Thank a Teacher

by Kristen Bierma

May 5-9 marks "Teacher Appreciation Week," which made me realize that I do not often enough say thank you to all the teachers in my children's lives. Whether your children are homeschooled, preschool age, or out of the house, I am guessing that they have, at some point, been blessed by a teacher. If you are home with young children or homeschooling, YOU are their earliest teacher, passing on The Really Important Things such as please and thank you, ABCs, and that boogers belong in tissues. So, consider yourself thanked as well--for doing all the hard work, from the very beginning.

If, like me, you do not have time to make a cute or elaborate thank you gift from Pinterest, here are some other simple options for affirming the teachers in your life:

Suggestions:

- Drop off a latte when you drop your kids off to school. If you're really feeling creative, write "Thanks a latte for all you do."
- Write a thank you email or note. Affirming words are powerful and will long be remembered.
- Say thank you. In person. Add a genuine hug, if you are the hugging type.
- Have your child write a note or color a picture of thanks.
- Hang a "Gratitude Graffiti" poster outside the teacher's classroom. Ask the children to write a note of appreciation.
- Send them the words below. Acknowledgement and recognition, even in the simplest forms, go a long way.

For Our Children's Teachers
For your endless prep times, weekend grading, summer planning, and all you do that is above-and-beyond...
we recognize you.
For dealing with budget cuts, bureaucracy, administration, curriculum changes, standardized testing, and all other similar issues that most likely suck up your time and mental energy....
we acknowledge you.
For knowing our children so well that you recognize their learning styles, personalities and strengths, and for teaching them accordingly,
we thank you.
For reinforcing what we teach at home by teaching our children not only facts, but also wisdom, social skills, empathy, and that the world does not revolve around them....
we are so grateful.
For caring for hundreds of children over the years, and in so doing, building up our future electricians, doctors, pastors, social workers, teachers, and citizens...
we applaud you.
For the many moments that you wonder if what you do matters or makes any difference, and for pouring yourself into these many children's lives with little recognition, pay, or acknowledgement...
we give you a standing ovation.
We see you, we appreciate you, and we value you, even when we forget to tell you.
For you have blessed our children and there is no greater gift.

What are your simple or creative ideas of showing gratitude to teachers? Please share!

Love all these new voices!

We are tickled fucsia to introduce another guest blogger, Kristen Bierma! Look for her posts once monthly! Kristen lives in Anchorage with her husband Doug and three kids, ages 9, 11, and 13. She is a licensed therapist and works part-time on a clinical team that helps diagnose autism in young children. She spends most of her time in a messy minivan, but also carves out time to blog, enjoy the beauty of Alaska, and find creative ways to discover joy in a very full life.

"I feel honored (and a little intimidated) to be asked to share some of my thoughts about this journey called life for Kaleidoscape. Parenting is one of the hardest jobs on the planet and the least recognized! It’s great that Kaleidoscape can offer a shared play space for parents to connect with their children and with each other. I am excited to link arms with other Anchorage families and journey on!"

The Art of Learning

by Jennifer Stratton

I've been artsy-craftsy for as long as I can remember. Much of my childhood was spent reading Volume 9 of my Childcraft Encyclopedias; Make & Do under the covers with a flashlight. It was worth it, even if I got caught poring over the bright, slick pages. I spent so many hours reading and crafting from that one volume that tonight when I typed the title into the search engine, the memories took my breath away.  Even after thirty-five years, I still want to color a tiger onto sandpaper with oil pastels and paint a bird onto corrugated cardboard. It was as though the projects came alive for me in that book and I could not wait to do it for myself. It is clear to me now that I am part visual and part kinesthetic learner, meaning that I learn by seeing first, then by doing it! Seems simple, right? 

Learning Styles by Percentage

Well, it is if you are among the 65% of visual learners or the 30% of auditory learners. 

>Teacher writing on a board.<  

>Teacher giving a lecture.<

Schooling is based on the above learning styles and it's been done that way since dinosaurs walked the earth. 

But wait... what about that other 5%... the tactile learners? 

Since I am a visual learner, I of course looked for a pie chart to show the percentages of visual, auditory and tactile learners. Research shows that most females change to visual learning in the second or third grade, while males tend to retain their tactile learning style throughout life. Well damn! This makes so much sense why my second grade kinesthetic daughter is struggling in school and why so many boys struggle and the  rate of male dropouts is so high!

Tactile students learn by doing, touching, wiggling, cartwheeling and generally distracting all the other learners in the class. They are often misdiagnosed as ADHD or Trouble (see that capital T?) Yeah. My sweet, scary-smart eight year old daughter who loves reading, is a natural leader and cannot seem to sit still for 30 minutes was given and "ISS" or In School Suspension a few weeks ago for wiggling and running at the inappropriate time. It has since been retracted, but the fact remains that these learn-by-doing kiddos are getting the short end of the stick! I get it. She is busy. Ok, she is really busy and it's an issue in a traditional classroom. Until I can find a kinesthetic classroom that allows for her to move about the classroom because the "fasten seatbelt light" is off, we have decided to home school her. In our free time. Truthfully, time was a big concern, but how can we not carve out the time to provide her an education in the way that she learns? 

Bonus for Mama; arsty-craftsy activities are kinesthetic! 

If I'm going to home school, there will be art in her learning,
because for my child, learning is an art. 

Let Them Be Little

written by Jenny Fast

Recently I visited a friend whose children are near the same ages as mine (3years and 1.5years), and as all of our kiddos were running around the house playing and roughhousing, a screaming war broke out. I’m not sure if this is an all-girl thing or not (I’ve got two girls), but mine do this on a regular basis – one of them will let out a high-pitched, looooouuuuud scream, and the other will repeat. Then it turns into a screamy free-for-all, and I just try to tune it out and continue making dinner (okaaaaay, sometimes I join in).

On this particular occasion, however, the friends I was visiting immediately shut down the girls’ game-o-screams with a stern “NO YELLING” scold. I laughed when the kids tried “screaming” in whispers after that, but I did have a few questions for my friend – the first being “Why no yelling?”

The answer was, “it’s just too loud, I can’t think.” And that I understood, because we’ve all been in the position of trying to have a conversation while being flanked by screamy-kids… but then I followed up with, “when do you let them yell?”

And the answer this time was, “um, never.”

NEVER? As in, never-ever? Like, Never-Ever-Ever?

                                 But… when do they get to be kids?

Listen, this post is not going to be some overwhelming “this is how you do it right” parenting post. My main objective here is to introduce myself, my style, and give a little insight into how *I* parent and interact with my kids. Hopefully you’ll find some funny, honest, heartwarming stories of my experiences and ideas that speak to you as a parent, too! I believe there is too much judgment floating around out there in this scary world of parenting to dole it out myself, so instead I’ll just share (and encourage you to share) some great stuff and cross my fingers that you’ll be inspired along the way. 

Before I had children, I (like many) had this image in my mind of wonderfully well-behaved, quiet, clean, polished kids. Now, I think that image is so… BORING. Now, I realize that I don’t want my children to be little quiet miniature-adults… instead, my girls are inspiring ME to want to be a loud, messy, super-fun giant KID!

I can honestly say I love playing with play-doh, and coloring, and painting, and building towers out of mega-bloks… and I let my girls lead me in all of those things. Their creativity is so amazing and inspiring, and I’m just now beginning to see that this is SUCH a good thing. When my toddler decides she wants to see what it would feel like to dump an entire bucket of squinkies (think teeny-tiny rubber figurines) over her head, SURE, I cringe, because ohmigoshihavetocleanthatup… but then I remind myself that she’s really just curious, and the aesthetics are new and cool to her. When my preschooler wants to mix all the play-doh together in one big eventual-brown lump, my mild OCD tendencies scream in my head that “you don’t mix colors!”… but then I remind myself that she’s experimenting, creating, and learning – and I definitely don’t want to stifle that. (Plus play-doh is like dirt-cheap, and you can even make it yourself!)  

That’s my main point here… I don’t want to stifle creativity, experience, or learning in my children. It can be difficult at times, especially when I’m trying to clean or cook or be an adult and my kids are off painting each other with nail polish or covering the dog in stickers… but I remind myself daily that I need to LET THEM BE CHILDREN.

And to me, this is what that means:

Let them be children.

Let them get dirty.

Let them play.

Let them lead.

Let them mix colors.

Let them jump on the couch.

(Let them jump off the couch.)

Let them pretend.

Let them dress-up.

Let them build.

Let them create.

Let them imagine.

Let them perform.

Let them yell.

Let them scream.

Let them be LOUD. 

Let them BE.

Is anyone beginning to see why my family and I love Kaleidoscape? 

Let’s see… a giant studio where kids of all ages (really… all ages. I play dress up almost every time I’m there!) can use their imaginations, build cool stuff, pretend to be an astronaut or a princess or a pirate or a wolf, play with a new sensory table each week, and basically just practice being a kid? WE’RE IN.

How about you, parents? What kind of play are your children into lately? 

How are you letting them be kids?

Where have we been???

Seems to me that all blogs have ebbs and flows and ours has been at an ebb for some time.
(Meaning... it's been way too long since our last post!)
So, here we go with the resurrection of Kaleidoscape Play Studio's blog!

Over the next week, we will announce (an post) from our new guest bloggers and we know you will LOVE them!

Please welcome Jenny Fast as a new bi-weekly GUEST BLOGGER!

You may recognize her wit and voice, as she is the author of The Adventures of Superwife!

Jenny lives in Anchorage with her husband, Adam and their two daughters, Ellie (3) and Jamie (1). When she’s not working, cleaning up juice/water/milk spills, or explaining to her kids that there are more food groups than “fruit snacks”, she chronicles the often-humorous life as a parent of young children on her blog, The Adventures of Superwife. Her website has won the public-chosen “Best Local Blog” award in the Anchorage Press Picks in 2011, 2012 and 2013. “Writing is my passion… my family is my life. When I get to combine the two and write about my kids (or kids/parenting in general), especially in a capacity that helps other parents or makes them laugh about this crazy rollercoaster we’re all on, it just fills my heart. I love Kaleidoscape’s mission to keep kids engaged and creatively encouraged, as I’m continuously looking for ways to keep my own kiddos active and inspired – I love watching how creativity blossoms and grows in a child. I’m so honored to write for KPlay’s site... Cheers to new Adventures!” Jenny can be found at online at www.theadventuresofsuperwife.com or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/superwifejenny. She can also be reached by email at superwifejenny@gmail.com.

My Current Obsession with Robots

I think I'm going bonkers for 'bots. It started last year about this time when I was asked to make an art piece for Green Star on the Go annual auction and KrE 8; the can-crushing-robot-recycler was born. Since then, I've been contemplating other ways to use robots in my artistic world.

I grew up with the Jestons, R2D2 and Rock'em Sock'em robots. By today's standards, these are quaint ideas of what is truly available with technology. Laughable even - my iPhone is more advanced than all of those archaic robots put together! But the charm of dials, buttons and metal has entranced me.

We added a robot element to the new MechanicKs exhibit at Kaleidoscape on Ocotber 8th. It is complete with buttons to push, lights that flash and 'bots to build... and still, I find myself craving even more.

It's not even what the robot can DO, it's more about the visual appeal. My Pinterest feed is filled with DIY projects of all sorts! With Halloween looming and several places to be in costume, I feel as though I MUST BE A ROBOT! Supplies are compiling, designs coming together.           

 I. will. be. a. mom. bot. 

(Waaaaayy different than a fem-bot for those in the know.) 

     

Play is without age, ability, shade, size, shape or screen.

One of the most heart wrenching things I see is when a parent tells a child, "You can't do that, you are too <insert here> old/young/smart/little/big/slow/fast/green/anything for that." Too old? to play? I say NEVER! At what age does a person become too old to participate in play?
Is it something that we choose to leave behind or does it become stifled? I choose to champion play! Everyone should laugh and be silly and do a maze, to be delighted by the unexpected, to twirl and spin. It is our position that the random collision of these five elements IS play: Creating, Performing & Building, Experiencing & Imagining. When this happens... it is magical.

Play is for All Manifesto
Play is without age, ability, shade, size, shape or screen.

Create without worry of what your final project will be.
Perform... the world IS a stage.
Build and rebuild when your tower topples.
Experience new things; let your senses lead you to playfulness.
Imagine. Oh my stars... imagine a new world, a new way of being.
Embrace your silly side. Release your inner goof-ball.
Do these things in your own way.

Kaleidoscape Play Studio is on a mission to promote play for all!

Celebrate Life! ( for December 23 - 30)

To our family, this is one of the most celebrated weeks of the year, the week of Christmas. Had to have a little reminder chat with my youngest today as she went on about all of the presents she would get. I asked her what she thought Christmas was all about and she sighed, "Giving." I had to chuckle, because to a six year old at Christmas, it's not REALLY about giving to them. However, I asked her why she thought it was about giving and she came through. "Well, 'cause God gave us Jesus and he's the best gift of all!" (Feeling better about my parenting right now... LOL)

 

Merriest Christmas wishes from our family to yours this week.

A Cardboard Box

 

A cardboard box has been the topic of many a commercial (and conversation) when it comes to the creativity of children. How many times have we seen kids discard the toy that was in the box and play for days with it's container?  Never underestimate the power of a cardboard box!

There is a kid under there!

 Last week, I gave my children 84 cardboard boxes to play with so that I could observe. My kids are 6 and 12, so my experiment was powerful to watch as even my tween was entranced by stacking, building, and crashing.  They were both excited with the multiple ways they could use them.

The holidays are here and you will soon find your home with cardboard boxes... I challenge you to gift them to your kids and see what creativity blooms. It's pretty cool to watch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Celebrating Life... one day at a time.

I aplogize for the lack of posts this last week. I was practically bedridden due to a supplicated rib in the back. MISERY with a capital M and sadly, everything hurt... including blogging. Thanks to my hero husband, I recieved excellent treatment and chircopractic care and am on the mend. I am just taking it one day at a time.

With the tragedy at Sandy Hood Elementary this last week, it brought to light for me the importance of celebrating every day with those we cherish. Kisses and cuddles and "Love You's" should be given in abundance and so should celebrating everyday. Even if it's a silly.... maybe especially because it is silly.

With that, here is the upcoming week of little reasons to laugh and spoil eachother followed by some suggestions from your Kaleidoscape Play Studio crew. God Bless. <3

December 17th - National Bake Cookies Day!
Could this day come at a better time of year? What a great little way to spend the evening with you Littles than baking (and eating) cookies! And... if you make too many... GREAT! Give them away as gifts! LOL ! Did you know that the English word "cookie" is derived from the Dutch word "koekje," which means little cake? Turns out that Dutch bakers used to test oven temperatures on small amounts of batter so that they would not waste the entire cake mix if the temperature wasn't right.

December 18th - National Oatmeal Muffin Day!
Whole lotta bakin' going on this week! Now I personally LOVE oatmeal raisin cookies the best of all; how far off can and oatmeal raisin muffin be? HMMMMM. With cream cheese? I'm just making suggestions here...

 

OR... you could make these: Winning Recipe Oatmeal-Raisin Cupcakes, Orange Cream Cheese Icing and share some with us! LOL

 

 

 

December 20th - Go Caroling Day!It doesn't matter if you remember all the words or not. Just bundle up, take a themos of hot cocoa for the kids (more for the adults if you choose) and go sing as much as you can to the neighbors and call it good. It's not done as much as it was in my childhood or even teenage hood... (is that a word?!) but I still think that carol singing has a place in our cultural and social psyche. Not sure what to sing? Click HERE!

 

 

December 21st - National Flashlight Day!How FUN is this?! We plan to turn out all the lights and play hide and seek with flashlights!

In case you didn't know, the flashlight was invented in 1898, and the biblical quote of "Let There Be Light" was on the cover of the 1899 Eveready catalog, advertising the new flashlight! A flashlight by definition is a small portable lamp usually powered by batteries. Hmmph. Who knew?

Build It Tuesday - Hanukkah Inspired!

One aspect of my job is checking on Pinterest for inspiration and I must confess, I have been WAITING for months for this day! One of the best Duplo builds I found was this idea to create a menorah for Hanukkah. I must give credit where credit is due though! Click here to find the dreidel lego ideas as well!

On a side note... I am not Jewish, but to me the Holy Days of Judaism make a lot fsense and I've always been intersted in them. (Well... and kugel!)

In Honor of the festival of lights and the miracle of the oil Happy Hanukkah

Ways to Celebrate Being Alive This Week!

There are a lot of ways to show your family that you love them and celebrating the little things is one of those ways. We try to give you assistance here on the blog-o-rama to do that.
Okay, so, let's serve up silliness for the week of December 3 - December 9th!

 

 

December 4th is an fun day!
Santa's List Day AND Wear Brown Shoes Day. Well, well, well!
Regardless of your thoughts on using the Naughty List to bring on better behavior, some days just call for an emergency "Santa probably wouldn't care for that" reminder! Here is a great tool you can use or not... http://www.portablenorthpole.com/home

As for brown shoes.. you are on  your own... but fortunately, you still have tomorrow to pick up a pair if you need!

 

December 5th is Bathtub Party Day

This is bound to be a hit for your kids, so consider carefully. Will you do bubbles, make faux-hawks with shampoo, create bathtub paints with this recipe from Pepper Paints or... fill the tub with as many rubber duckies as you can find!

December 6th is Mitten Tree Day
Odd? Yes. But... consier the book The Mitten Tree by Candace Christiansen about a lady who sews mittens for kids who don't have them. She leaves them on a tree and donates them anonymously to those in need until she runs out of yarn.

Hmmm.... do I feel a mitten giving mission coming on?



December 7th is Letter Writing Day
We double dog dare you to actually WRITE a letter and mail it today. <3 Sure... it can be to Santa.


December 8th is National Brownie Day

Hooray!!!! What a GREAT day!!!
Whether you make them with the kids, or they get made in secret, the key here is to EAT them!

And just so we are all on the same page...
no one really cares if you make 'em from a box.

 
  December 9th is Christmas Card Day, so we are thinking... this is a pretty great day to send 'em out if you haven't already! Here is ours! Merry Christmas to your family from ours. <3

 
 

Build It Tuesday - A Bridge to Creativity

 

Creating towers and buildings with legos and blocks is a timeless pastime. Adults and kids alike can't resist stacking at least a few together. Have you wondered how your child SEES their creations?

 

 
Are they simply creating a miniature world,
or do they see something...

BIGGER?

If you consider how crushed they get when it's time to dismantle and put the toys away, you might be seeing evidence to that. 
I'm not suggesting that we leave every Lego tower standing,


but it does give us pause to admire their work a little more closely. Just food for thought...

Feel like reading more about building with Legos... Right or Left Brain Lego Builders  is a good read too! Build on families... build on!

And Toy Tuesday: Lego Learning!

Now, armed with all that brick knowledge...
let's build a bridge!

Celebrating Life from Nov 26 - Dec 2

All the ways you can just celebrate the fact that you are alive for the upcoming week and a few humble suggestions as to how you might do that. Enjoy the little things... they ARE the big things.

 

Monday the 26th - Mustache Monday AND Shopping Reminder Day

It is your last chance to don a mustache and recieve 10% off your dinner at any Don Jose's in Alaska for Mustache Monday! This applies all day and statewide. If you don't have a mustache, just ask your server and they'll hook you up!

In addition... just a friendly remider to shop... and shop local.

Tuesday the 27th - Pins and Needles Day

Interesting to find out that this day actually has two meanings, when so many of these random holidays have no history on their origin! So, you can tuck one meaning into your random bit of knowledge pocket and then celebrate with us by giving a holiday gift hint to someone so that they are on pins and needles! Or... create something using pins and needles.

 

Wednesday the 28th - Make Your Own Head Day

This is a perfect sculpture project for you and your kids. Try papier' mache, draw a picture or sculpt out of Play-dough and remember... there is no wrong in art.

Friday the 30th - Stay at Home Because You Are Well Day

Here you go... a bona fide reason to play hooky! We don't know if it will fly at work, but if you have the opportunity to take the day off for some much needed family fun, we highly recommend it!

Saturday the 1st - Eat a Red Apple Day
Apples are delicious. Apples are nutritious. That's a great combination. It is really easy to participate in this special day. Your mission today, is to pick an apple among the many varieties, and eat it.

A little apple trivia: The science of growing apples is called pomology.  

Sunday the 2nd - National Fritters Day

If you live in Anchorage, I fully believe that a lunch or dinner date at the Sourdough Mining Company is in order. That way you can celebrate by eating the BEST corn fritters in town with honey butter! YUM!

 

If not... give the recipe a whirl!

Ingredients:	3 eggs 3/4 c. creamed corn 1/2 c. canned corn, drained 1 3/4 c. flour 3/4 c. sugar 1/4 c. half-n-half 3 tsp baking powder
Directions:	Mix all ingredients, then drop by large spoonfuls into deep fat fryer. Fry until golden brown. Serve with honey butter. Mmmm!
	Personal Notes: We devised this recipe after a night at "The Sourdough Mining Company" restaurant in Anchorage. They serve what they call "world famous korn fritters". I think we came pretty close! If you're ever in Anchorage, this is an Alaska experience and food worth stopping for!



Build It Tuesday - Thanksgiving Style

I love to create... with all sorts of stuff. I always have. Today my job was extra fun, because we are introducing a new element to our online programming with Kaleidoscape Play Studio...

Whether bricks or blocks, it is my belief that building is experimenting with three dimensional art. Plus, it's satisfying! 

 

So, Builder K and Builder J set to work this morning to come up with some fantastic Thanksgiving creations for you and your kids to build. Of course, OUR kids were at school while WE built these!  Happiest of Thanksgiving to you and your family from Kaleidoscape Play Studio.

 

Mmmmmmmm! A golden Thanksgiving turkey!
(Hey, use your imagination here and admittedly, I need more brown legos.)

 

Turkeys - Still Life
(Before and after)

 

Mayflower & Pilgrim
(Notice the rough water!)

Ways to Celebrate November 19 - 25th

We love to celebrate life at Kaleidoscape Play Studio and one way we have been doing that is to post the upcoming week's random holidays. In order to truly celebrate them, we feel a little more notice might be needed on your end AND... perhaps some suggestions. We know life if busy with finding mates to socks, figuring out what's for dinner (those kids like to eat every single day!), and just fulfiling your purpose in life - whatever that may be.

So, we've taken next week's list of wacky holidays and searched out fun ways to celebrate them. <3

 

 

Monday

Kick of the week by headed over to any Don Jose's in Alaska for Mustache Monday! If you live in Anchorage, you can meet us at 6pm for dinner and if you wear a mustache... you get 10% off! This applies all day and statewide. Just tell them Kaleidoscape Play Studio sent you!

 

Tuesday the 20thUniversal Children's Day is a real day! Even Wikipedia says so! (giggling) This day is filled with history and meaning, but we feel it's a day to really celebrate and appreciate the kids in your life. You know them best, but these are some sure fire ways to make them feel loved.

 

• Wake them up in a special way today. Confetti and a sign is our suggestion!
• Let them pick the dinner place today. Buck up if it's Chuck E. Cheese, or some equally obnoxious place; it's one day.
• Do something silly just for them... have a nerf gun war, have a dance party, wear mustaches to dinner, paint with your feet, etc.
• Don't underestimate the power of your undivided attention. Children crave attention, so whether you snuggle, read them a book, play a game or just goof off, this is a #1 way to celebrate your kids.

Wednesday the 21st

World Hello Day It’s the perfect excuse to make your office, school or bus journey a little bit friendlier and you can join in simply by greeting ten people. If you wanted to take it a step further, you could make little Hello cards and hand them out or learn to say hello in diferent languages.

 

Thursday the 22ndTwo ways to celebrate in one. It's obviously Thanksgiving, but also Go For a Ride Day! Will you go for a ride to Grandma's for dinner? Ride your bike? Take your dog for a ride? (Ours loves that!) After dinner, celebrate by whizzing by as the wind blows in your hair. Get up, get out and go for a ride!

 

Friday the 23rd

You're Welcome Day! We think it only makes sense to have a You’re Welcome Day after a day of Thanksgiving! You’re welcome is a polite way to respond to thanks and implies that the other person is welcome to request additional favors.  This is a great way to practice manners!

 

 

Saturday the 25th
Yummy... National Parfait Day! Did you know that the word "parfait" means "perfect" in French? It’s no wonder that this dish makes a perfect snack, meal, or dessert! American parfaits are made by layering ice cream or yogurt with granola, nuts, yogurt, fresh fruits, and whip cream. Whip up your own version to celebrate National Parfait Day!



Busy Busy Busy!

We have just been crazy busy with bringing Kaleidoscape Play Studio to fruition. There is paint on our walls, the floor is about to be demolished and so much more! Sadly, all of these great improvments to the space have left the blog un-manned. So... that said, we need to get a handle on things here!

We saw this today from our FB friends at Anchorage Macaroni Kid and HAD TO SHARE!
Enjoy the giggle and we'll talk soon! MUAH!

Family Fun Friday - The GREAT Pumpkin

Starting something new here... I usually post some family friendly on the Kaleidoscape Play Studio Facebook page on Fridays, but I want to take that a step further. I want to help you have some family fun and give you a list for next week too! That way, you'll be ready to make some family fun a week early. (In theory)

Fortnuately, today's Family Fun Friday project is rather timely and you may need to do it anyway! Let's talk pumpkins! Whether or not you celebrate Halloween, finding joy in a pumpkin is easy. They are round, orange and super tasty in a pie! That said, this article does feature how to DECORATE a pumpkin.

So, first things first! If you decide you want to do some traditional pumpkin carving, PLEASE take the time to click here and read some Pumpkin Carving Safety Tips! But we are thinking after reading this... you may opt out of knife weilding with your kiddos and take one of these fun ideas instead.

First up... yes, I'm going there. MUSTACHE PUMPKIN!

Super simple tutorial here!

 

Next on the No-Carve-Menu, RAINBOW PUMPKINS!  

 

Neon + rainbow = amazing.

 

These pumpkins are also very kid-friendly, as all that's involved is acrylic paint (no hot glue or spray paint).

 

An egg carton served as our paint holder, with different colors in each compartment. Using a different brush for each color will keep them from mixing.

White Artist's Loft brushes worked well. The square brush gives you a straight edge.





A few coats of paint will probably be necessary to get good, thick color. When you're putting one color next to another, wait for the first to dry before starting the second.

One way to easily get in all the shades of the rainbow is simply to paint small pumpkins in different colors. This looks great, and is super simple to do.

Rainbow Pumpkin Ideas from here! Best Hallwoeen Ever!

Nine More No Carve Ideas!

1. Use hot glue or stickers
2. Masking tape
3. Glue cardboard words and spray paint
4. Duct Tape
5. GLITTER!!!
6. Patterned pantyhose
7. Pushpins
8. Decopage and add ribbon
9. Use Mr. Potatoe Head accessories



We LOVE this toy! (Like, REALLY!)

Part of our goal at Kaleidoscape Play Studio is to bring play elements that everyone wants to play with. We fell in love with the Perplexus mazes and actually have all four! Although they were purcahsed for the Play Studio, we couldn't resist them and opened them up!

 

There must be something pretty special about a man who can come up with a toy that appeals to so many age groups, that is durable and visually stimulating as well as completely addictive. Michael McGinnis is the inventor and developer of exactly that; the Perplexus. Michael is not only a sensational toy-builder-man, but also a sculptor, painter, art installation-er, and a host of other things…our kind of guy for sure! Michael has said how the development of the Perplexus was something of a dream, as he developed his long term passion of creating beautiful designs into something practical that could be enjoyed by numerous people, and thus a great business venture.

 

With eleven siblings and thirty-three nieces and nephews, as well as two children of his own, all of whom are cut from the same creative cloth that he is, the development of his invention may have been partly a result of creating something for the people he loves.

The Perplexus (formerly known as Superplexus) is a 3-D ball-in-a-maze puzzle or labyrinth game enclosed in a transparent plastic sphere. By twisting and turning the sphere, players attempt to maneuver a small steel ball through an intricate maze composed of 100 steps along narrow plastic tracks. Additionally, some of the steps involve dropping the ball into a cup or through a small rim to take advantage of its three-dimensional nature. There are obstacles of varying difficulty that must be navigated in order to reach the end.

We got our all of our Perplexus mazes at Over the Rainbow Toys and we are tickled to put the official KPLAY stamp of approval on them!
Reference Links
An Interview with the Perplexus Inventor
Wikipedia

There are NO mistakes in art.

If you get me chatting about art, I will eventually share my theory of creativity with you. Basically, I believe that everyone IS creative and that we ALL share that same gene. Now, before you argue, "Jennifer, I am so NOT creative!", let me explain.

 

As tiny children, we all color and create with abandon. Scribbling and fingerpainting to our heart's content; not worrying about the final product. Back then, we created for the fun of it. It's not until one day when you are showing your art to a "grown-up" that you heard, "Cows aren't suposed to be purple," or "Oh, you didn't stay in the lines," that you begin to second guess your self expression.

 

I dare you to challenge that way of thinking! There are no mistakes in art. NONE. If you "mess" up, just use it to embellish or start again. Trust me, you were made for this.

Create image credit: Tangram SM Store