Treasures at Bluffer's Park

This afternoon we went out to Bluffer's Park to do a little scavenging on the beach. At the end of the foot trail, you'll find a little lighthouse surrounded by rocks. It was here that I almost stepped on a pile of twigs and feathers which turned out to be the home of three large Canada Goose eggs. This was a very exciting moment for the three of us. Duncan had never seen eggs in the wild and it was so magical being able to get so close to nature like this. Ken had a bad feeling that the nest had been abandoned, since there was no mother goose coming after us like a scene from The Birds. I hope the eggs hatch. 

Hinterland Who's Who has a page on the Canada Goose, including a picture of a nest with eggs.

go to www.hww.ca and enter Canada Goose in the search engine. I couldn't get this connection up as a hot link. 

Place-Based Art Here and There

Last summer we visited the Royal Botanical Gardens in Hamilton which, at the time, had an exhibit of placed-based art by a variety of sculptors. I enjoyed the fact that you could be walking around in the middle of a forest and stumble upon something completely unexpected, like a giant block of wood growing out of a tree stump...

or rivers of twigs streaming out of large urns.

Back in our neighbourhood yesterday, we discovered a tree (Catalpa?) that had dropped hundreds of blood red seed pods all over the owner's front lawn. I'm not sure if the owner was trying to mulch around the tree with the seed pods, or trying to do something artistic with them, but the image was still striking. 

Duncan let me borrow his little wagon and we carted some seed pods to the park and back home. They make a nice, percussive sound when you shake them. We're creating soundscapes in our class right now. I'll bring them to class in case anyone can use them. 

Placed-Based Artist Andy Goldsworthy

Last summer I was involved in a TDSB Summer Institute called Teaching in the Outdoor Classroom. One of the instructors brought along a documentary on British artist Andy Goldsworthy, who makes site-specific sculpture and land arts. Some of his work is permanent and some is intended to weather away with the elements. I'm thinking about having the Green Team at our school create an installation along the same line. When I was out on yard duty in the winter, I was always interested to see how much kids of all ages love creating snow forts and sculptures. Enjoy.

Art By The Yard

It's hard to believe that between my last post and today, we had a snow fall in April. Today was the perfect spring day so we had a go at creating little sculptures out of the stones and rocks we picked up at the beach last week. I think children learn best when they can get their hands dirty and try things out. We've been letting Duncan use scissors for quite some time and today he began using wire cutters. When Duncan was a baby, we took a baby signing class and the instructor pointed out that we should never tell children that they are not playing "the right way." This was good advice: let children create their own understanding of how things work... and just let them play.

An Orange-Coloured Day

April may be the cruelest month, breeding lilacs out of the dead land, but today was fantastic. I took my son down to the beach. He'd been there before but could not remember it. He had fun digging in the sand and throwing stones into our great lake. I couldn't resist picking up unusual looking driftwood and beautiful stones. Later this week, I'll see if I can tempt Duncan into making some sort of wire sculpture with them.
 Who wants to spend a day at the mall when you could have this?
                                                                                                        

The Caribou

For your viewing pleasure - the caribou. I love how slow moving and peaceful these clips are. They really make you feel for the plight of the animals featured. They're also oh-so Canadian.

 

Hinterland Who's Who

If you were a child in the '70s/'80s and watched a lot of TV, you no doubt remember the Hinterland Who's Who commercials. They featured a piece of eerie flute music and a man with a lulling voice who talked about endangered species. I'm sure I saw them all. 

Hinterland Who's Who has been updated. They have a terrific new website with current information, pictures, and even lesson plans for teachers. If you click on Media Gallery and then select "Vintage," you will find the old clips. Soak in a warm, bubbly bath of nostalgia.

Go to

www.hww.ca