Thursday and Friday

Thursday

Fold painting

Dream Catchers

(ultra-simplified version!)

Flags

(for marching in our parade tomorrow)

Bendy stix sculptures

Drawing and painting easels

Back Yard Club kids also played London Bridge, Ring around the Rosie (complete with the "cows are in the meadow" second verse), went on a nature "treasure" hunt, made window hangings with their finds, and moved like animals in Baby Bear, Baby Bear.

Here they are at work and play.

I love this kid-friendly version of the dream catcher.  Good dreams float through the spaces in the "web" and the bad dreams (represented by the beads) get caught in the web.

I bet you know which song this is. :)

A little "Ring Around the Rosie." 

This old classic is SO loved!!

"Cows are in the meadow, eating buttercups. Thunder! Lightning! We all stand up!"

 Moving like animals...

Strutting like a skunk!

One of my favorite struts.

This is all of us!

Friday

Watercolor resist

(draw with crayon, paint over and see the crayon show through)

God's eyes

(Native American art)

Paper plate shakers

Paint the box sculpture

The kids also had a parade with yesterday's flags and imaginary trumpets, danced to and sang "Floating Down the River," drew  a forest scene on giant banners for our story we're acting out, practiced our story, and went on a "bear hunt" complete with a romp through a rainstorm (aka: the sprinkler)!

This will be "Little Girl's" house for our story.

Working on water color resists.

Rounding the corner in our parade!

Scenes from "Floating Down the River."  

The chorus involves lots of jumping, which is, of course, the best!

Coloring our scenery.  What a great, hot day!

Three days of fun!

Hello Back Yard Club families!

Here's a peek at what's been going on at BYC these past three days!

Each day we begin camp with some singing and story telling.  Then I explain our art projects for the day.  With a teacher at each station, the children choose which projects they'd like to try.  They also have nature books to look at if they finish early.

Monday:

Mono prints 

Finger paint right on the table, then place paper on your paint to make a print.

Nature weaving

Weave grasses and sticks in a cardboard loom.

Bean collages

Painting and drawing at the easels

The kids also learned to sing and dance to "The Farmer in the Dell", discovered texture through crayon rubbings on tree bark and leaves, listened to and acted out a new story, The Gunniwolf!

Andrew reads to the kids right before snack.

It just makes my day to see paintings hanging in my back yard!

Tuesday:

Marble painting

Place paper in a box, plop in paint-covered marbles and roll them around!

Lacing cards

Paper plate masks

Painting and drawing easels

The kids also went on a nature walk looking for bugs, learned about spider webs, played a spider game,

 and made a clay pinch pot!

On Tuesday my friend, Marissa, came to take care of my baby.  She also happens to teach dance to children!  She worked with the kids on some fun creative movement activities while she was here!

On our nature walk we looked for bugs!  We found flies, a cicada shell, spiders, ants, and a huge dragon fly!

Cameron checks out a fly that stayed perched on a leaf long enough for many kids to get a good look!

After seeing a pretty cool spider web in the grass, we made our own.

Seth the Spider is enjoying the bug juice from Joe the Fly.

Tyler Spider takes a minute to wrap Bug Nathan in his web!

Wednesday

Vegetable prints

Dip halved veggies in paint and print!

Wristbands

(or bracelets, if you will)

Paper bag puppets

Clay wall pockets

The kids also learned to sing and dance to "In and Out the Window," found a special rock by learning the rules in Everybody Needs a Rock, acted out our Gunniwolf story, and played musical instruments.

Art Gallery!

Back in 2009 I created and ran (with a whole lot of help!) an art activity for the children at church.  We tied our art projects into gospel topics.  Take a look!

Roll marbles (dipped in paint) over paper to create a masterpiece!

Hey, that's me!

Taking a look at the salt dough sculptors.

Our gallery...some rainbow creations.

Here are those marble paintings again!

Watercolor paint pictures.

Finishing the day with a story.

Back Yard Games!

In July of 2010 I was in charge of a church event where we enjoyed a bunch of outdoor games with the children.  Here are some pictures of our adventures!

Some stretching to warm up.

A little frisbee action.

My husband helping out at the wiffle ball game.

Hopscotch anyone?

Here I am lining up the kids for a game of Jump the River.  Let's see how they do!

Here's my Eliza jumping the river while it is still small...

My oldest, Andrew, takes a leap at a river that has grown!

Meet Katie and see the Back Yard!

 Hello everyone!  Thanks for visiting the Back Yard Club blog!  I'd love to introduce myself and tell you the Back Yard Club story.


At age of 14 I was hired to work at a creative arts camp in the Portland, Oregon area, where I grew up.  My four older sisters had worked there and I was next in line!  This summer camp had become a loved family tradition.  In fact, my younger sister followed suit a few years later.  I loved working with my family!  I began as an "apprentice assistant" in the preschool area of the camp (we called this part "Squirrel's Nest").  I took kids potty, wrote their names on projects, helped them say bye to Mommy, joined in their singing and dancing, and helped them create works of art.  As the years passed I was given more and more responsibility in the Squirrel's Nest.  My last couple years at camp I was the main teacher for the preschool class.  This camp began in a woman's back yard and grew to occupy an entire public park every summer.  It is this experience that has most motivated me to start a little camp of my own. I have lived in my home in Germantown for a little over two years.  These years I have dreamed of filling my beautiful yard with with children, projects, songs, and fun!


Although my camp experience in Oregon was most influential in starting Back Yard Club, I have many more experiences in teaching kids!  I graduated  in Elementary Education in 2000 and taught preschool for the following year.  I was blessed with a beautiful baby after that and began my career in Motherhood!  While raising my kids I have served many years in our church's children's organization.  There I have taught children from ages 3 to 12.  I hope you will entrust me with your little darlings and we can enjoy a week of fun together this summer!

My children and I on Mother's Day this year.

A few back yard close-ups.