Friday Feature: Up, Up and Away!

Hot Air Balloon

I saw a hot air balloon flying over my house:

Most of the time, it was quiet as a mouse,

But, every so often, its burners suddenly roared,

And higher, up into the sky, it suddenly soared.

My excitement, I found hard to keep at bay,

As, a hot air balloon, you don't see every day.

A passenger balloon floating through the air,

For me, is so special, as the sight is so rare.

The sight of the balloon, filled me with delight,

And I stood watching it, until it flew out of sight.

My eyes were stuck to the balloon, just like glue,

As it floated across a sky of cornflower blue.

I wonder what it's like to float through the sky,

Wathing the world down below gliding on by.

I've always wanted to ride in a hot air balloon:

I hope I will one day, and I hope that it's soon.

-- Angela Wybrow

Paper mâché is a mess, but man, did we have fun with it. I put this on the curriculum calendar this summer knowing it would be a mess and a lot of work, but with the hopes that it would be so much fun, the mess would be totally worth it. I remember as a girl doing a paper mâché craft with my Brownie troop, and clearly it was a highlight of my artistic career. So for this craft, I joined in the fun. 

There are a lot of steps to a paper mâché hot air balloon:

Blow up balloon
Mix up paper mache mess
Dip torn strips of paper and layer onto balloon

Taking her time, covering up the whole balloon and
keeping it smooth to paint later

Step one - Done!

Let it dry for a few days, then paint a
base coat of white

And make a monkey face
while painting 

Definitely the best part

Finally - time to paint the design on!

Given drying time, my work schedule, and missing key materials like pipe cleaners and yarn, we did it a bit in stops and starts. I think the final results, though, were definitely worth the mess.

Caroline's

John's

Mommy's 

Up, Up and Away!!