one), we choose to incorporate nontraditional holidays- like the solstices- into our family rhythm to preserve the meaning and the sacred in the why behind what we do day to day. As a family, we truly believe that an ethnocentric existence robs one of the richness that is the human experience. Our gracious friends joined in for the fun of it, and we had a great time! 

Next up: First Aid!

Last time: Gardening Project