Heritage Camp Archives - Eva Varga

Today was far more relaxed and enjoyable (on my part, anyway) than yesterday. Everything went much more smoothly though we didn’t get to all the activities I had planned. Better to be over-prepared, I’ve learned. I also neglected to take many pictures.

We started out with a lesson on Hans Christian Andersen. Most of the children were not familiar with his name but were in fact familiar with his stories (The Ugly Duckling, The Emperor’s New Clothes, The Little Match Girl, and Thumbelina). I explained that in addition to writing many wonderful stories that we enjoy to this day, he was very skilled at an art known as scherenschnitte (shear-n-SNIT-a) or paper cutting.As there were no televisions or radios in his day, people would frequently sit around a fire and share stories verbally. While Andersen told stories, he would generally also fold and cut paper. At the conclusion of his story, he would unfold the paper to reveal an elaborate paper cutting – a picture that usually had nothing to do with the story he was telling. The paper cutting told a completely different story.I then led the children through 2 different paper cuttings – one the common fold for snowflakes (which only about half had done previously – this actually surprised me). The other, a simple chain of paper dolls. All the children were successful, though some of the youngers needed a little assistance with cutting through the thick paper folds.

We then gathered on the floor and I introduced Norwegian Folk Dancing. I had tried to find a lodge member that is skilled in folk dancing to volunteer but a las, they were on vacation this week. I am not a dancer – nor have I ever taken a dance class. However, with the exception of a few, most all of the children have taken classes and I knew they would be comfortable with the simple choreography. We thereby spent a little time practicing a few basic steps without music and will continue to practice again tomorrow. I wish I had introduced this earlier so that we could have had more time to practice. Note for next time.
We enjoyed a snack of krummkakke and then we gathered on the floor again for a lesson on Edvard Munch. I spoke briefly of biography and we then spent a few minutes studying his painting, The Scream. I asked the children what kinds of things they do when they are scared and everyone shared. Many said they would hide under a favorite blanket or hug a lovie. Some said they would go to their mom.

We returned to the tables and I distributed paper, pencils and chalk pastels. Some children opted to color a black outline of Munch’s The Scream but most chose to create their own works inspired by his. They drew pictures of themselves in a scary situation and used lots of colors. Some tried to recreate Munch’s work themselves. This activity was a great success. The children who had previously expressed that even coloring was difficult, focused their efforts and created art.
When most were finished, I gathered those that were done on the floor and I read aloud Donald and the Troll; An Adventure in Norway (Disney’s Small World Library). Those that were not finished stayed at the table to continue working quietly as they listened to the story from a far. Parents arrived as we were reading and the children dispersed as quickly as they had arrived.

I don’t have as many photos today due to the fact that I was feeling a little overwhelmed. Things didn’t go quite as smoothly as I had hoped. The problem was that a few of the activities were a little too difficult for the younger kids and I didn’t have enough adult volunteers to help assure that the kids had assistance when necessary. This, of course, led some to get a little wiggly and I had to make a few last minute adjustments. All in all, though, the kids had a good time.

I began by reading a chapter from Pippi Longstocking. I had failed to take into consideration that some may not be accustomed to listening to longer stories from chapter books and before I knew it, the wiggles began. I started skipping paragraphs but the story didn’t flow as well and I started second guessing myself.
While I was reading, Shanette arrived and took a few minutes to set up a few weaving looms that she brought with her. When she was ready, we got up from the floor to get the wigglies out and then formed a circle as Shanette led us through a game in both English and Norwegian. (I’ll have to ask her to write out the words so that we can practice.)

The children were very attentive throughout the game. When we were finished, we moved back to the tables where I began a Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights) crayon resist activity whereby the kids were to draw a landscape with crayons and then we’d add a black watercolor wash for the night sky. I didn’t anticipate that this too, would be difficult. A few of the younger ones stated, “This is too hard. Can you do it for me?” They didn’t put much effort into it and I was thereby disappointed. During this activity, Shanette had had to leave – I didn’t even realize it until I looked around to ask for help and couldn’t find her.

The kids then began to squirm and run about in the open space. I tried to get snack started in the kitchen – the plan was to go in rounds and make abelskivers but as the first small group got started, I knew this wasn’t going to work. Thankfully, I had on hand the fattigmandbakkelse (cookies) I had planned to use on Thursday, so I used those instead. Shanette returned as I was handing out cookies and everything started to smooth out once again.After snack, Shanette sang a Norwegian rhyme to divide the kids into smaller groups. A few went with her to do finger weaving, a few with Christian (her nephew) to do loom weaving and a few with me to make the heart woven baskets.

All the kids with Shanette and Christian were at task. The younger ones with me, however, were not. Though we were using felt (which was more maneuverable and didn’t tear as easily as paper), the kids had difficulty following the directions. This is partially due to the fact that everytime I gave a direction, they squirmed about and had their eyes on the other groups. I had to repeat the same directions over and over… those that had got it the first time, hearing the directions repeated, thought I meant for them and they’d proceed forth. This caused a succession of goofs and I felt like a failure.

Fortunately, moms arrived shortly thereafter and kids began to disperse. I took deep breath, vented my frustration, and re-evaluated my plan for the following two days.

We had a great turnout for our first heritage camp which we advertised by word-of-mouth only. There are 15 young participants whose ages ranged from 3 to 8 years. In addition, one adult lodge member has volunteered to help each day so that she can learn more about Scandinavia herself.

The first day was a glorious mess. We began by watching Erling demonstrate Scandinavian Wood Carving – a delight to watch by both adults and children alike. The Scandinavian flat-plane style of woodcarving is a style of figure carving. The figures are carved in large flat planes, created primarily using a carving knife. Tool marks are left in the carving and very little (if any) rounding or sanding is done.

Erling was born in Norway and he even spoke a little Norwegian for us. It was a blessing to have him share his craft and we were all very thankful.

After watching attentively for nearly 20 minutes, the kids returned to the tables where they were given a piece of Ivory soap and a knife (butter knives for the youngest). I moved amongst them quickly to sketch an outline of a butterfly, a fish or whatever the children requested. They had a great time carving – but we were all surprised with how easy it was to carve. As a result, many of the kids had trouble carving their desired shape as the soap would break with the slightest pressure. While a few were intent on taking their time – others were content to create was looked to me like a pile of feta cheese. A las, it was exposure and they enjoyed themselves.
Thereafter, I read aloud the story The Three Billy Goats Gruff and talked briefly about the prevalence of trolls in Scandinavian literature. I did my best to change my voice for the characters – Erling even got into it a bit and spoke the words of the biggest billy goat. I loved having him there. The kids enjoyed the story – a young girl shared that at her school they had performed the play and she cast as the youngest billy goat. Sweet!
I then described to the kids how they could fashion their own troll using natural materials that I had collected. As before, some kids spent a lot of time to assure their trolls were as ugly and fierce as could be, while others weren’t so interested. It is always a challenge for me to think of activities that will appeal to a broad range of interests, abilities and ages. This has always been one of the most enjoyable components of teaching.
To conclude the afternoon, the kids took turns baking bread on a stick. I believe, if asked, the kids will unanimously agree that this was their favorite activity. They enjoyed it so much that most had the opportunity to make two – despite the fact that it took a little while to bake thoroughly.

Bread on a Stick

Ingredients

Bread dough

Butter or margarine (optional)

Garlic (optional)

Honey, jelly or jam (optional)

Make your own dough or thaw some frozen bread dough if you prefer. Pull off a small handful or cut off some strips and roll into elongated segments 10-12 inches long. Cut a green stick, fairly stout; wrap the bread in a corkscrew fashion around one end, pinching the dough against the stick tightly so it’ll stay in place. Cook over coals in your fire pit. Cook slowly and evenly so the bread doesn’t burn and gets cooked thoroughly. You may brush with butter and garlic if desired.