Session 5 Morning Mayhem!

None of us here at the Arts Center can believe that tomorrow is the last Spree day of the summer! It's been an amazing year. We've had more than 400 outstanding children come through our doors, and it's been exciting to see them making new friends and finding a new home on our grounds.

Keep scrolling down to see how much fun the kids in this session have been having this week! Susan and her helpers from Hedgerow have been working with the kids to put together what will be an outstanding show tomorrow (at 11:15!). The kids have been making costumes and singing the songs back in their rooms to prepare for tomorrow. Check it out!

Eliya (of the Orange Group) glazing her frog in the ceramics studio.

BFFs Lily and Kathryn in the children's ceramics studio.

Maysa carefully painting glaze on her froggie.

Just one of the Orange Group's many awesome projects this week.

Isabelle and Grace working on their costumes for tomorrow's show!

Can we guess what Roxy's going to be?

Another costume clue from Maya and the Yellow Group.

Madison (of the Green Group) doing some hands-on artwork. 

Zayna (also Green Group) posing with her work!

Dexter saw my camera and said "Alli, take a picture of me being a bush!" How could I say no?

I wonder what Kayla will be in tomorrow's show...

The Magenta Group working on some scenery for the show!

Samma (of the Magenta Group) working on her windsock.

The Turquoise Group is putting on a puppet show (which will hopefully be up on the blog tomorrow!) I wonder who's back there making shadow puppets.

Hint: it wasn't Carter. He was too busy hamming it up. 

Session 5 is Underway!

Yesterday marked the first day of the final session this year at Summer Spree! It's been a great summer here at Spree, but it's not over yet! This week, we've got amazing guests from Hedgerow Theatre teaching a special in the mornings, and on Friday there will be a performance incorporating all 8 Groups at 11:15am. The kids are learning songs and making costumes to get prepared for the show, so we hope to see all parents, babysitters, grandparents, etc. in the SideYard/Children's Garden on Friday!

That's not all we have going on this week! We've also got our regular morning specials (Ceramics  and Tie Dye) as well as afternoon specials (Ceramics, Tie Dye, and Hula!). Despite the rain, this afternoon was a Hula Afternoon, so I checked in on all three groups in the Ballroom, as well as the Orange and Purple Groups in their classrooms!

Kayla (of the Orange Group) decorating her own personal mini-chalkboard.
That black paint she's using is Chalkboard Paint.

Members of the Purple Group decorating and assembling sketchbooks!

The Red Group warming up for their Hula session by driving their hoops like cars!

Jen helping Max get the hang of hooping.

Once they tired of hip-hooping, the Groups played a mirror game with their hoops, during which one partner would do hoop-tricks and the other would have to mimic them as best they could. 

Sam (of the Orange Group) testing out some really cool arm-hooping tricks.  

"I call this 'The Ultimate Human Hoop Pretzel'"

The Purple Group relay racing through the hoop maze while doing whatever hoop trick they could maintain!

Session 4 Fun Goes On!

The past two days have been full of tie dye! Check out all these dyed little hands and a couple afternoon girls in action.

The result of the Purple Group's time at the tie dye station.

Mira narrating herself while carefully choosing colors for her tshirt.

Sophia doing her thing without getting dye all over her hands.

This morning, I walked around and saw some really great artwork in the Classrooms of the Turquoise Group, who did collage work as well as printing. The Orange group was doing some active art outside with repurposed Keurig cups, and the Red Group was working with watercolors and salt to make an icy affect on their artwork.

Aaron and Griffin dripping watercolors onto paper from repurposed k-cups. 

What a cool idea, Sara!

Adrianna rubbing salt into her watercolor painting, which will crystalize as it dries.

The Orange Group has also been working on these plaster faces decorated with found objects and medallions from the ceramics studio!

Girls of the Green Group showing off their texture-tiles before using them to make unique and original prints.

This afternoon was another day of Hula with Jenn from HoopFrenz! In addition to the cool stuff the kids got to do last time Jenn visited Summer Spree, today the kids made hoop-huts in groups to practice working together. They also played new games like limbo and learned how to be ninjas with their hula hoops. What a blast!

The Orange Group doing Ninja Tricks with Jenn in front of the tower!

Jake climbed into the hoop-hut he made with his group to pose for this shot.

Sheldon and Whitney (of the Orange Group) finding their balance and working out their hoop-skills.

Check out Ninja-Raegan doing her thing with a bunch of hoops!

Day 3 of Spree!

The humidity has kicked it up a notch today! And so has the fun! This morning, I checked in with Margery and Carolyn in the side yard, where they were getting ready to welcome the Red Group to their Gardening special. They learned about different types of soil, and even got to stick their toes in a big bucket of sand before squishing around in a puddle of mud! Pauline and Josh's morning groups (Blue and Green) were also digging into some cool projects; take a look at the pictures below for a glimpse of what they're working on!

Margery and the Red Group looking for treasures in a bowl of sand big enough for 16 little hands!

Muddy toes are a great way to learn about soil and get your feet and hands dirty at the same time! Check out that mud pie!

Liam and Alex (of the Blue Group) layering paper mache to make the final product as sturdy as possible.

Pauline's Blue Group making beautiful treasure pockets to collect goodies on their nature walks!

The afternoon groups were also moving right along delving into new stages of projects that will be on display next Thursday afternoon, at the Art Shows! The Turquoise Group was in the painting stage of preparation for their Pow Wow, which will be performed before their group's Art Show. The Red Group met David our Afternoon Ceramics teacher this session, and he led them through the construction of birds' nests, complete with birds and eggs to go inside them! Once the Red Group's time was up in the ceramics studio, the Orange Group came in and got to let their imaginations run wild and create a sculpture of whatever their hearts desired.

The Green Group singing along to the radio as they worked.

Declan doesn't need a chair to paint his masterpiece. 

Dave listening intently as Keegan describes a seagull he once saw at Chik-fil-A. 

Does Lucia approve of the size of the egg Ada made for her birds' nest?

Sophia B. creating her "Family Home" out of clay.

Day 2 of Fun in Session 1

Day 2 of the summer saw our Spree teachers and aides getting right back into the swing of things. The aides were all smiles as they met the kids at their cars and took them safely to their teachers this morning. Once divided up into their groups, the kids dug right into their art supplies. (Many of which are generously donated to the CAC by members and art lovers throughout the area - Thanks Donors!) 

This morning, I stopped into Jen's Art Start room to check up on the youngest group of campers, where I found Maddy working on a little piece of make-believe made from repurposed soda bottles and tissue paper. As the Red Group transitioned into snack, I popped over into the Kid's Ceramics studio to find Juanita guiding the Orange Group through a new project: making snails out of clay. (Try to imagine the last time you concentrated on anything as fully as a 5-year-old molding a huge wad of clay into something he's proud of.) My final stop this morning was into the Turquoise Group's room where Pat was in the middle of instructing the oldest group of campers in a geometric art project using graph paper.

Maddy (of the Red Group) hard at work on her fairy house!

Bryce (of the Orange Group) deeply concentrating on his clay snail.

Sophia D., Sophia B, Mira, and Mia accessorizing their snails with clay-jewellery of their own creation.

Pat helping her 5th & 6th graders in the beginning of a new art project...

Can't wait to see the final products!

Today marked the first day of the summer that we have yoga in the afternoons with our favorite yogi, Kim! I popped into the ballroom just in time to see the Red Group playing yoga-Simon-Says and have some relaxing time in the air-conditioned ballroom. Down in the kitchen, the Red Group did some out-of-the-box art by making their own little pita-pizzas. Yum!

Kim leading the Red group through a game of Yogi-Says.

Sarah helping her Orange Group make mini pita-pizzas...

...which Finn, Liam, and Reese definitely enjoyed, by the looks of it!