Camp Gigi has just finished. It was a full week of having my granddaughter at our home with her best friend joining us for part of the week. Her brother was at his camp in the mountains, so it worked out perfectly for her to come to stay with us. Camp Gigi (what my grandchildren call me) is a week free of electronic devices, where creativity is the objective.
Our time together began with coloring quilt blocks for our Mrs. Noah Quilt. Each block features animals and the characters from the biblical story, including a really fun boat. This was originally intended to be appliquéd, but for an eight-year-old, that was way too complicated, so we opted for fabric pens and colored the blocks in cute patterns. We didn’t finish sewing it together, but that is for her next visit!
A great awakening for me was making slime. Now, let me stop here and tell you that the makers of glue have masterminded a genius concept for kids making slime. I can tell you I have never bought school glue by the gallon before, but now I can check that one off. Believe it or not, we used almost the entire gallon. This modern replacement of modeling clay is made up of shaving cream, glue, glitter, baking soda, and contact lens solution. Wow, that alone was a weird thing to see. We manufactured bowls of this stuff and then filled plastic storage bags with our daily creation. I kept asking, “What do you do with this stuff?” only to get the same answer over and over— “You play with it.” Well OK, we’ll play with it, then.
Then, if that wasn’t enough, we bought even more slime because shimmer slime is different than regular slime. Oh, me, oh my. I am now educated in the world of slime.
One of my favorite things we did was make our notebooks. We took spiral-bound notebooks and ribbon remnants and tied a ribbon into every ring. The girls had so much fun making these wilds displays of color! I am unsure if they will pass school regulations, but they are fun to have and enjoy.
What else did I learn from the eight-year-old girls? They are smarter than me. They taught me how to use my cellphone in ways I never knew possible. I am now accomplished in making weird videos on my phone, if anyone needs a tutorial.
Despite the various devices we have at our fingertips, kids still love to create with their hands. All they really want is your time and attention. I will share the rest of my grandmother journey with you later.
P.S. Neal said he will have Camp Neal for our grandson whenever he can schedule him, and it won’t include slime making!