Field Trips

When it comes to children, we live in an area of boundless opportunities. Our town is in a suburban/rural area about equidistance from Detroit, Flint, Ann Arbor and Lansing (each city providing opportunities), yet we are surrounded by farms, state parks and large universities. Not to mention that fact that Michigan touches 4 of the 5 Great Lakes, we are seldom at a loss for joyous outings! There is also a virtual cornucopia of local farms that have "pick your own" throughout the season, and our summers are entwined with the seasonal produce. Although picking strawberries isn't easy work, it is always a day worth remembering, and when the berries are turned into jams, it's something we continue to enjoy throughout the year. Join us for the day at one of our favorite farms :)  

EDIT: We found out Bug actually was on the news as a live report. His daddy and co-workers saw him, although it wasn't recorded.

Michigan's official groundhog is named Woody. As it turns out, Woody is not a he, Woody is a she. By the time the Howell Nature Center got intimate enough with her to find out she was indeed female, the name had already stuck, and the rest is history :)

Yesterday we joined the crowds in hopes of finding out whether or not spring was around the corner. According to Woody, who stayed out of her home for the official 30 seconds, spring will come early to Michigan. (We'll ignore the fact that all winter has felt like spring!)

It was a blast, and I'd say it is something I can now cross off the old bucket list except we plan to make this an annual event :) Along with all the jumping around and cheering, Bug was interviewed by Fox News. In his first theatrical disappointment, Bug's interview did not make it on the air, but it was exciting just to be interviewed with the bright lights and microphone :) Some of the photos are blurry, sorry Bug!

 

If you'd like to see the official Fox News coverage, sans Bug, you can watch it here: http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/dpp/mornings/woody-predicts-early-spring-in-michigan
Hope everyone had as much fun yesterday as we did! Woody! Woody! Woody! Woody!

This time of year, of course brings us to the cider mill... or I should say mills. I believe Johnny Appleseed would be pleased to find the acres of orchards in our community. We've already visited 3 different cider mills in our area, drank gallons of cider, eaten dozens of warm donuts, and picked bags of apples. We've made apple pie, apple crisp and apple bread. We've made apple stackers and still need to make some carmel apples. Yum!

This week we are working on Week Six of our Harvest Time unit. I will be posting a weekly update to give everyone a space to chat about the program. If you would like more information about the program you can learn more and download the free homeschooling curriculum on our Harvest Time page. All of the directions for the art projects, recipes and activities are included in the curriculum guide. If your family is participating in the Harvest Time curriculum either for homeschooling or after school enrichment we would love to hear about it! Please leave a comment in this post in regards to your experiences with Harvest Time’s Week Six activities. You are welcome, and highly encouraged to leave links to your Harvest Time’s Week Six blog posts or pictures in the comment section of this post.

Harvest Time Week Six
Primary Book: Johnny Appleseed
Enrichment Book: How Do Apples Grow,
Activities: Apple Prints,
Field Trip Idea: Orchard,
Art: Archery of the Mandan,
Poem: Little Boy Blue,
Flower Fairies: Thrift Fairy & Coloring Page

Links from Our first time completing the Unit...
Apple Prints
Cider Press
Apple Bread

If your family is working on the Harvest Time curriculum either full time or just for some family fun enrichment, you are welcome to add the Harvest Time button on your website. You can save the button to you computer and upload as a photo to your site (you may want to link it back to the Main Harvest Time Page http://weefolkart.com/content/harvest-time-preschoolkindergarten-curriculum) or just copy the green text below and add it to you site.

{this moment :: inspired by soule mama}

a single pictures, requiring no words, yet telling a story worth remembering!

have a lovely weekend ~ Michelle and Kimara

I "met" Maple, owner of North Star Alpacas, two years ago, soon after we started Wee Folk Art. I was looking for roving to use for different projects and came upon her Etsy store. I bought some roving and fell in love with its beauty and Maple's endearing ways. Over time we came to realize we lived a mere 90 miles away from one another. For a long time I dreamed of paying Maple a visit and today we finally got a chance to meet in person.

Let me start by saying Maple is every bit as much a sweetheart in person as she is online! Originally, I planned to pay her a visit by myself, perhaps sitting around knitting and chatting. As it turned out, she played host to one of Michelle's homeschooling groups, and opened her barn and house to a group of very delighted and inquisitive children.

We started by meeting Maple's new rescue dog, Jessie. Very handsome!

Next, we made our way out to the barn...

First we meet her 3 beautiful horses. Her white horse is quite the performer and could show his teeth and make "raspberries" on request. Highly impressive!

We finally got to meet the alpacas. Although they were all a bit skittish, the children were able to get some of them to eat out of their hands. Their fur is unbelievably soft! 

Despite the majesty of the horses and the allure of the alpacas, it was the common barnyard kitty that seemed to win the hearts of all the children.

Leaving the barn, the children asked about a wagon in the yard that had a plank leaned against it. Miss Maple explained that the wagon held the manure from the alpacas and the horses. It is shoveled into a wheelbarrow and pushed up the plank, then dumped into the manure spreader. Each child wanted to look inside, so Miss Maple patiently helped each child up, where they peered into the wagon. (Uh... decided no picture of the contents of the manure spreader was necessary!)

Then, back at the house, Miss Maple passed around pieces of the cleaned fibers taken from the sheered alpacas. It was so soft.

She then demonstrated how to card the fibers, thereby aligning them and turning them into roving. The children enjoyed turning the crank.

Finally, she showed us how to spin the roving into yarn. She made it look so easy. Everyone got a chance to try.

Even Michelle took a turn. Michelle has been spinning using a drop spindle. She's had a spinning wheel on her wish list for quite some time, but after a few minutes of spinning on a wheel, she is hooked! She's hoping it will be a Christmas present this year.

After everyone else left, Michelle and I hit Maple's Etsy store. WOW! That was exciting. Michelle had a hard time making choices, and I bought roving to put away for her as a Christmas gift. Hopefully, she'll have a spinning wheel to spin it on.

We so much want to thank Maple for her hospitality and for a thoroughly engaging day. Everyone enjoyed themselves. And to all our readers, make sure you visit Maple's shop, North Star Alpacas, for some truly beautiful alpaca fibers. Whether you spin, needle felt or use roving for gnomes' beards, you'll love working with these gorgeous fibers.

And, BTW Maple... I will be back alone for a quiet day of knitting and chatting... hopefully soon!