great rewards

End of camp #3 today-Fabric Arts. I had thirty kids instead of the twelve I had in the past two camps. And they were 8-12 year olds instead of my little 4-5 year olds. Some of them seemed to think they knew more than me, most didn't listen to anything I said, and I repeated all instructions numerous times. I loved them all! They still managed to make some beautiful things so I suppose they did hear me after all, I just couldn't tell from all of the chatter. My style of teaching is all about the process and not the product and letting kids do for themselves. It tends to create chaos which I seem to be able to ignore. However, my chest is sore and my voice is shot and I will go to bed soon and it is 7:45pm. All in all it went well, however. We made Tibetan prayer flags and wrote a wish on each one. Today we dimmed the lights, the parents came, and we took turns reading our wishes. There were many wishes for world peace which was nice, many prayers for pets and parents, and one boy wrote a poem that made me cry. There was one "I wish I was rich" with dollar signs all around.........guess you can't have 100 % selflessness.
We also made Batik fabric, stamped fabric with Adinkra stamps I made, and made our own looms and weavings which was the most popular activity all week. The best part was today when one little Korean girl brought me a gift of a silver dragon hair clip. It was so beautiful and she was so full of joy when she gave it to me. This is why I do this, the rewards are great from these crazy little people!
Next week is sculpture camp. YAY, back in my comfort zone. Fabric camp was fun, but it was all experimental, like: "well, let's see if this works!" I forgot my camera all week, but just as well, there were just piles of fabric everywhere most of the time. I'll try to get some sculpture pics next week. And then school starts and I will be back on my wheel!!!!!!!