American Girl Place Meetup

American Girls, we have a great opportunity to meet one of the American Girl authors, Mary Casanova, who wrote the books for McKenna and Girl of the Year 2015 Grace!  Ms. Casanova will be meeting fans and signing books at the store on Saturday, August 22.  She has graciously offered to our class copies of her book, Cecile: Gates of Gold.  Each of my students who attends the signing will receive this book for FREE!  You can also bring a Grace or McKenna book to be signed, if you prefer.  The signing is free to the public.  You can come any time between 11:30 and 1:30, though I would suggest coming by 1:00 to make sure you can get your book signed.  

After the signing, you can participate in a scavenger hunt I am putting together for you or you can explore the store on your own.  All completed scavenger hunts will be eligible for a drawing (one winner will be awarded a prize).  

We will convene at the cafe for lunch at 2:30.  Lunch includes appetizers, entree, dessert and beverages.  Doll chairs are provided for use in the cafe, and you can even borrow a doll if you do not bring one.  I will need to receive payment of $30/person (includes tax and mandatory 18% gratuity) before I can make the reservation.  Unfortunately, the booking is non-refundable once made.  

Since the last day of class is this Friday, I prefer to have your RSVP by then.  If you would like to attend but do not have the form, please contact me at miss_cong [at] hotmail.com as soon as possible.  

Week 2!

This week in American Girl Forever we learned about the Great Depression through the eyes of Kit Kittredge, a tomboy with a nose for news.  We created a 3D effect picture of Kit and celebrated Independence Day with some patriotic berry shortcakes.

We continued reading about Saige in American Girl Today.  After a few more mini lessons about art, we created our own Saige-inspired acrylic on canvas paintings of horses and/or hot air balloons.  On Thursday we watched the rest of Saige Paints the Sky while enjoying a popular New Mexican dish...empanadas!

We've left Camp Half-Blood on our quest to return the master bolt by the summer solstice.  It hasn't been going well, but we stopped for food at Aunty Em's Garden Gnome Emporium.  We ordered up some cheeseburger sliders and blue corn tortilla chips.  

In FantaSTICK Tape we have been creating some decorative and useful items, including a Washi tape picture frame and duct tape pencil pouches.  

Eat a Book! continues to produce tasty vittles from fun books, such as crispy rice treats from The Marshmallow Incident and potatoes O'brien inspired by Spuds.  

Be sure to check out our Flickr account for more pictures!  

Week One Done!

Week one is in the books and we are off to a great start!  Please check out our Flickr account for pictures from this week's activities.  

In American Girl Forever, we read about Rebecca Rubin, a young Jewish girl who struggles with traditional expectations and her desire to become a performer.  We learned about some Jewish traditions and sampled challah bread before treating ourselves to a "movie night."  Check out the photos of the girls posing in Rebecca's hat!  

American Girl Today read about Saige, a former Girl of the Year from New Mexico who loves painting and riding horses.  Saige was devastated to learn that her school could not afford an art teacher and with her grandmother's encouragement and help from friends and family, decides to do something about it.  The girls had a few mini art lessons, made their own hot air balloon projects and tried a cookie inspired by the biscochito, the official cookie of New Mexico, flavored with anise seed and cinnamon.  

Meanwhile, at Camp Half-Blood, we are continuing our education in Greek:  learning about the Ancient Greek language, Greek gods and goddesses and more!  Next week, we'll have to start training, because I sense a quest is coming... We celebrated the end of our first week with some fresh strawberries from the camp fields and cups of nectar. 

FantaSTICK Tape crafters spent the week learning some basic tape crafting techniques, like making duct tape strings and strips and Washi stickers.  We put our skills in action to make mini Washi flags, duct tape braided bracelets, keepsake boxes and a clipboard memo/photo holder.  

Finally, we've been cooking up a storm in Eat a Book!  On the first day, we were already cooking, preparing a tasty bean dip and making a Jack and the Beanstalk door hanger to take home.  Since then, we have made chocolate buttercream, mango blueberry fruit salad, snozzcumber sandwiches and chocolate fondue!  

Stay tuned for another fun week!

I hope you are all ready for another great summer with SPEF!  This year, I will be teaching the following classes:

American Girl Forever  (8:20-9:20)

American Girl Today  (9:25-10:25)

Camp Half-Blood  (10:45-11:45)

FantaSTICK Tape Crafts  (12:20-1:20)

Eat a Book!  (1:25-2:25)

If you are in either American Girl class, you might want to check out the "Grace Stirs Up Success" movie event at American Girl Place in Los Angeles on June 18.  Reservations are required, so call the store for availability.  We are planning to continue our tradition of an AGP meet up sometime in August, look for the interest form to go home the first week of class.  Dolls are permitted on Fridays, but are not required.

Students making their way to Camp Half-Blood are encouraged to bring a copy of The Lightning Thief so as to follow along during the teacher read-aloud.  Watch out for minotaurs!

FantaSTICK students may, from time to time, need to bring some objects from home, such as a photograph, for their craft projects.  This could get sticky!

If you want to Eat a Book, you may want to bring an apron or chef jacket (some aprons will be available to borrow) as it can get a little messy cooking up a story!  You may also wish to bring a reusable food container to take home any leftovers.

Looking forward to seeing you all on the 22nd!