Wednesday, day #3

After all that milipede excitement before daylight, I got my sewing business together and in to the park at the Little House by soon after 8 a.m. About the same number of little people as previous days, all full of pep and ready for more activities.

Reminding me of all those years of being a worker for Vacation Bible School, when you spend hours and hours getting crafts ready, prepping everything you will have them do for the following day. Only to have three or four dozen kids finish the project in about 45 seconds and want to know: 'what are we going to do next?' Like they are thinking '...well, that was fun, now what?' After you spent days in the getting ready process, ppondering ideas that will be interesting and stimulating, but not over their ability to both grasp mentally, and manage to complete physically/mechanically with their limited motor skills. Then gathering up materials and doing all the stuff that would be too challenging for them in the allotted time, with craft-y projects squeezed in between other activities. Only to have them squirt out a whole bottle of Elmer's glue and create such a monumental mess in under five minutes., it takes the rest of the day to clean up.

So: we did the sewing cards, with marginal success. I forget about things like: they will un-thread the needle each time they pull on the thread. Something that happened to me as a beginner, and happens with everyone learning to sew, until you figure out how to pull with just enough tension, but not too much, when there is no knot at the end of the thread. I tried to show them how to use the 'needle threader', to get the yarn through the eye of the big plastic needle, again with only marginal success. I began to wonder if it is because they always have someone to turn to when 'I can't do this' occurs and whining sets in. Anyway - some did and some didn't. And some little fingers just weren't ready yet...

Then we tried button sewing, in small groups. Some did, while others choose the 'I can't do this' route. But the ones who did 'get it' and really caught on - were so pleased and proud of themselves, you could almost see the buttons popping back off! Almost as neat to watch as when you see them develop an idea, master a skill in the classroom at school, and have that bright expression on their faces like a light bulb coming on. Eyes wide with delight, and grins pasted across the face. How neat is that!

They wanted to do it again and again, faster than I could get the needles threaded. They put them in their bags/backpacks to go home, and show Mom what they had done at day camp. And the ones who didn't get to it, were sad, so we'll be practicing our button-sewing skills again tomorrow.