Anasazi Rainbow Salad

Anasazi beans are indigenous to North America and used by the Navajo tribe. They are delicious in this Summer salad and the kids loved the rainbow colors.

Mix together 1/4 cup olive oil, several pinches of sea salt, and the fresh juice of 1 lemon for the dressing.

Pick a handful of fresh mint and Italian parsley from the garden.

Combine together 2 cups cooked Anasazi beans, 1 small red pepper finely diced, 3 carrots cut in carrot flowers, 1/2 cup cooked sweet corn, 1/2 cup purple cabbage finely diced, and 1/4 cup fresh herbs finely diced.

Pour dressing on top.

Gently stir together, add a few more pinches of salt if needed.

Serve with blue corn tortilla chips and seasonal fruit.

                                 PUEBLO COIL POTS

We looked at some coil pots made by the Pueblo people and then made our own pots.

The kids loved making the long clay snakes and then turning them into their own special pot!

                 
                  NATIVE AMERICAN DRUMS

We colored a variety of medicine wheels and native designs and then created our own drums:

               LAKOTA CEREMONIAL SONG

Mama Annie came and taught us the Lakota song 'Pilamaye' to play with our drums that means 'I thank you from a heart full of love and gratitude'.

The Three Sisters

We planted corn, beans and squash in the garden and learned about the Native American legend of the three sisters.  The first sister is corn, she wears silken tassels that rustle as she moves. Sister corn grows tall and strong and helps the second sister, bean, by allowing her vines to climb up her stalk.  Sister bean wears clinging green leaves and leans on her older sister for support. The youngest sister is the spirit of squash and pumpkin. She wears a golden crown and sits at the feet of her older sister. She grows low to the ground, her large leaves help to keep the weeds under control and the soil  moist.

    
    RAINBOW CROW

We learned about Rainbow Crow in Storytime Yoga.  Rainbow Crow is a traditional legend from the Lenape tribe.  Here's our gentle interpretation:

"In ancient times before the man with 2 legs walked the earth the animals lived happy and free..."

(Happy animal dance!)

"Then the snow began to fall and fall and the animals began to get too cold..."

(Snowfall hands to Forward Bend)

"The animals ask the wise owl if he will fly to the Great Spirit and ask for help but the owl sleeps during the day and can not fly then..."

(Owl Pose - twist and hoot like an Owl!)

"The animals ask the trickster Coyote for help but they think the Great Spirit may not trust his trickster ways..."

(Dog/Coyote Pose - howl like a Coyote!)

"The brave and beautiful Rainbow Crow says that he will fly to the Great Spirit in the sky and ask him to stop the falling snow..."

(Rainbow Pose - sing the rainbow song!)

(Crow Pose - Caw like a Crow!)

"Rainbow Crow flies high in the sky and sings his beautiful song to ask the Great Spirit for help..."

(Soar to the sky with your wings wide and sing your beautiful song!)

"The Great Spirit gives Rainbow Crow a stick with a burning flame to take back to the earth..."

(Stand tall with your flaming stick and take 3 deep breaths.)

"Rainbow Crow brings the flame to melt the snow and saves the animals! 
The animals do a happy gratitude dance!!"

(Happy animal dance!)

                      
                    Scrumptious Native Cuisine

We made Corn Muffins, Garden Squash Succotash, and Fresh Black Eye Peas.

We harvested the squash for the Succotash...

Picked and shelled the Black Eye Peas...

And made tasty little corn muffins!

            
              CHAMOMILE DREAM PILLOWS

This month we have been learning about the healing and calming powers of chamomile in our Herb Fairies series.

We made herbal dream pillows with knotted quilt squares...

We stuffed our pillows...

and added dried chamomile flowers.

Chamomile is a mild herb that is safe to use with children.  Try some chamomile tea with honey to improve relaxation and sleep or a chamomile tincture for teething.

Some of us even decorated our pillows with puffy fabric paint.  Sweet dreams!

            
                FREE PLAY WITH LOOSE PARTS

The kids have been building all kinds of castles, trains, and forts with our awesome blocks from Community Playthings.  For more information on the benefits of loose parts check out:

http://extension.psu.edu/youth/betterkidcare/early-care/our-resources/tip-pages/tips/loose-parts-what-does-this-mean

Mr Ben sliced up some tree cookies for us to play with!

                            
                           SWEET FRIENDS!

See ya next time...