Rainbow Dreams and Art Blog

My latest adventure has been with the kids at the North Oakland YMCA in Auburn Hills, MI. What a lot of fun! I’m teaching art class on Wednesday afternoons from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. and Yoga class on Thursday afternoons from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. The kids are GREAT! Most of these kids are kids from the YMCA Day Camp Aftercare Program at the YMCA, though some of them do join in from Child Watch, where parents take their kids while they work out.

What I really, really love is the weekly themes. This summer, the YMCA has the theme: “Map Your Adventure.” This is really nice because the kids basically take a trip around some areas of the country and around the world, learning about different geographical areas, cultures and traditions. I LOVE this idea, because it meshes perfectly with Story Time Yoga and the ideas of learning about other cultures, appreciating the wisdom traditions from around the world.

The first week’s theme was “The Wild West.” On Wednesday we made Totem Poles and on Thursday I told the Native American Tale of Jumping Mouse. The kids love Jumping Mouse, especially since I brought my Jumping Mouse puppet to the class. Kids loved the puppet and are asking for him to come back again. Lots of fun! Kids went home telling stories about the puppet, and many kids came up to me after class to ask and to check to see if he (the puppet) was REAL.

Here is some student art:

Click on images to enlarge.

Then last week’s theme was “The Outback” so on Wednesday we did Aboriginal Dot Art paintings, and on Thursday we did a yoga class surrounding the theme of an Aboriginal tale I found, “Why Crocodiles Roll”. Kids LOVED doing Crocodile pose and we did it again and again and again! They all said they were going to go home and teach their parents.

This week’s theme is “The Far East”. I was gone at a teacher training yesterday so I left the project of making Chinese Parade Dragon Puppets, with one of the staff. I can’t wait to hear how they turned out. Such a fun project! Today we will hear the story of “The Magic Pear Tree” a wisdom tale from China - one of my favorites! I can’t wait to see how it all goes.

So cute, I have gotten to know many kids through these classes. One evening I was at Olga’s Restaurant when I heard small feet running very fast towards me and a little girl was suddenly at my side, hugging me, saying, “I just saw you at the Y!” I love when I can have a positive impact on kids lives.

What I love is seeing how engaged the children can be with the right activities. Kids love yoga and they really enjoy art.

Tags: Art, Yoga //