This year has flown by so quickly, it's hard to believe that Make & Bake Gifts has come and gone. Every December, we combine the two popular teen clubs, First Friday Art Club and Teen Cooking Club, into one special event called Make & Bake Gifts.
Googly Eyes and Glitter Glue
With special guests in tow, we had several stations to make a gift or bake a gift for the holiday season. The very colorful Filomena Jack brought her Sock Creature project for everyone to make a few creature treasures to share.
Snip, Stitch, Sew Cool!
Taking old socks of various shapes and colors, students learned how to sew with a needle and thread. Hand sewing is a skill that seems to be getting lost with the focus on technology in society. I strive to keep these skills relevant to all age groups. Filomena's patience and friendly approach to the project helped students make adorable stuffy friends for their human friends.
Creature Convention
Creatures for Christmas?
Craft Farm's mother hen, Allison Duncan, led a lip balm craft packed with essential oils and emollients. Whether you call it chap stick or lip balm, the average cost of the natural and organic ingredient products cost nearly $5 each. Such a simple gift can be too costly for a teen. Providing a lesson and literacy on essential oils, each student created four separate lip balms to bomb their friends chapped lips!
Pour the Balm
Craft a Label
There were two edible craft recipes that everyone took turns tackling. Cinnamon Sugar Pretzels were a sweet and simple recipe that can be made in bulk. With only 4 ingredients, this recipe is just too easy to pass.
Bulk up for the Season
I usually make batches of cookies for Christmas. My Kitchen Aid mixer takes a beating and my propane provider loves my gas usage in the month of December. After seeing just how much this recipe produces, I'm skipping the cookies and copying this pretzel treat!
Even Gluten Free Options
There are a few Gluten sensitive students in my charge, so we had Gluten Free products to accommodate that dietary restriction. Even the gluten free option of this recipe was quick and easy.
Stir! Fast!!!
The last edible craft for the Make & Bake Gifts event was Cornflake Candy Wreaths. This five ingredient recipe is similar to Rice Krispy Treats, but uses cornflake cereal and green food coloring.
Festive Fun
Students whipped up these edible wreaths in just about 15 minutes. The wreaths they made were larger than palm size, so a bit too big for a snack. I say they are perfect to share. Add some red candies to represent holly berries and you're good to go. This wraps up another fun year in Young Adult programming that I facilitate at the Southeast Steuben County Library. We welcome 2018 with a Photo Collage event for First Friday Art Club.
Get ready for 2018
Teen Cooking Club will learn how to Squash their Hunger in January.
We will also try to get organized with our schedules. Starting in January, we'll try to get some focus with Middle Mondaze. The first installation is Bite the Bullet Journal. This event is strictly for teen, 13 years and older, who need a break from the mundane Monday.
New addition for 2018!
Thanks for visiting. I hope this blog has inspired you to try some of the things we tested this year. Happy Holidays!
This year marks the third annual installment of Theatre Camp with Centre Stage Community Theatre. Our local, talented crew of actors led the week-long program, guiding students to the end of summer and a new school year. Participants learn skills appropriate for the theater, but also valuable lessons to carry forward in life.
I said a-BOOM!
Kimberly Canale is the ring-leader of this silly circus of kids acting goofy all week. There are games and rhymes they practice daily. Boom Chicka Boom is a repeat-after-me style verse that gets used as practice, activity transition, and a closer to each afternoon session. Kids have to follow actions and voice style of the leader. Each person takes the opportunity to lead the group and every time it gets giggles.
I love watching how the teens and tweens are uncomfortable at first, but within a few Boom Chicka Booms, all shyness is pushed aside. Kimberly and Eddie, our talented actors, show no restraint in their silliness, which is contagious. The confidence building over the week is one superb life skill these kids need.
Public speaking should be a cinch for these students as they progress in their educational and working careers. Other skills achieved are respect for each other. Giving attention and applause to each actor shows respect, but learning to accept applause--actually wait for it--is an incredible opportunity to experience.
Reader Theatre
Performing plays by reading the script helps students remain confident that they know their lines and improves the ability to read aloud and keep track of the play's progress.
Team Huddle
Working in teams to decide upon themes, actions, etc. helps build cooperative skills working with peers. The copious group activities these kids experienced all week give them a lead in the new school year. Team work makes the dream work!
Team Eddie
Having multiple team leaders helped maintain momentum and gives each student different perspectives. While Kimberly loves drama, Eddie loves comedy and this was a perfect mix for our group of students.
Awaiting Applause
Parents are the BEST Audience 💜💜
Boys acting like HEAVY Luggage
Parents and patrons were invited to a free performance on the last day of class. I got many great responses from parents whose kids LOVED this program and can't wait to have it offered again. I see a puppet show looming in the near future...stay tuned 😉
Script reading= skill building
This wraps another fantastic week of young adult programming at the Southeast Steuben County Library. Thanks for visiting!
Spring has sprung in the Southern Finger Lakes region. Our robins are raiding for worms, even if the wintry weather gives us woe. The Full Pink Moon is pending and I am just coming up for a breather after a week of entertaining young adults on Spring Break. I had initially planned 3 Spring Break programs, but tossed in a fourth option last minute.
Tuesday, March 31 was a Sand Art experience. You may have made one of these at your town carnival or County Fair. Those bottles can cost up to $15 or more, depending upon location, but this program cost less than $20 and served nearly 10 kids, with lots of extra. The difference is we had bottles cleaned and donated by various patrons. I purchased Play Sand for just under $4 per 50 pound bag at our local hardware store. The sand was natural color, so students had the chance to dye their own sand for a more original look. This tutorial helped guide the group on this simple process. The results are fantastic!
Wednesday, April 1, was April Fool's Day and I was a fool with double Young Adult programs. One room was quiet with a http://www.growingajeweledrose.com/2013/05/play-recipes-homemade-bounce-balls.html, but the impromptu Fashion Club with Tat became a flurry of activity all afternoon.
As we have been preparing for REcycled Runway, Tat and I realized during our last class that adding another few hours to the plan was a good idea. Luckily, Spring Break week had the space and time available with most of the classmates in attendance. We brainstormed, snacked, and got giddy as our design made a big transformation. It is amazing how much progress can be made in just three hours! Remember: only teaser shots until the big reveal on May 30, 2015 at Corning Museum of Glass...get your tickets!!!
Thursday, April 2, was another entertaining event leaning in the realm of science experiment. We made Glow in the Dark Bouncy Balls from household ingredients. This class was full and quite the experience, because I did not test the instructions beforehand. I wanted to approach this class just as fresh to the idea as my students. I learned that the tutorial was slightly misleading. The ingredients allowed us to form a ball, but left at room temperature, it became a slime puddle. The project was still educational and fun, but not what we intended. This is the case with many experiments. Nevertheless, we had a ball!!!
Today is Good Friday and the library is barren...of kids at least. I am mentally preparing for First Friday Art Club and creating Crayon Encaustic paintings.
