 Welcome to Liz S., our latest Cape Cod Mom who has joined our blogging team! Read more below her blog for her bio! By: Liz S *My 9 year old daughter and I made this together. Kids of most ages could participate in some or all of the steps I.E. unwrapping crayons, gluing them on the pumpkin, holding blow dryer etc Supplies needed- pumpkin, craft glue or hot glue gun, crayons, hair dryer, newspaper to put down under the pumpkin. We were outside to avoid a splatter catastrophe :) 1. Take the wrappers off of the crayons 2. Break crayons in half depending on size of pumpkin 3. Glue pumpkins around the top stem of your pumpkin 4. Once crayons are secured, use hair dryer on high. 5. Blow the hot air directly on the crayons one at a time, moving around a bit once you get a feel for it. Some crayons splatter, some pool along the stem- just play with it to get the look you want. This takes some patience! About 30 min of blow drying. Once they melt, the crayon wax hardens and you can instantly move the pumpkin around.  Liz Smith is a wife and mother living in Harwich. After growing up in Scituate, MA she lived in Boston and Salem before meeting her husband and moving to Cape Cod in 2000. She is a licensed preschool teacher working as a nanny. She attends Bridgewater State University as a full time student studying Early Childhood Education and Psychology. Liz returned to school at age 40 after being laid off when her company downsized. After 20 years as a successful retail manager, she started at Cape Cod Community College focusing on a new career and graduated with high honors
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 By: Sung Bin This time of year, we love to collect the many colors of autumn in leaves. There are so many rich reds and yellows and we love to use them to craft decorations. This week we have been reading The Little Yellow Leaf by Carin Berger, a beautifully illustrated tale of a single autumn leaf who finds another brave companion. The book inspired us to make a window decoration with several colorful leaves and some clear packing tape. Technically, you are supposed to use clear contact paper and press the leaves between two sheets of clear contact paper for a transparent leaf decoration but we only had clear packing tape around. First, I laid out strips of the clear packing tape overlapping slightly to form a larger sheet and my little one and I arranged the leaves on the sticky side of the sheet. The fun part is picking out the leaves and pressing them flat on the sticky tape. Then we laid out another sheet made of strips on top of the leaves with the sticky side facing them to form sort of a sandwich with the leaves in between. We cut the finished sheet into the shape of a large leaf and trimmed it with some pieces of colored in paper. The finished product was a collaborative work that made for wonderful window art to usher in the Fall. We enjoyed collecting the leaves and talking about the changes in the season.  by: Linda Bartosik
...and living in Sandwich! If you are the mom of a child who is artistic and/or loves to write, this post is for you. Have you checked out the Splatter Art School yet? It's a hidden gem on Quaker Meeting House Road. One morning a colorful sign caught my as I was driving to Mashpee. It said Splatter Art School. Mmm...it sounded interesting. When I arrived home I checked out the website and was amazed at the art opportunities offered for grade school children. There are numerous art classes, as well as open studio times where children can come and create. Last week I stopped in to see the studio. It's adorable and completely stocked with every art material imaginable. The room is big, bright and beckoning. THIS is a place for children to explore and create. If you have a child that loves to write, come meet me on my iTeach website. Click on the Young Authors Workshops and see what kids can do. I will be holding a class here in Sandwich the week of July 22. I can take up to six students grades K-5. Email me at iTeach@lindabartosik.com for more info. The arts for children are definitely alive here in Sandwich. Every child is an artist and an author with a story to tell. Check out these two websites for creative fun for your child. Welcome summer on Cape Cod!  By: Sung Bin
With the winter solstice approaching next Friday, I thought I would come up with some activities with poems and songs to inspire our family and to usher in the start of winter. Everyone who celebrates does so differently and I wanted to create a ritual and tradition around the solar return and the shortest day of the year. It is also an opportunity to remind ourselves of the power of the natural world that surrounds us. For me, it is a peaceful respite during the holiday season to be able to think more in the dark as I reflect on how much time has passed. I think back with such awe over the last year and how much has changed but also remained the same. We plan to watch the first sunset of the solstice and pause to remember how human we really are. For my toddler, I found an easy recipe to make at home salt dough ornaments for holiday gifting and decorating as Christmas is a few days after. Salt Dough for Ornaments Ingredients: 1 Cup Salt 2 Cups Flour 3/4 Cups Water Combine salt and flour in large bowl. Make a well in the mix and add water. Knead the mix until smooth and use cookie cutters or any shape makers to make your ornaments with the dough. Don’t forget to poke a hole on the top of your dough ornaments to add the string or yarn. Bake for 20 minutes at 200 degrees in the oven. Paint and decorate when the dough ornaments are cool. (I am going to use rubber stamps on mine such as alphabet stampers to form words like “peace” and “love” before baking). I’m excited to get started on these with my toddler. Another tradition we started last year is planting new paper white bulbs in recycled glass jars so we plan to give those out to family and friends to grow in the winter. Finally, we normally have our dinner by candlelight but for the solstice will add a few additional candles to symbolize the light entering the world and to revel in the stillness of the dark night. What are your traditions? We'd love to hear from you, comment below!  Today I wanted to give tribute to a very talented toy maker: LESTER RUTH! I first heard of Lester Ruth in the fall of 2010, when my sister and girlfriend started talking about the toys they had seen at the Cotuit Craft Festival. They raved and raved about the toy they had just bought for our friends daughter. The following year, my sister reminded me of the festival, so we packed up the car and headed on over. We talked excitedly about the toys as we drove. Upon arriving there were many vendors displaying some pretty amazing products; from hand carved wooden birds with exquisite details to homemade belt buckles and leather shoes. There were even some baby/toddler shoes for only $5! (I bought some of course). But I could not be swayed from finding this myth of a man whom everyone talked about. We finally rounded the corner and found his display and I was instantly brought back to childhood! The beautiful wooden toys gleamed on the table, aching to find a loving home with a family and a child who would love them as much as their maker had. There were trains that would delight any child, wooden boats with people that float, walking toys, dogs, dinosaurs, frogs, baby carriages and more. He even had wooden toys for adults! Old fashioned telephones, movie cameras, airplanes and cameras are sure to bring some nostalgia to many! Lester didn’t disappoint either. He reminded me of slimmed down Santa Clause if you will. He had the snow white beard complete with the glasses, and a twinkle in his eyes. He picked up each toy lovingly and describes how he made it, what it is painted with, whether it has the ability to float, where the people can be moved to, etc. You could tell how extremely passionate he is about what he does and that is something rare to see. Lester also gives a lifetime guarantee on his work: “Since 1977, same terms: Unconditional, unlimited guarantee of satisfaction. If you are ever dissatisfied with a toy you purchase from us, we will, at your sole discretion, give refund or exchange, make free repairs, always, postage paid both ways, collect calls accepted, personal checks are best, or money orders, we take visa, mc and amex. ….” That’s pretty amazing! It is rare to find toys for our children these days that are American made with a lifetime guarantee, wooden, simple, and that our children will come back time and time and time again to play with. We came away that day purchasing a 6 seater pull toy for my son while his Aunt bought him a wooden boat that could float in the tub. We knew at the time that these would be great birthday presents. Since his birthday, my son remains obsessed daily with these two toys. He takes the wooden people out and puts them back, we talk about the colors of the people and I show him how they can slide through the boat. He chases after me as I pull the toy and then stands to mimic me and tries to pull it along. We even brought it to our Mommy and Me Conditioning class and shared it with the other babies who also loved it! These are toys that will be well loved by our son and can be handed down from one generation to the next. They are well worth the investment to us. So Mr. Lester Ruth, THANK YOU! Thank you for having the passion to create such simple yet wonderful toys! Below I have put up a file of Lester Ruth’s order form and toys. He will also create custom pieces upon request. Happy Playing! 
    Hello! I would like to introduce myself! My name is Laura Sciortino and I am a proud new Mommy of 10 month old Henry and the owner of Turning Pointe Dance Studio in Falmouth. Between business, motherhood, home and studio renovations it has been most difficult for me to find time to blog (as I am sure you all can relate to!) But as I dive into my first week back to teaching I am reminded of how much I love teaching dance and why I love it so much! The rewards to me are vast! I am so blessed to have a career that I look forward to on a daily basis. But the rewards in DANCE to my students, our children, are immeasurable! I try to instill discipline, good work ethic, a high appreciation for the arts, love, teamwork, imagination, and creative expression! Children that participate in dance class benefit by learning self-discipline, gaining self-esteem, camaraderie, musicality, flexibilty and agility, grace, spacial awareness, listening skills, calculation and good- planning! As I said the benefits are endless!! So as I get back into our school year at Turning Pointe I was reminded of this poem I stumbled upon several years ago. I did not write it but I wish I had...
That Is Why I Teach Dance NOT because I expect you to major in Dance NOT because I expect you to Dance all your life NOT so you can relax and have fun BUT so you will be human, so you will recognize beauty, so you will be sensitive, so you will be closer to an infinite world, so you will have something to cling to, so you will have more love, more compassion, more gentleness, more good... in short, more life. Of what value will it be to make a prosperous living unless you know how to live? - Author Unknown |
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