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Holiday Open House!

Posted by on December 2, 2011 Leave a Comment

We hope you all will be able to come by the studio this Saturday for our annual Holiday Open House with LaVassar Florists! 

Here are the details:

LaVassar Florists, Inc. and Roaring Mouse Creative Arts Studio, LLC

Annual Holiday Open House

Saturday, December 3rd

10:00 AM to 5:00 PM

7526 & 7530 20th Ave NE, Seattle,WA 98115

(206) 522-1187

 

LaVassar Florists

Raffle for three beautiful fresh arrangements

Purchase Holiday Decorations

Roaring Mouse Creative Arts Studio

Raffle for two $50 gift certificates

Craft activity for children

Cookies and hot cider

Bake sale to benefit Hopelink Food Bank

Bring the children to visit with Santa!

He arrives atnoonand leaves on his sleigh at2:00 PM.

We will be taking complimentary photos

or you may bring your own camera.

 Artists and Vendors

Fiber T’Art – Gillian Tart

Garden Art – Steel Bamboo

KirstenGallery- Prints

Knitwear – Kimberlee Gillis-Bridges

Heavens to Betsie – Rosetta Greek

Jewelry Designs by Linda

Jewelry – Karen Knutson

Metal Jewelry – Jake Osborne McKenna

Lavender Crafts – Dian Pendergrass

Watercolor Cards – Diane Rappleyea

Felted Wool Crafts – Evelyn Reid

Beeswax Body Care Products – Rebecca Reid

Sea Glass Jewelry – Wildfire Designs

 See you there!

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Holiday Gift Making

Posted by on October 27, 2011 5 Comments

A Look Back  at the HGM Tradition at Roaring Mouse
Sometimes Life sets you up on a hill and lets you take a long, good look at where you’ve been, where you’re going, and of course (and maybe most importantly) where you are right now. Probably this bout of reminiscing was brought on by some comments on our Facebook page about Holiday Gift Making, way back when we held workshops at Sacajawea Elementary School. These were magical times. I remember moments of looking out over our very large groups of gift makers, noting their quiet focus and dedication and the sincerity of their work. It was all I hoped it would be.

 

 

 

 

This is the lunchroom at Sacajawea. We are meeting to think about what needs to be done for the day. The crock pots on the stage are for candle making.

The idea for the workshops came about after the frustration of taking my own kids holiday ‘shopping’ and ending up feeling pretty hollow about the experience. I wondered what they were learning from this ritual. The meaning of giving? The value of their money? Sometimes it was fun, but often it was exhausting, and we would find things that were okay, but probably most of them ended up in the give away box.

I wanted something different for my kids, and for the kids I worked with. I wanted them to feel what it meant to give something of themselves, to actually take time to think about the person they were making the gift for, to put craftsmanship and care into the process. I began to gather ideas for projects and miraculously started coming across some great supplies at second hand shops.

 

 

 

 

Homemade herbed vinegar. I found these unused, beautiful bottles at Goodwill one year. The herbs were from a teacher’s garden.

 

 

 

 

Wooden oval plaques from Creation Station made the perfect game board. One side was checkers, the other—an original game made up by the kids.

The momentum built up and by the time the next holiday season rolled around I offered the first Holiday Gift Making Workshop at Wedgwood Elementary, where I was teaching the Kindergarten Arts Program at the time. It was packed. The kids were thrilled. The parents were thrilled. The teachers, exhausted, but thrilled.

 

 

 

 

Hand built porcelain boxes. Once fired and glazed, the kids wrote personal messages which nestled inside, waiting for that special person to find them, over and over again… An especially heartfelt gift.

It’s been going ever since. Every year Roaring Mouse offers these unique, meaningful workshops at our studio.  Our Holiday Gift Making Classes for 2011 are now open for registration. Sign up today! Don’t miss giving your child the opportunity to learn about the joy of making and giving gifts to loved ones…

 

 

 

 

Hand built bird houses, painted in muted colors. Designs by kids.

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What does it take?

Posted by on October 9, 2011 Leave a Comment

For the past several days, the kids in the preschool classes have been constructing and painting little houses. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At the end of this week, they took their houses, and put them together to make a little village. 

 

 

 

 

 

This required a lot of cooperation, as the kids worked around and with each other to create their own place in the neighborhood. 

 

 

 

 

 

It meant they needed patience, willingness and thoughtfulness so they would remember to leave room for things like roads, and each other. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the end, after listening, negotiating and working their ideas out, their village came together. And because of this process, the class community was a little bit stronger, a little more connected too.

 

 

 

 

 

It got me thinking about the well known saying, “It takes a village to raise a child.” There’s truth to that. But what makes a village?  Maybe the kids are already learning how to do this, and maybe this is an opportunity for us grown ups to reflect a little on just what it means to make and be a village.

 So, what do you think?  What does it take to make a village? 

 

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Busy as Mice…

Posted by on September 20, 2011 Leave a Comment

The last couple of weeks were very busy around Roaring Mouse.  Here are a few snippets from our first week of classes…

 

 

 

 

We decided to refurbish our outdoor play yard so now we have fresh green grass, a fabulous digging pile, and barrel of water, and lots of imaginative toys and tools.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Water play is especially popular!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There it goes!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All of our school day classes started last week, and things were hopping.  The beginning of the school year is always so exciting for the kids—and exhausting!  There are so many things to remember, so many new things to do and people to meet.  Figuring out how to get what you need, and still get along when someone else has the very thing you want, can be very tricky.

At Roaring Mouse, we understand this and try to give kids the tools and boundaries they will need to build a healthy community.   One of the ways we approach this is through Second Step, a curriculum developed by Committee for Children to teach children skills in the core areas of empathy, emotion management and social problem solving. To the left is a drawing a former student did to illustrate what the feeling nervous looks like for the classes’ Feelings Chart.

At one of our first circle times in the morning preschool, Kristy introduced Impulsive Puppy, a little puppet who was very excited about being at school and who found it a bit challenging to sit still, listen or generally notice anything other than how exciting everything was.  The kids’ job was to teach him how to listen and sit still so he could hear what others were saying.  Puppy was clueless, and as he kept up his shenanigans, one of our wise young students turned to Cheryl and said, “This is going to take a lot of work!”

In the afternoon preschool class, the conversation turned to sharing.  Kristy asked the students what it means to share.  Among the many thoughtful responses by the kids, came this one:  Sharing is when you give things to people who need things they don’t have.

Lessons in crafting the art of communication, friendship and community building are also offered in our Artists of the Heart class, available to students ages 4 -5.

Next week brings the beginning of a new set of after school classes.  Sign up today!  Don’t miss this opportunity for your child to work creatively with Cheryl Carder in our Open Studio class, or with Flint Crumpacker in Anyone Can Be An Artist!

 

And last but not least, we did it again!  After coming in as a runner up in two categories for ParentMap’s Golden Teddy Awards, Roaring Mouse is a finalist for yet another:  Red Tricycle’s Totally Awesome Awards in the category of Most Awesome Art Classes!  Over 20K nominations were cast by moms and dads over a 4 week period.  Voting has now begun and will remain open until October 14.  You can vote for us here.  Thanks for your support!

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Speaking of Art…

Posted by on September 7, 2011 Leave a Comment

Now that school has started for so many kids in Seattle, you probably know what kind of art program is in the works at your child’s school. There are a lot of creative ideas out there, and others that don’t mince words. To work within limited budgets and to meet increased demands for accountability, performance and meeting standards, some schools have cut the time kids are in art classes. Other schools are integrating the arts back into the classroom. This in itself is a great idea. I like that art can be a part of daily life, and that classroom teachers have the chance to do some art too. I like that the kids’ teachers have the chance to see different sides to kids, their strengths or struggles, and to gain valuable insight into their students. I like that it doesn’t make art something only specialists can do. Putting art back in the classroom can keep things alive, interesting and memorable for everyone. I still remember learning how to paint a cloudy sky, one Friday afternoon in my fifth grade class, and marveling at the fact that my teacher knew so much about so many things. Of course it depends on the commitment of each individual teacher, not to mention their own interest, comfort level and willingness to work with the unpredictability of kids doing art. So it can be uneven. And how sustainable will this kind of approach be? When the end of the year rolls around, and the pressure is on to finish this or get to that, what will be put on the back burner? How do parents support teachers, in a productive way, to keep art alive in your child’s school? Do you think it is better to have an art program as part of the classroom life? Or is an art program, separate from the classroom, the way to go? What do you think? What is happening in your child’s school? And how do you feel about it?

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