Monday, June 30, 2014

Creative Launch

We advertised Summer Launch as the perfect way to start a creative-filled summer vacation, and our day of hiking, crafts, and storytelling fit the bill. The day was primarily successful, of course, because we had a lovely and lively group whose summer creative prospects are excellent.
In a twist on a festival favorite, we let the young artists loose on each other with washable paint sticks. They were very pleased with their results!
We followed our first session (wet felted puppets, balloon poppers, chalk & face paint) with a hike in the hidden treasure of borough trails between Dykeman Pond and the Doc Norcross ball fields. 
After lunch and play along the way, a cooler moment indoors was welcome. Children alternated between making clay medallions with botanicals gathered on the hike and playing charades with Miss Audrey. 
We had some great results with bleach batik, decorated face planters to take home and watch their hair grow in, and sent each camper home with a little mystery box to fill a lagging day in the future. Mischief managed!



Saturday, June 14, 2014

Bleach batik

One of the projects I've been having fun working on for Monday is bleach batik. It's simple to discharge dye from colored fabric to make your own designs. Use a bleach pen, then rinse your fabric when you see the dye change you want (these were all on about 5 minutes). Most fabrics discharge dye to make a color other than white, which I didn't expect the first time I did it.
Bleach pens work better than straight bleach because the gel formula holds in place better and the dilution keeps the bleach from being as corrosive. For a less-expensive option (x20 adds up for us!), you can make your own to fill either a used bleach pen or old glue bottle.

Mix 2 T. cornstarch into 1 c. COLD water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently, until the mixture is thickened. Let cool completely, stirring occasionally, then stir in 5-6 T. household bleach, continuing to mix until smooth. Easy peasy.

Friday, June 6, 2014

Creative Launch set for June 16th

I'm clapping my hands as I plan our CREATIVE LAUNCH, scheduled for the first day of summer vacation. It's a great way to launch your children into the sort of creative, comfortable summer we always envision we are going to have. Please bring your friends and join us!

On Monday, June 16th, from 9 am to noon we are planning to wet felt wool puppets and pockets, bleach batik, tell stories, make poppers, take a short hike, make clay plant-impression medallions, do some plantings to take home, and send every child home with (besides their creations) a mini mystery craft box and ideas to pursue a more creative summer.

Please bring:
*a packed lunch (water and an earlier snack will be provided)
*a blank colored cotton t-shirt or pillowcase to bleach batik
*get-messy clothes
*comfortable shoes (we will be taking a short hike, weather permitting)

The day will be spent in and around The Thought Lot, a great multi-use arts center in downtown Shippensburg. The address is 37 E. Garfield, but I give directions to the corner of Earl & Orange Street. In the back corner of the big lot there is a low white former warehouse with a bright orange logo.

$30. Registration details in the right sidebar of our  blog: http://thewondercollective.blogspot.com/

Questions? I'll answer them! thewondercollective@gmail.com 

Walden Weekend--more details





We are eagerly anticipating this, our first Springfield Camp for older children(because that’s where ours are!), and thought, because it's a new format from what we have offered in the past, we'd share a few more details to help you envision your child's possible experience with us.  We are able to do more advanced, focused work with older kids, allowing them a bit more freedom and diving a bit deeper into the educational segments. Each day is a little different.  

We first referred to this camp as "Survivor Camp", but moved on to being inspired by Henry David Thoreau's chronicle Walden; or, Life in the Woods. This is our theme:

"I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life!"

Wednesday, June 18th: learn & prepare
9 am-noon
Bring a water bottle labeled with your name.
No lunch today, but a snack will be served mid-session.
Wear comfortable clothes and shoes.
Today we’re working on our shelters and a leather craft, while learning about stars and local plants and weather and animals and our muse for the week: Henry David Thoreau.


Thursday, June 19th:  hike & campfire
5-10 pm
Bring a water bottle labeled with your name.
Dinner & snacks will be provided.
Wear comfortable clothes and shoes, and prepare for evening weather;
            we recommend a sweatshirt, flashlight, and blanket.
This evening we will enjoy the woods with a hike, then build a campfire. While we wait for the fire to burn to good coals for cooking, we’ll make tin punch lanterns and play games. We will cook dinner together, learning about our dusk friends, owls & fireflies, then enjoy both them, the stars (heavens willing!) and some tent/shelter time. Campfire stories and songs? Of course!

Friday, June 20th: enjoy your wood sense
9am-noon
Bring a water bottle labeled with your name.
No lunch today, but a snack will be served mid-session.
Wear comfortable clothes and shoes, and bring a change.

We’ll be recapping and journaling, then running about on treasure hunts in the morning, then finishing in the spring, so water shoes (old tennis shoes are perfect), a towel, and a change of clothes are helpful.

*Hours and to-brings listed below, but we may change the evening date, depending on the weather. We will notify you of this via email, so please check your email Tuesday night for updated plans, and let Valerie, our scribe, know if you would prefer a phone call. In case of extreme weather, we also may reschedule a date to The Thought Lot in Shippensburg.


$110/$120 w/tee

for children finishing grades 4-8
Held at Springfield Farm:
600 Big Spring Rd, Newville

This week is a wholehearted exploration of the woods for older children: hiking, building, learning and delighting in our beautiful Pennsylvania woods, with a special campfire dinner and firefly extravaganza. Spend your days fostering development of basic survival skills (native plants and animals, weather signs, building shelters, orienteering) with useful craft (leather work & tin-punch lanterns) and good exercise (hikes, obstacle courses, treasure hunt design). We’ll make sure to leave time for peaceful moments of cloud therapy and nature journaling, too!  

Saturday, May 24, 2014

Roots preschool summer camp is FULL

Roots preschool summer camp is full to bursting! Thanks for your support, but registration is now closed. If you have already signed up, but still need to pay, we are still planning on you...but yeah, it's time to do that :).  Use the handy button on the right sidebar of this blog, or get a check (to The Wonder Collective) to the address listed there, too.

We are still accepting registration for the two multi-day Springfield Camps and the one-day super Creative Launch on June 16th. Oh, the plans that are afoot! Tell your friends and bring them, too :).

Monday, March 31, 2014

Pysanky class postponed

Pysanky friends—

I regret to inform you that I need to postpone tomorrow’s class. Although the company I ordered from indicated that they shipped on the 28th, with Priority Mail, and from Chicago (I purposefully chose the supplier nearest to us), the kistkas (the tool used to trace beeswax resist lines) I ordered for each participant have not moved from Illinois (I’ve been impatiently e-watching the package tracking number), and will not arrive until Thursday.

Because I recognize that a reschedule may not be at a convenient time for you, I’m setting two of them in hopes that one of them will work for: Thursday night at the same time (April 3rd, 6-8:30 pm), and the following morning (Friday, April 4th, 9-11:30 am).  Unfortunately, I cannot schedule it for next Tuesday.
Please let me know as soon as possible if you can still attend, and which session you will come to. If you no longer can, please also let me know so I can try to find another happy crafter for your tools.

I sincerely apologize. I have never had this problem before, and will work to make sure it does not happen again.

Valerie Goates
email: thewondercollective.blogspot.com

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Thank you, News Chronicle!


We were in the paper yesterday. 
So famous!
(Small towns are fun that way--I was in the front page a couple of weeks ago for helping at the middle school)