Today was the “Cookie Bake-Off” with my Summer Campers.
We had twelve homemade options to choose from thanks to some very talented baking kids!!! Yummy… and quite entertaining to see my campers after all that sugar!!! A sampling of all twelve cookies for everyone to taste-test and vote!!!

Here are the twelve different varieties…

Yes, that last one – the white Sugar Cookies were the WINNER!!!
And will win the coveted “Best Cookie” Trophy plate that I made.
Congratulations Max… great cookies!!!

This week’s Summer Camp is “Fire, Forge & Feast.” Two days of making thematic clay dinnerware pieces, followed by two days of metals making the forks, knives & spoons. On Friday we pull it all together with a full Potluck lunch with the kids using the themed dinnerware sets they’ve just made!!! While our Clay pieces go into the kiln, today we started in Metals… with a lot of teaching, sawing, filing & sanding. Here’s my co-teacher Pam Robinson showing the kids some of the metalsmithing basics…

After Pam’s demo, thee was a LOT of sawing, filing & sanding. Followed by texturing, stamping & forming. The kids have a LOT of work ahead of them to finish off their thematic dinnerware sets!!!

And in case you’re wondering… here’s a quick example of the cutlery they’re working on. Clay handles with metal utensils inserted into them.

Here’s another challenge for the kids… we’re keeping track of the number of saw blades they break. Whoever breaks the LEAST over the next three days will win a prize!!!

My Summer Campers finished building their themed dinnerware sets today. With their terra cotta, they’ve made plates, platters, bowls, cups, mugs, handles and more! Today we also glazed them with a once-fired colored glaze palette. Right now everything is in front of a box fan trying to dry as fast as possible… and we load them into the kiln tomorrow morning. Can’t wait to see all of their pieces come together on Friday!!!

Today was the first day of a new week of Summer Camp.
We’re doing “Fire, Forge & Feast” this week… one of my favorites!!!
But when the “morning doodles” looked like this… I was a bit concerned?!!!

Looks like I have a little work ahead of me this week getting everyone “focused”
on the task at hand. It might be a long week…

And yes, my Campers learned some “valuable” lessons on how fragile dried terra cotta can be. And that painting “too hard” can break things. Of course, I also had to point out a few times how “I was right” when I told them to score & slip everything… and that “just squishing it together” won’t work!!! Luckily, they had time to rebuild a few pieces as needed.

Today was the last day of Chess Camp. With the deadline looming, the kids did a wonderful job staying on task all week. They created all of their Chess pieces, painted them with underglazes & painted a chess board with acrylic paint. It was a great week for me with great Summer Campers!!! I just wish I knew more about the video games their chess sets were based on… whew, I must be old?!!!

It’s always so fun to watch the kids paint their pieces. To see them really come to life. And more “apparent” as to what character they are in their themes. Of course I’m still struggling with some of these video game characters!!!

By the end of the day we had quite a few pieces all lined up. Worksheets checked off. Pieces labeled with initials. A few “spares” made. And ready to go!!!

Rows & rows of little “soldiers” ready to go into battle…

And now all of the pieces are “safely” set aside on a rolling kiln cart… waiting for a sprayed coating of clear glaze and a trip through the kiln!

Yesterday my Summer Campers “finished” building all of their Chess pieces. Today they’re going to paint them all with underglazes to bring them to life with colors & details. At this stage, they’re incredibly fragile… so I hope we don’t need to re-make too many if they “paint too hard” today?!!!

Passed out. Knocked out. Cranial fracture.
When bad things happen to good Chess pieces.

Chess Camp is moving along quite nicely. The kids have been creating pawns, knights, bishops & more. All in their own crazy themes – mostly from video games I know nothing about!!! Nintenedo… Legend of Zelda… you get the drift…

Luckily, I do know a “little” about the Peashooters from “Plants vs. Zombies.”
But a quick Google Image search never hurt anyone…

Today was the first day of Chess Camp. And we started the day with some “traditional” chess as we discussed the kids’ plans for the crazy, thematic sets they’re going to make this week. And let me just say, some of these kids are far too smart for me!!! And MUCH better at chess… but that’s not saying much!!!