My children love playsilks. We have had a few over the years, and it came to my attention that we were down to a single, ratty, faded yellow play silk. The sad looking silk had been a cape, a doll sling, a blanket, a net, a tent, a skirt, and so many other things in its dear little life. It has been a while since I went playsilk shopping, or dying, so finding the price of $14 (or more) plus shipping per silk was more than I could afford.
In steps Pinterest and every one's favorite childhood beverage: KoolAid. I found this blog post with an amazing color chart for dying silks with KoolAid. I did all the dying in the microwave, in ziplock bags, thanks to a tip from my friend Regina. Basically that means no mess. Basically pour 1 cup of water, 1/2 cup of vinegar, 3-4 packs of KoolAid into a ziplock freezer bag and heat for 3 minutes, let sit for 3 minutes and rinse. Then hang to dry (or throw in the dryer for 5 minutes if your children are begging for them). THATS IT! :)
I think the colors are so beautiful and vibrant. You can make a forest green, dark blue, maroon red, and clayish orange by adding 1/2 packet of grape koolaid to 3 packs of the solid color. It makes them a little darker. Also, if you do yellow, do like 5 packs and let it sit for as long as you can stand. I love the bright, summery colors and you have to know the kids have been playing non-stop with them. The rainbow silk I made (above) was done by tieing off sections with rubber bands in ziplock bags. I actually may re-do some of the colors that needed to be more saturated. You can also do this on the stove which I intend to try with the hope of getting some more saturated yellow, green, blue and orange. It was really hard with the zip locks to tie it off and make sure the silk was completely in the water... if that makes any sense at all!
I bought the silks from dharma trading post for $5.35 each I think. Even with shipping and KoolAid they were still around $6 total. Much better than $14. I must have purchased 50 packs of Kool Aid in all the primary colors! I went several places and Wal-Mart had the best selection. They had all the colors I needed and then some! I didn't have enough silk left to make some pink. Maybe for Christmas?
We have been really into Mermaids lately, and the silks have really added a lot of color to our Mermaid world! :)
Can you guess who Anastasia is pretending to be? I really enjoyed this project because it was quick, easy and super rewarding. All the Kool Aid brought me back to my own sugar-induced childhood. I think I drank gallons of that stuff. The scary thing is, my hands are still green and blue from yesterday's dying adventure. All I can think is what all that color does to one's insides?? Yikes! I am so glad I can pass on the beauty of Kool Aid to my children in another way. :) hehe.
Now go buy some silk and add some color and creativity to your life!
Had you asked me 3 months ago about homeschooling, I would have told you I had no idea what I was doing and probably told you how badly I wanted to send my children off to school like every sane person on the planet. But we had made the decision long ago to home school and that is what we are doing. Thankfully, the past few weeks I have felt a renewed sense of peace and passion on the subject as we plan and piece together all the particulars and start a new season of learning. A little over a week ago, I stumbled upon this video that really sums up a lot of my attitude towards education:
(Sorry it is off center)
I find it is so important to educate the whole person. Mind, body and soul. And that the most important things we learn, we learn through creativity and using our imagination. As Albert Einstein mentions,
“If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales.
If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales.” ― Albert Einstein
So all those things considered, we begin our adventure into education at home.
I have taken a Waldorf approach to homeschooling with a good amount of Charlotte Mason's concepts mixed in. I also like a lot of Montessori ideas, especially the introduction to reading and spelling. I love the beauty, simplicity and pure imagination of the Waldorf Concept. I like how every subject is presented in stories. Handiwork, art and movement are considered as important as the intellectual subjects. The approach focuses on the whole person and rhythms of life. I am also drawn to the importance of spirituality and nature to the education of the soul. We are so fortunate to live in a mecca of natural beauty, and it is absolutely important to me that my children have a deep love and a healthy relationship to God's creation. I love the overall picture, but I am not a Waldorf purist but think than any educator can really gain so much from adding some of the concepts to their lives. I like Charlotte Mason's ideas to keep a nature journal, read "living books", encourage good habits and again, art and handiwork. I also like her classical studies, and some of her approaches to different subjects. Like all theories of learning, not one is perfect but so much can be gleamed from each concept to fit your children, life and style of learning.
For curriculum I chose the Kindergarten curriculum from the BEarth institute. The curriculum is mainly stories, wonderful stories, songs, and crafts. We started doing a little "Science" yesterday and the curriculum uses the Storybook of Science (that you can download free here!) and the first story was about poisonous berries and plants. We learned so many plants in our yard are toxic and the kids were completely glued to my total surprise! Anyway, I have been using Simply Charlotte Mason as a guide for adding things like music, art, Bible and poetry. We will be studying one composer a month and one artist. For History we are just reading chapter books. We will be finishing up "Little House On the Prairie" this month and begin studying Native Americans through stories. I would love to rhythmically go through American History from Indians to present day every 2 years so the children almost get a timeline in their heads. I also am not sure where to fit in world geography/history. But I am not worrying about it for Kindergarten...... I just need to see if I can get through this year! Not to mention ballet and Girl Scouts. We will have a full plate! :)
I am so excited though, and truly blessed to be on this crazy, beautiful journey of homeschooling. I can't wait!
