Maker Camp

This week, last week, and for four more weeks we are doing maker camp. Maker Camp is an online camp sponsored by MAKE and Google+ with daily hangouts and a field trip on Friday. Additionally there is a daily project and an advanced daily project. There are themes for each week (week two is art and design) and a topic for each day's hangout (yesterday's was wearable tech). A hangout consists of two guests related to the topic of the day,( yesterday's were Erica Domesek, founder of P.S-I made this, a website that shows you how to make almost everything in under five steps. And Becky Stern, representative from Ada Fruit, a company that makes backpacks with turn signals for your bike, to a Jowa doll with glowing eyes.) and the hosts of Maker Camp who ask the guests questions. If you are interested,(I highly recommend it) you can start now. No registration is necessary but you do have to activate a Google+ account. If you do not want to activate an account you can watch the hangouts on YouTube a day after they occur, and get the daily project at
http://makercamp.com/summer-2014/schedule/#week-2-art-design.

This is a list of the projects so far and some pictures of us making/using them.

A rocket on top of a three story building is not a fail; it is a fair flight
and some gusty wind.
                              -Cole Schuelke

1. paper rockets !!
2. balance board !
3. heron's fountain (we're still perfecting it) !!
4. glow bike
5. LED shoe clips !
6. bee condos !
7. yarn bowl !

!!=made it
!=want to make it

Maker Camp Stomp Rocket from C Schuelke on Vimeo.












                                     Heron's Fountain                                            

Koalas

The boys each drew a koala to add to a bon voyage card for Uncle Augi, Aunt Erin, and Kaden who are traveling to Australia on Thursday for a conference. They followed instructions from Rob at the artforkids website.

Artwork by Cole

Artwork by Evan

Artwork by Xavier

Armed Forces Day

Armed Forces Day is coming up on May 17.  Cole drew this picture to enter in the OAG (Office of the Attorney General) Children's Artwork Calendar. 

Hungry Bunnies

Evan's Bunny

Xavier's bunny wearing a bow-tie and sitting in a carrot patch

Cole's bunny

Xavier's painted bunny

Mom's painted bunny

You're a Mean One. . .

Mr. Grinch!

I sent Cole to the website, Art for Kids, at artforkidshub.com
and told him to see if he could follow the instructions for drawing The Grinch.  The above is his first drawing, but his second coloring.  I think he was pleased with how it turned out and he commented that he really liked the way the information was presented at the Art for Kids website.

From Hamsa to Henna

One of our art projects for our India unit was making "henna hands".   There was an artist offering henna (or mendhi) at the Taste of India fundraiser, and I think it is beautiful, but I don't think it is quite appropriate for my lifestyle.  If I knew I could remove it when I was ready to, I might spring for it.  So instead of getting real henna, I had the boys trace their hands again and then draw henna designs on their paper hands. 

Evan's Henna Hand

Xavier's First Attempt at a  Henna Hand

Cole's Henna Hand

Xavier wanted to do a second hand.  He says he really liked doing them.  It was late in the day and he must have said that he wanted to do another one, but he didn't know what to do.  So I had him watch me sketch out a pattern, starting in the center and just moving out, add the same things around the circle.  I encouraged him to make it squiggly.  Then I turned him loose while I worked on supper.

Mom's demonstration for Xavier

 

 

Xavier's practice on scratch paper

I think his second hand turned out magnificent!

Xavier's Second Henna Hand

Henna is usually black when first applied, then becomes a burnt orange color.  I looked briefly for a picture of the henna design that won a UT photo contest.  It was pictured in the Alcalde, but unfortunately, I didn't find it.