Summer Academy Fun

Side note: We ran into Big Mama's previous owner at Sams club today. He said, "I saw the Big Blue Thing in the parking lot...it looks dirty." I fumbled over the small lie that we'd been to Edgewood (implying dirt roads)...it's true, although that was weeks ago. I didn't want to admit that the thought of washing it hadn't even crossed my mind. He told me that he used to spend a half a morning giving it a thorough washing...I offered to let him take it and wash it for me next time he had a morning off, but he just laughed and said that it was my and my husband's responsibility now. Shucks...
I just finished up my color class today. What's that? Well...a couple of women in my ward had the inspired idea to start a summer academy for kids ages 5-13. Each person who wants to be involved has to teach at least one five hour class (spread out however you want it). In return your children get to take up to three classes of their choice.
Awesome, huh. Bekah has already taken a ceramics class and an oceanography/astronomy class. Jacob has learned about Indian culture (which involved some fun hiking in the foothills), and is currently taking a hands-on-science class where he just dissected an owl pellet. The things I loathed in school, he is doing for fun. He'll be taking a weather class in a couple of weeks, and Bekah will be doing backyard art. Again, I can't say how cool this whole set-up is.
I decided to teach two classes, with Rus's help. I suckered him into doing a full day adventure with me (five hours right there); we took a ten kids to El Malpais to learn about volcanoes and hike on Lava Falls. It was really fun and hot and Jacob was almost driven looney-bin-crazy by the numerous horse flies we encountered.

Here is our group:

The landscape is surreal; I was amazed that anything could grow there. Here is Bekah at the entrance to a natural amphitheater.
 

Then this past week I taught a Color class, all about learning the basics of the color wheel through different mediums. I had ten kids in my class, ages five through eight, and I taught them about primary colors, secondary colors, and complimentary colors. We used acrylic paints, watercolors, oil pastels, and food coloring. It was really fun and a really good trial experience for me. We mixed colors with tempera paint, made color wheels, made color wheel geckos, painted color wheel cookies, did watercolor paintings with droppers (dropped colors on wet paper and watched them blend together), experimented with wet-erase markers on coffee filters (the colors dilute in water to show the colors they're made from), made collages with our painted papers, made edible play-dough cookies, made complimentary color crayons (by melting crayons together in the oven in a mini muffin tin), and sorted colored objects to where they belonged on the color wheel.
I learned that a gallon-sized paint bucket of tempera paint in each of the primary colors is way more than enough, kids love doing watercolor with droppers, that I should specify not to use their feet to paint with, even when I say "anything goes," that tempera paint washes out of clothes but stucco is a little trickier, and that making a collage out of previously painted papers can be pretty daunting for a lot of kids. I think everyone had a good time, although I wouldn't be surprised if their favorite part of the class was "skating" with their socks on our newly laid wood floor.

Here are some pictures of the color experience:
I think cousin Allie was the first one to start painting with her feet...and then her legs. They look pretty awesome, huh...

On second thought it could have been Bekah who instigated the "let's-get-super-dirty" painting technique.

 The whole gang painting

...once again I must say that "washable" doesn't mean washable on concrete or stucco. My front porch is now tattooed with foot prints, brightly colored footprints. I think I should be mad at myself for letting that happen...but I'm not. As for the handprint on the stucco...you do see what an ugly color of stucco that is, right? The handprints kind of improve it.

Here is Jacob with his color-wheel painted cookie. This was a really fun part that the kids loved. I used a corn syrup-water-food coloring mixture that they painted on like watercolors.

And that is all. Now I can just sit and read a book, right? ;)