Wow, what a fun and busy week of camp! This week our campers made a bunch of foods and snacks that would be perfect to bring on a picnic. The art sessions covered things like cardboard creatures, and several fun mediums like chalk pastels and print making. Read on to see we were up to around the art table and in the kitchen this week (recipes will be linked or follow at the end, check back in a few days for updated info).

We hope everyone has a great summer!

Monday

Book of the day: The Dot by Peter Reynolds

Art Project: We looked at the art project “Crystal Cities” by artist and illustrator Rob Dunlavey. We discussed shapes and the idea of creating our own complex cities using simple geometric shapes. Campers then created their own magic worlds using oil pastel and watercolor resist.

Recipes: mix & match pasta salad

Tuesday

Book of the day: From Here to Infinity by Sarah Suzuki

Art Project: We discussed and looked at examples of Yayoi Kusama’s art. Campers were definitely interested in her fascination with dots and oohed and aahed over photos of her infinity mirrored room. For our art project, we used cardboard and acrylic paints to create our own imaginary creatures. Some campers teamed up to create collaborative pieces and all kids had fun using glue guns to construct their creatures (and miraculously, no injuries occured!).

Recipes: strawberry oat bars + creamsicle gummies

Wednesday

Book of the day: Frida Kahlo and Her Animalitos by Monica Brown

Art Project: Today we explored the wonderful world of color using chalk pastels, which was a new medium for many campers. We created our own stencils using sulphite paper, and then used chalk pastels and popsicle sticks to shave bits of color onto our paper- which we then blended using our fingers! The kids created rich backgrounds of color- some warm, some cool- and some a mix of both! It was definitely messy, but was an engaging (and very hands-on) way to make art!

Recipes: dips + crackers (lavash, GF herb crackers, beet hummus, herb dip)

Thursday

Book of the day: Ish by Peter Reynolds

Art Project: This book fostered a great discussion during our circle time about letting go of perfectionism (which I have noticed often begins to happen in elementary school in regards to artmaking) and being free to create “ish” drawings! There is no better way to practice embracing imperfectionism than with the finicky and unpredictable (but very fun) art of printmaking! It can sometimes take a while for the concept of printmaking to click, but once it does, it’s a great way for kids to experiment with color and technique- as well as to make lots of copies of art to share with friends and family. We used a special printing foam as our block, which we “carved” into using dull pencils. We then used markers and water to create our prints. The kids can bring their printing blocks that they created home, and can hopefully make lots of prints over the summer!

Recipes: mini frittatas + smoothie pops (tropical greens flavor)

Friday

Our book of the day: The Iridescence of Birds: A Book About Henri Matisse by Patricia MacLachlan

Art Project: On our final day of camp we created stained glass windows out of paper- inspired by the works of Henri Matisse and Marc Chagall. The campers cut a variety of colored paper into organic and geometric shapes to collage into their window frame. Once finished, the art went through the “glass machine” (aka the laminator). The students then used permanent marker to connect their shapes to one another and to their frames.

Recipes: apple carrot muffins