a lively first day back in the office

After two weeks of exploring and frog-catching, our first day back in the office wasn't a very tranquil one: we had a workshop full of 4-8 year-olds who weren't about to sit down quietly. 

We had loads of fun with Xam and his friends from daycare, and after a short introduction and tour (by Xam himself, of course) everyone got down to making puppets from scrapwood. 

The children used sanding paper and got to drill holes with a pillar drill. Of course they got to use a hammer to nail their piece together, which involved only one case of thumb-tears, which were quickly dried. 

Before nailing down the wooden pieces, we dyed them with natural colors that were sourced from the garden (alright.. and from the supermarket).  We used blackberries, turmeric, coffee, onionskins, red beets and spinach.

We found out the wood was stained best by our blackberries, which made it a vibrant pink, and by the turmeric, which made for a bright yellow color. The beets were a bit of a disappointment, but it was a fun experiment. 

Luckily we have a little playground and a trampoline to jump on while the kids were waiting for their dye to set. 

At the end of the afternoon we got to wave goodbye to two wagonloads full of smiling kids holding on tightly to their self-made puppets.

​What a great -yet exhausting- way to kick-off the new season. If we can take on these kids, we're ready for anything.