Irish Adventure: Blarney Castle

"Cormac MacCarthy,

Bold as bricks,

Made me

In Fourteen Forty-six."

And ol' Cormac built to impress. Visiting Blarney Castle was like diving head-first into a fairy tale. The ancient monolithic structure protruding from velvet green grass made our imaginations run wild.

A time-honored tradition is to kiss the Blarney Stone. Supposedly one of the 99 things to do before you die, we couldn't resist trying it. Kissing it is supposed to bring one eloquence. (We'll see if it helps my blog posts!) You can see in the picture below that you have to lay down and lean over backwards over a castle wall with your head way back in order to reach it. A fairly wild experience if you are at all scared of heights. These days, there are rails to block your fall and a nice castle employee to hold onto you, but apparently it used to be something that people risked their life to do. (There's even a Sherlock Holmes story about a man falling to his death in an attempt to kiss the stone.) Even so, my husband had a tight grip on my son's legs just in case.: ) I wasn't so much of heights as of the germs that might have been lurking around following the hundreds of visitors who came before me that day. My 6-year-old daughter was a little too frightened to try, but then again she doesn't need the gift of gab since her nickname is "Motor Mouth".

My son kissing the Blarney Stone. 

While the castle itself is impressive, the real stars of the show at Blarney are the centuries-old trees and boulders found everywhere on the grounds. At home we've been reading The Hobbit of late, and we were all convinced that Tolkien must had this place in mind as he was writing. The kids half-expected to see an elf or fairy pop out from behind a tree at any moment.: )

Having our grandparents with us made the experience all the sweeter.

There is also a cave that leads to the dungeon. Definitely not meant for full-grown adults in the 21st century, I had to turn back because of claustrophobia. My kids went on until it turned pitch-black.: )

If you are looking for a fairy tale, Ireland is the place to find it!

The Colors of Ireland

As you may have guessed from my last post, we just returned from a family vacation to Ireland. While I had always heard that the Emerald Isle was breathtaking, I was still amazed by the vibrant colors that I encountered.

Even in mid-October the ground was covered by a luscious carpet of green.

Fiery wildflowers . . . 

and verdant ferns evoke an untamed antiquity.

Orange and red leaves signal autumn.

Smooth, white stone against clear, blue skies . . . 

and ancient white stone walls mark the passing of time. 

Warm sunset hues along the Ring of Kerry.

The Cliffs of Moher are shrouded in rich green grass and moss. 

Ireland is a sensory delight!



Linked to Friday's Nature Table at The Magic Onions

and Naturkinder

Fun with the Book of Kells

(or how to prepare your children to see great works of art!)

When I found out that we were going to visit Ireland during our fall break from school, I knew that I wanted to see the Book of Kells, the most famous of the illuminated manuscripts hand-drawn by Irish monks during the Middle Ages. (I left it to my husband, the best trip-planner ever, to figure out the logistics of getting us there!) In fact, I'd been waiting over twenty years to see this masterpiece and could hardly contain myself at the thought of seeing it in person.

The Chi-Rho page from the Book of Kells. It actually marks the beginning of the
Christmas story in Matthew's Gospel.
Source: Art & Culture

Naturally, I wanted to pass on this excitement to my son and daughter, who are ages 9 and 6 respectively. One thing that I have learned through the years is that children tend to appreciate famous works of art in a museum setting if they know something about what they are going to see beforehand. So, in preparing to see the Book of Kells, we pulled out Sister Wendy Beckett's Story of Painting to see what she had to say about it. (Sister Wendy was my first art teacher and I am indebted to her for most of what I know about art in Western civilization!) There, we examined the Chi-Rho page pictured above and found out that the playful monks had hidden butterflies, cats and mice, angels and an otter with a fish in his mouth with in the beautiful illuminated letters.

Well, as soon as these strange-looking Greek letters turned into a picture search game, the kids got excited. My son was the first to find the butterflies and the cats. We searched forever to find the otter, but finally had to give up. When we got to see the real thing at Trinity College in Dublin, we finally found the otter with the fish in his mouth and there was much rejoicing! The preparation made the Book of Kells Exhibit, which is definitely not geared toward children, meaningful for both kids.

Photography is not allowed inside the exhibit,
so this is the only proof I have that we were there!

We had a similar experience when we visited the National Gallery in London, England this summer. We had been reading the Katie series by James Mayhew that I have mentioned before here. These are books about a little girl who visits museums with her grandmother. The grandmother always manages to fall asleep and Katie is able to crawl inside the paintings and make friends with the people in them. As we entered the first hall of the National Gallery, the kids ran up to a painting of a man and started yelling, "Look Mommy! It's Princess Margarita's father!" As I took a closer look, the painting was indeed Philip IV of Spain in Brown and Silver by Velaquez, which is featured in Katie and the Spanish Princess.

As we went room to room, they recognized other works by Murillo, Seurat, Renoir, and Degas without our help. All because they had a context and emotional attachment to the paintings through the Katie series.

So here are my tips for preparing your kids to enjoy great works of art:

1. Show them a picture of what you are going to see and talk about it. Tell them why you like it and what you think is interesting about it. Ask your child what he or she sees in the work of art.

2. Read a children's book about the artist or work of art. There are so many fantastic children's books about art these days, that it shouldn't be hard to find the right one. Just make a trip to the public library. Even if you can't find a children's book, a normal art book like Sister Wendy's can be helpful.

3. Make a game of it. Play "I Spy" with the things within the picture. Or xerox a copy and cut it into a puzzle that the kids can put together. If you are going to a larger museum with multiple works of art, make a small Memory game by gluing pairs of works to index cards.

If you have other ways to help children make the most of museum visits, please let us know about it in the comments!

Linked to Waldorf  Wednesday at Seasons of Joy

Art Project: Desert Treasure Boxes

In preparing for our "Expedition in the Desert!", I came up with this idea so that the children would have an open-ended project to help them go deeper with the stories they hear. If you are doing a desert theme with your children at church or at school, it is a fun way to help them contemplate more.

The first step is to give the children small, plain craft boxes to decorate. I ordered mine here.

Then have the children decorate the boxes however they like. (I specifically did not decorate one beforehand to show the children, so that they would not simply copy mine!) I provided them with both paint and colored construction paper.

This child covered his box in construction
paper and made a latch for it.

The next step is to put a small amount of sand in the box.

Then, we gave the children air-drying clay (I use this brand) and asked them to make a small "treasure" to go inside the box. I suggested that they make something that either reminded them of a desert story or of their friendship with God.

The children made a variety of things: camels, crosses, a challis, a spiral. 

Below you can see my set-up for this particular project. I placed paint, brushes, water, glue, scissors, colored paper, sand and clay in an orderly manner on the table. I like to place things like scissors and glue in trays to keep them from getting scattered everywhere.

If you try this project with your own students, please let me know.  I'd love to hear about how it went and see pictures!

Linked to Friday's Nature Table at The Magic Onions

Art Project: Painting with Sand

Art gives children the opportunity to discover the world with their five senses and examine things at a deeper level. In our after-school club, "Expedition in the Desert!", we explored the desert a little further with the use of sand as an artistic medium. Painting with sand is a visual and tactile experience that kids love.

To paint with sand, you first mix a generous portion of sand with gouache or tempera paint. There is no recipe - just mix unto you get a nice textured goop. : )

Although you can use any type of heavier paper with this project, we offered our students colored paper.

Then, you just let the kids jump in and have fun! 

The end result is a beautiful piece of art with an interesting texture. 

Many thanks to Artists Helping Children for this simple and fun idea!

See these other art projects with sand:

Drawing with Glue and Colored Sand

Chalk Pastel Drawings on Sandpaper

Expedition in the Desert: The 10 Best Ways to Live

Wir erreichten diese Woche das letzte Reiseziel auf unserer Expedition in die Wüste: den Berg Sinai, wo Gott seinem Volk die 10 besten Wege zum Leben gab. Wir kennen sie auch als die 10 Gebote.  This week we reached our final destination in the desert: Mount Sinai where the people of God were given the 10 Best Ways to live, also known as the 10 Commandments. 

Mose und das Volk erhalten die 10 besten Wege.
Die Herzen Tafeln sagen: "Liebe Gott, Liebe die Menschen,
Gott liebt uns".
Moses and Israel receive the 10 Best Ways.
The heart pieces read: "Love God, Love people,
God loves us".

Das Volk Israel war endlich von Ägypten frei. Sie konnten gehen, wohin sie wollten und tun, was sie wollten. Aber wohin sollten sie gehen? Welcher war der beste Weg? Wir hörten, dass Gott seine Volk so sehr liebte, dass er ihnen die 10 Besten Wege zum Leben schenkte. Sie sind sowie Wegweiser, die den besten Weg kennzeichnen. Und obwohl sie sehr alt sind und manchmal schwierig zu erfüllen sind, bleiben sie bis zum heutigen Tag die besten Wege zu gehen. The children of Israel were finally free from Egypt. They could go wherever they wanted and do whatever they wanted. But where should they go? Which way is the best? We learned that God loved his people so much that he gave them the 10 Best Ways to live. These 10 Commandments are like signposts that show us the best way to go. And even though they are old and sometimes really hard to follow, they are still the best way to go even today.

Wir machen uns Gedanken über jeden von den 10 Wegen.
Discussing each of the 10 Best Ways.

Das Ergründungs gespräch war aufregend, weil wir uns Gedanken über jeden Weg gemacht haben, was es wirklich bedeuten könnte. Gibt es einen Weg, der uns am besten gefällt? Welcher ist wohl der wichtigste? Ist einer für mich im Moment besonders? Als wir zu "nicht lügen" kamen, ist ein bestimmtes Thema unter den Kindern hochgekommen: wenn etwas verloren geht und ein Geschwisterkind uns anklagt. Einige teilten Situationen mit, wo sie ungerecht anklagt würden, und wir fragten uns, was man darüber machen könnte ohne zurückzuschlagen. Gemeinsam kamen wir auf die Idee, es wäre besser nicht darauf zu bestehen, wer Recht hat, sondern das aktuelle Problem zu lösen. Nämlich das verlorene Ding zu finden und mit der anderen Person zu einigen, wo man vielleicht das Ding stehen lassen könnte, damit man's nächstes Mal findet. The Wondering for this story was particularly exciting, because we wondered about what each of the 10 Best Ways meant, and then if there was one we liked best, or was most important, or particularly meaningful to us at this place and time. One theme seemed to emerge among several of the children as we talked about "Do not lie": the age-old theme of siblings or friends placing the blame on us when something goes missing.  The children told about such situations where they felt unjustly accused, and we wondered together what we could do about it instead of arguing, trying to get revenge, or hitting the accuser. We came to the conclusion together that in such situations we needed to shift the focus away from who was right or wrong and try to solve the problem. For example, when something was missing, we could try and find it, and then agree with the other person to always put in in one particular place, so that it doesn't get lost in the future.

In der Kreativzeit haben die Kinder ihre Wüsten-Schatztruhen fertig gemacht. Nachdem sie die Schatztruhem anmalten, haben sie kleine "Schätze" aus Ton gebastelt. Die Schätze sollten etwas sein, das sie an Gott oder an einer Geschichte erinnerte. During our creative time, the children finished up their desert boxes. After painting the treasure boxes, they made "treasures" out of clay to put in the boxes. Their treasure could be something that reminded them of God or a story that they heard.

Einige Schatztruhen und Ton-Schätze.
The treasure boxes and some of the clay treasures.

Einige haben neue Bilder entweder mit  Kreidepastellen auf Schleifpapier  oder mit Sandfarbe gemalt. Some made new sandpaper drawings with chalk pastels or painted with sand.

Andere arbeiteten bei der "Danke, Gott" Station, wo sie etwas an Gott geschrieben haben oder ein Bild für ihn gemalt haben. Others worked at the "Thank you, God" station drawing a picture for God or writing something for him.

Diese Woche baten wir den Kindern Hefte an, wo sie weiter sich Gedanken über die 10 besten Wege zum Leben machen konnten. Es gab leere Seiten in der Heft, damit die Kinder schreiben oder malen konnten.  This week, we also gave the children a booklet where they could write or draw about one of the 10 Best Ways that they wanted to think more about. 

The cover has the summary of the 10 Best Ways from the  story:
"Love God, love people, God loves us"

Zwei von den Jungs haben mir die Geschichte von Mose erzählt! I was also treated to a story when two of the boys decided to tell me the story of Moses.

Nun ist unsere Expedition jetzt vorbei und wir haben Herbstferien. Es war eine wünderschöne Zeit mit Gott und einander! Now our expedition is over and it's fall break here. It was a wonderful expedition together and with God! 

See our other expeditions:

Expedition in the Desert: Joseph

Expedition in the Desert: Moses

Expedtition in the Desert: Abraham and Sarah

For more about "The 10 Best Ways to Live" click here.

(For my Godly Play Readers: This is one of the core stories in the Godly Play curriculum. There is a short version for younger children and a longer one with more historical background for older children. I used the shorter version since the children had already heard the historical info in the story of Moses and so we could focus more time on each commandment.)


Linked to Montessori Monday at Living Montessori Now

and Seasons of Joy