Get the fruit to Market!

Wow what a challenge! We had two difficult teamwork activities last Tuesday that showed us how important it is to work together. A special thanks to Bunny-Boo's mom for helping with the Ostrich egg challenge.
That was interesting wasn't it? The kids had to figure out how to get the "eggs" out of a nest that was up in a tree. Then the "eggs" had to be placed in a giant net and carried to the village with out dropping any. It was more challenging than it sounds since the "eggs" were small plastic balls and the net was a giant parachute! (hee hee) :) I hear one group lost some "eggs" to East Ave. Oh my! Poor little eggs.
Then they met with me and had the challenge of getting all of the fruit their village had grown to the market to sell. There were a lot of rules making it very difficult for the kids. Happy Feet was quick to figure out a human chain was needed to take the fruit to the market and other kids quickly fell into place. Everyone stalled when the line didn't reach all the way, but it didn't take them long to solve the problem. I was very impressed.
After we talked a little bit about how hard it is to work as a team when there is a common goal. I see kids work as a team for sports all the time, yet problem solving together seems to fall apart rather quickly. This was a good exercise for that reason.
Orangutan and I thought of a few things after this meeting, we saw some of the best things that happened were the communications between members. When things fell apart it was because people were not talking to each other. This sparked the idea for our next meeting! Our last September meeting, will be all about how to communicate with others. Of course you hopefully know me by now... it will be fun and challenging and a little silly.
Starting in October we will begin our Charity work and start planing for the National Orangutan Week event at the Sacramento Zoo. I will keep you posted!
Until then NinjaMom Out

Let Peace Begin With Me...

Hi there everyone! What a wonderful meeting we had! Sorry I did not get an e-mail reminder out to everyone this last time! I had a cat/sick great uncle emergency. (Thankfully they were unrelated!)
If you did make it to the meeting we had a wonderful time in the library, talking about what makes us the same and what makes us different.
I heard some VERY interesting things about our little members! We have brave fighting knights, world travelers, swimmers, avid readers, animal lovers, shark lovers, fashion parlor owners, one member who has sworn off candy, (palm oil...dontcha know!) Then we discovered together that we all have a nose, ears, hair on our head, feet, a heart, and we all, (thank-goodness) wear clothes! The next thing we did was decorate our "PEACE PEOPLE" These beautiful creatures are now on display in the library. I asked the kids to either draw themselves, or a kid from another country, or something they wanted to be. Some were silly, some were serious and some were just down right creative! But if you go look at them keep this in mind, just like all of us across the world, they are alike in so many ways and special and unique in some ways too. I am very proud of everyone's efforts on the doves and the people. Please remember to celebrate International Peace Day with your family this Sunday the 21st.
There is a lot going on in Chico too, so head out and enjoy the great weather! On Saturday is Pastels on The Plaza! Orangutan and I will be there, and I believe there is a music thing going on at Chico State! Fun fun fun. What ever you do, take a moment on Sunday to have a bit of peace in your life.
NinjaMom Out

Peace Doves Take Flight!

Wow!
What a meeting! Thanks to the parents who stayed and helped. I am looking into getting some college volunteers to attend all of our meetings since we have such a big group this year. I LOVE the way all the doves turned out! Everyone had such a different "vision" of how they wanted their dove. That is what I enjoy about kids and art. You can show them the instructions give them the supplies stand back and get 35 different end results, all wonderful!
We learned from several creative members that when launched from the play structure the doves actually took flight! This was impressive. I am sure Jane Goodall her self would have been proud. I can honestly say I have never seen plastic shopping bags used in such a creative and, (no pun intended) uplifting way.
All the kids wanted to take home their works of art, but alas I want to share these with the school! I will be allowing the doves to take flight above the children as they eat in the cafeteria. I hope to accomplish this soon. I have many birds to hang, so kids... bear with me! :)
I was so pleased at how well everyone participated in the making of the doves at our meeting. The kids seemed to enjoy the craft. I hope they enjoy the World Peace Poster that we will be working on next week. I hope to hang that in the cafeteria as well. Then the week after that...excitement looms...we begin our teamwork challenges!
Can you solve the puzzle? Can you be a part of the team? I am on the edge of my seat in anticipation....
NinjaMom Out

First Meeting Was Great!

Well I don't know about you but I had a great time at the first meeting! The kids in this club are top notch! We talked about our plans for the year, and played some games. The kids all picked their code names for this site and we planed to meet next week and start on our peace doves. Just in typical NinjaMom fashion I didn't read the instructions for the peace dove very well, turns out we don't need 2 liter bottles! We just need 120z bottles! That will be much easier! You will all be getting an e-mail or phone call with a list of things to bring next Tuesday (September 9th).
To re-hash some of our plans for the Social Awareness section of this club we came up with some ideas of how we can spend our time.
Suggestions were made to sing Christmas carols to the elderly in nursing homes, or perform a skit of some kind. We want to try the "Keep the homeless warm" drive again. There was some mention of a fundraiser with the "wrapmat" (more on that later)
Big news included an event with the Sacramento Zoo that Orangutan is working on.
In November we will be celebrating National Orangutan Week. There is talk of doing something with the zoo and their Roots and Shoots club to help spread the word about Palm Oil and it's harmful affect on the great red ape.
That should be exciting and once we know more about what will be taking place I will let everyone know!
After the Peace Doves have been made we will have an exciting meeting that will challenge the members creativity and team spirit. That is set for September 22.
But for the next two meetings Doves are in our future. While we make these I hope we can talk about Peace and see what the kids think our world needs to get there.
I told the kids about this great video I saw of this girl, no more than 13, who traveled to South America to speak to the delegates of a convention. She basically yelled at these grown ups and told them, if they didn't know how to fix something they should stop breaking it. It was done with grace, respect, and elegance. Very impressive for a kid. I hope to show them while they work on the doves.
Well that is all for now.
NinjaMom out.