It’s the second #givingtuesday on our Family Advent Calendar. And this one is in honour of trees. As you may know, we lost the giant Norway Maple in our front yard this year. The city of Toronto had to remove it because it was growing old and hollowing out! No worries, it will be replaced next spring […]
It’s the first #GivingTuesday of Advent. And, today, the kids will once again adopt an animal from WWF Canada. With each symbolic adoption (or, the purchase of a stuffed animal), funds go to support the species of your choice and other at-risk species around the world. Of course, I am sure Bea will want to […]
Tonic Tuesday Give to Forests Ontario Today, we’ll donate to an organization that supports the health and sustainability of Ontario’s tree canopy. Who doesn’t want to breathe well and breathe easy? It’s difficult to plant trees during winter, so we’ll let Forests Ontario take of that for us. To learn more about this great organization, […]
It’s our first Giving Day of Advent 2013! Today, we’ll go online and contribute to the World Wildlife Fund via http://www.wwf.ca.* Our contribution will work to save endangered wildlife across the world, like the white Kermode Bear in BC’s Great Bear Rainforest. On the site, you can make monetary contributions as well as take part […]
This Saturday, we had a great time completing one of the tasks on our Fall Bucket List: Building Robot Birdfeeders! Below, I’ve posted a little visual DIY for how we made TWO different types of Robot Birdfeeder. First, we made robot birdfeeders to last at least a decade using sets of wooden craft boxes [3 […]
Last weekend, the family went out for a long, long walk along the Leslie Street Spit in Toronto. This fabulous conservation area is also known as Tommy Thompson Park. Aside from the camera in my phone, we decided not to bring any other recording media with us on our adventures. We thought it would make […]
We made two kinds of Spirit Bear Puppets today! Here are our results and a few printable templates for you and yours! Spirit Bear Stick Puppets I’d like to give credit to Dawn over at dragoart.com. Our Spirit Bear Stick Puppets are stylized versions of bears taken from her How to Draw Bears Tutorial: http://www.dragoart.com/tuts/6277/1/1/how-to-draw-bears.htm. Print […]
Ahma, The Spirit Bear, Part IV (Conclusion): A Berry Picking Party & What Follows, A Precis: Mr. Mansm’ hosts a berry-picking party on the extensive guardian-forest-grounds of Gyeksa-Yuup (Peaceful Earth) followed by a trip to a Amap’as (Good-Looking) Hill, for a view of the local salmon streams and a festive picnic. Things are clearly strained, […]
Today, we’re playing another Kermode-bear-themed math dice game. The kids will each get a copy of the sheet and play this with a gummy bear as a game piece and their own pair of dice. When each of them finishes, they’ll get a prize [a few bear stickers]. The instructions: Help the Kermode Bear Fin […]
Today, we’re lucky to have papa at home. He and the kids are having a look at drum faces created by Tsishmian artists. A simple Google Image search for “Tsishmian drums” will serve their purpose well. I’m particularly taken with David Boxley’s work [pictured to the left]. The four Tsishmian Clans are represented by a […]
Ahma, The Spirit Bear, Part III: In Which Harriet Hooltga Gyemk is Saved and Jane Ha-Liimi Tries Not to Be, A Precis: Hibernation season is over and the spring brings fresh faces to the village of Mayaa’ol, or Bear Berry. Miss Wax’l and her mother have word that their niece, Jane Ha-Liimi [Musical Instrument], is […]
Today, we created two types of Spirit Bear Silhouettes: The Spirit of the Bear Silhouettes and Kermode Collage Bear Silhouettes The Spirit of the Bear Silhouettes The is a riff on an activity from our Advent Calendar, our Silhouette Self-Portraits. After we read about Spirit Bears online and in books, the kids fill in the […]
“I swear, I have never heard any better sense from any bear under my guardianship. Mr. Yeni-Marten’s a very smart Kermode, industrious, too! He’s done quite a bit to protect our salmon and streams from the men at the fisheries and their lice-infested, farmed spawn. Not to mention his honey, which is a miracle, Ahma, […]
If you kill a Black Kermode bear, you are endangering the sacred Spirit Bear too! Did you know that only one out of ten Kermode bears is a white Spirit Bear? And did you know that while the hunting of Spirit Bears has been taboo for some time, trophy hunting of the Black Bear in […]
Today, in our story of Ahma, The Spirit Bear, our Ahma paints the portrait of her friend Harriet Hooltga Gyemck on a piece of newsprint which has drifted into their village, and Mr. W’Nax takes it into Prince Rupert to have it professionally framed. Today, the kids made their own bear portraits on newsprint using […]
ACK! It’s officially MARCH breACK! So here it is, a basic description and tentative schedule for this year’s MARCH breACK! Madness, 2013. Illustrate-Your-Own-Books 2013: Ahma, the Spirit Bear Each year, during MARCH breACK!, I write a little chapter book for the kids to illustrate, usually based on an existing tale or story. This year, Bea wanted […]
Today is another Giving Day. Via PlanCanada, we’re donating a Beehive & Beekeeping Kit, and lessons in how to care for and maintain the hive to a family in the developing world. This not only helps a family in need, it contributes to rebuilding the declining bee population. And, as we all know, bees are a vital part of our food chain. You can read […]
We are avid supporters of the World Wildlife Fund and their work in supporting diverse species and the environments in which they live. Today, we will support the fund by making a charitable donation. You can also “adopt” a plush animal, if that suits your taste. The Kermode Bear is a new favourite in our […]
