Green Apple Kids

GAK: Good News, Bad News, Better News

2009-12-08T09:53:00.000-08:00

Hello GAKers -

Green Apple Kids is entering into a very exciting phase of the organization. The news is so BIG that we've decided to break it into 3 easy bite-sized portions:

THE GOOD NEWS
Green Apple Kids is adding to its weekend workshop format and, in January, will be launching a pilot program in the South Bronx at the Family Life Academy Charter School. This program will be in the from of enrichment after school programs for children in grades K through 6th. The program will put the Family Life Academy Charter School (and future participating schools in low-income neighborhoods) at the forefront of green community activism, seeing approximately 92% of students attending academically outperform their peers (according to a State Education and Environment Study).

THE BAD NEWS
Although the Family Life Academy Charter School is yet to secure a grant to support the project, the administrators see the value the GAK program would bring to their student and as such are acquiring funds from a very limited school budget. In order to get the program in place, and keep it free to all participants, certain frills had to cut, one of the most important being the intended dedicated training intended for the teachers and parent volunteers whose environmental knowledge is vital to the success of the program. It was suggested that this training be replaced by a mixture of on-the-job and at-home research training.

THE BETTER NEWS
You can help the kids at the Family Life Academy Charter school get off to the best possible start by making a 'DONATION' to Green Apple Kids that will go directly towards the funding of the teacher training. The cost of the training comes to $2,400, and with your donations we are certain that we can make this happen. Any overflow funds will be used to reinstate the other cuts (such as in-season organic snacks and Earth-friendly supplies). It would be a great gift granted to very worthy kids this holiday season!

Click here to make a donation!

November Story Time Yoga Workshop Review

2009-12-03T10:27:00.000-08:00

Erin is the most fantastic yoga teacher in NY. Period... But you probably already knew that from our first story time yoga session with Erin. She brought her brand of interactive kiddie-yoga to both of our City Island and Williamsburg library branches last month and lead the GAK kids through an exhilarating, active, stretching and balancing routine.

"Are you ready to go on an adventure?" Erin asked her eager students. "What animals do you think we'll see?" As the Green Apple Kids named their favorite animals (domesticated or wild, land living or ocean dwelling) Erin quickly bent into the corresponding yoga pose and the flexible young yogis followed suit.

Each session included the sun salutation song, a few stories about animals, yoga pose freeze dance, lots of freeform movement and a relaxing wind-down. Ahhh...

We can't wait to have Erin back.

Erin and the kids strike a pose

October Workshop Review: Birds & Worms

2009-11-09T07:23:00.000-08:00

Haley from the NY Audubon Society was on hand in City Island to guide us on an urban bird walk... If only the birds cooperated as well as our GAK kids did. We spotted an enormous spider, rescued a dehydrated slug, visited a koi pond and, "What's that nest up in that tree? It must belong to an enormous bird." Nope, as Haley informed us, the nest actually belonged to a squirrel that was most likely preparing for the winter chill.

But it wasn't all flightless animals that we came across. High in the sky a tiny GAKer spotted a seagull. And much closer to the ground the group came upon a flock of House Sparrows. Plus somewhere in between, on the telephone wires, a few Rock Pigeons rested from a long day of flying. Possibly the most important thing our GAK group learned that day was the way everything in an ecosystem is connected: the small bugs eat the flowers, the spider eats the small bugs and the larger birds eat the spiders.

Two weekends later, in Brooklyn, we stayed indoors with our compost bins, separating and harvesting worms. The Red Wriggler worms were easy to spot in the rich, dark balls of compost each kid tackled. Many were surprised at the neutral scent of the compost and some families were inspired enough to take home their own Wrigglers in order to start a compost in their apartment.

More information on the subjects covered in last month's workshops can be found at the NY Audubon and Bronx Green-Up websites.

Haley from the NY Audubon

The New Calendar (and our recycled 'chipboard' flyers)

2009-10-02T07:34:00.000-07:00

BX SEP.12 // BK SEP.19 - Green Market workshop with Sarah Poten from cenyc.

BX OCT.03 // BK OCT.17 - NY Audubon will exlpore the birds of City Island, and the GAK founders will have kids dig into their home-made vermicomposts (worm bins).

BX NOV.07 // BK NOV.21 - Family Yoga with Erin! *this class will begin at 1PM

BX DEC.05 // BK DEC.19 - Get ready for the holidays with gifts made from recycled items.

BX JAN.09 // BK JAN.16 - Solar 1 will help kids build their dream solar race cars.

BX FEB.06 // FEB.20 - The Biobus visits and allows kids to have some hands-on experience with science of alternative fuels.

It’s So Yummy Being Green!

2009-09-25T09:24:00.001-07:00

Happy Autumn Equinox GAKers, the new season has begun! ... And what a way to start. For our very first Green Apple Kids workshop in the Bronx, Sarah Poten from Green Markets brought along a few junior ambassadors and hosted a delectable outside presentation that incorporated many unusual selections from the Borough Hall, Brooklyn Farmers Market.

The kids present at the City Island Public Library put on their chef’s hats and chopped, shredded and julienned colorful vegetables in order to create a fabulous Rainbow Salad. A few of the unusual veggies included marble radishes, white corn and green tomatoes.

In Brooklyn Liza and Beatrice opened a similar kitchen in the Williamsburg Public Library where again kids sliced black radishes, diced celery root and prepped other more standard veggies ‘harvested’ from the McCarren Park Farmers Market. The resulting salad was too good to describe in words… We’ll let the pictures (below) do the talking.

Next Month: The early bird meets the worm when Audubon explores the birds of City Island (Oct. 3rd in the Bronx) and GAK explains how to create your own indoor worm bin (Oct. 17th in Brooklyn).

THE BRONX

BROOKLYN

*special thanks to GAK parent Ilya for the great pictures

June 13th FIGMENT Review

2009-06-15T06:53:00.000-07:00

This past weekend Green Apple Kids hopped on the summer ferry and joined a large collection of artists and art-lovers at the 2009 FIGMENT Festival on Governor’s Island. We brought some noise to the wild and crazy event by helping kids make ‘shaggy shakers’ from recycled bottles and shredded paper.

We learned a lot from the kids that stopped by. Some turned their bottles into characters with facial features, others used the shag to make grass skirts and almost everyone immediately composed an impromptu percussive melody. Unfortunately the Mobile Art Parade that was to be the culmination of our day’s work got rained on, but kids could be heard shaggily shaking around the island, drawing attention to the importance of recycling.

We’d like to say a big ‘Thank You’ to Bill Elliston, the children's activity curator who helped us so much throughout the planning and execution of our art project.

Here are some pictures from the Green Apple Kids table (unfortunately our camera died so we only got pictures of about half of our shaker makers) :

End of day at the GAK table (pic by Keiko)

And here are some cute pictures of other FIGMENT activities we just had to share:

Riding the cloud car

City of Dreams miniature golf

Mask making

Kiddie costumes

Flower pool

DIY hula hoop decorating

The Wishing tree

(all above pics by Keiko)

June 6th Workshop Review

2009-06-13T17:06:00.000-07:00

Our latest workshop was full of yummy goodness. Sarah Poten, our presenter from Greenmarket, gave us many interesting facts about our foods. Such as:

1) The color of the chicken's feathers determines the color of the eggs. So brown eggs come from brown chickens, white eggs come from white chickens, and green eggs come from a special South American chicken with green feathers around its neck (the jury's still out on green ham).

2) Though purple and white carrots are funky finds at New York's farmers markets, they used to traditionally be the norm. Some time ago a queen (we're not sure which one) got the golden colored carrots we're used to seeing now and declared, "Let them eat gold!" And thus we now mostly see orange carrots.

3) Same for potatoes. Red and purple potatoes were upstaged by the cardboard colored variety because they were larger and easier to grow.

4) A great fact to remember when filling reusable bags at your market is that the smaller the fruit or vegetable, the more nutirents it packs per pound. Take that you big, ugly potatoes.

After talking about food, we decided to taste some. A few GAK kids braved the punch of radishes, examined the insides of red and purple potatoes, tasted spinach and chamomile and mint, and wore a few garlic sprouts as jewelry.

When it was all over, we divvied up the bounty of veggies brought in by Sarah, and everyone left with great printouts such as a 'make-your-own-menu' list and a scavenger hunt for their next trip to the market.

GAK at FIGMENT!

2009-05-22T08:20:00.001-07:00

GREAT NEWS! FIGMENT has invited Green Apple Kids to take part in the 2009 roster of arts activities on Governors Island. See the details below:

Have you ever made your own musical instrument? You can at Figment. Green Apple Kids will be helping children and parents construct their own musical instruments using plastic bottles, cans, sticks and other recycled materials. You can use your creation to make music all around the island on your own, hang them up with others for a wind-driven symphony, or even join the merriment of the parade. After making the instruments they may be taken home and hung in windows, so the music will last long after this weekend.

Green Apple Kids
Recycled Wind-powered Instruments
Saturday, June 13th ONLY!
11AM to 4PM

FIGMENT 2009
June 12 – 14
Governors Island, NYC

FIGMENT is an explosion of creative energy on Governors Island. It’s a free, annual celebration of participatory art and culture where everything is possible. For one weekend each summer, it transforms Governors Island into a large-scale collaborative artwork… and then it’s gone.

What are you bringing?

May 2nd Workshop Review

2009-05-12T20:28:00.000-07:00

The winds of change blew through our recent Green Apple Kids workshop and got our young inventors thinking about alternative fuel sources. GAK co-founder Beatrice Tinio led the day’s lesson by starting with a picture book focused specifically on the how the suns fuels almost every energy source that exists on the Earth.

When Bea asked the class what makes the wind, parents were amazed to learn that the junior Green Apple attendees where in the correct ballpark. “The sun!” offered one GAK kid, while another added, “Because the sun controls all the weather.” The kids also recognized the differences between fossil fuels and sustainable energy sources (identifying solar panel and embracing the concept of hydro-electricity).

But enough talking, a Green Apple Kids workshop would be incomplete without a fun. hands-on activity. At their respective workstations, the kids decorated the arms of their anemometers (say that three times quickly) and colored one of the 4 cups that catch the wind in order to be able to measure the wind’s velocity. The stem was made from discarded pencils and the base from repurposed modeling clay.

With their anemometers ready, the Green Apple Kids constructed an indoor ‘wind farm’ counting off their cup revolutions (see video below) and then each kid left with a velocity chart in order to record wind speeds in their neighborhoods and advocate for the installation of an energy-producing turbine.

April 4th Workshop Review

2009-04-20T05:54:00.000-07:00

With over 35 kids ready at the starting line, we raced into our workshop with presenters Solar 1 to make solar race cars. But before the checkered flag came down, Margaret of Solar 1 reminded the kids of the importance of renewable energy. A few smart Green Apple Kids were quick with answers, advising their peers that we currently use way to much fossil fuels (from energy sources that cannot be refilled once the needle hits E).

But that was enough talking about renewable energy, next the kids built cars that used one of its most abundant resources... the sun. They put wheels, cogs, motor and solar panel together after decorating the chassis of the car in a green theme. The mini-mechanics that completed their cars quickly went on to constructed sundials from construction paper and a bit of help from their attentive parents.

A big thanks to all the understanding parents who attended this, our largest workshop to date.

Oh Mister Sun, Sun,
Mister Golden Sun,
Please shine down on me...

March 7th Workshop Review

2009-03-15T07:56:00.000-07:00

“Bicycle! Bicycle! Bicycle! I want to ride my bicycle.” And ride they did. First the Green Apple Kids rode indoors – a treat facilitated by the fact that the library loaned us their large auditorium room for this workshop – then they had a blast riding outdoors on an unusually warm March afternoon. But first Will, of NYCBikes, instructed kids and parents on a bit of Bike 101.

After introducing himself, Will read the book 'Duck On A Bike' to a humored audience. He then ran through important tips for kids. “The most important part of a bike is not on the bike, it’s your…” asked Will. To which the Green Apple Kids responded, “Hemet!” Will also had tips for parents, “Keep tiny fingers away from the gears,” (see pic below) and “Always keep tires properly inflated."

After instruction on how to remove, mend and inflate an inner tube, Will introduced the Green Apple Kids to his favorite childhood bike accessory: the safety flag. Safety flags are especially important in metropolitan neighborhoods where kids share play space with busy motorists. The Green Apple Kids, grouped at a long communal table, got the chance to create their very own flags using recycled fabric (triangles cut from old canvas totes and t-shirts), bamboo stakes and crushed bits of unused crayons.

After creating their playful, but practical flags, there was only one logical thing left to do… Have a bike parade! Check out photos and bike parade video below. And also remember, biking is not only fun, it’s a mode of transportation that is healthy for both you and the planet.

Presenter for March 7th

2009-03-05T15:28:00.000-08:00

Will the shop owner of local bike shop, NYC Bikes, is our presenter for March 7th. We will be learning about bike safety, making our own safety flags from recycled materials and ending our workshop with a safety bike parade around the library.

Will says, "We are city cyclists building city bikes made to throw over your shoulder for that four floor walk-up, made for the abuse of potholes and that big fat chain..."

"You wanna know how to change a flat? We'll teach you. Don't want your hands greasy? We'll do it for you. You got no more excuses, so... Ride damnit, ride."

Don't forget to bring your bikes and get ready to ride (safely)!

February 7th Workshop Review

2009-02-14T06:09:00.000-08:00

Our latest workshop with Karma Kids Yoga was a hoot! (and a hiss! and a squeak! and a woof!) It wasn’t a s-t-r-e-t-c-h for our young yogis to identify the friendly animals in the wonderful book read by Iana and then fold into their corresponding yoga poses demonstrated by Erin.

This was the inaugural workshop at the Brooklyn Public Library Williamsburg Branch. Everyone was impressed with the abundance of space and natural light. The children’s librarian, Chrissie, was a real trooper, showing up to offer assistance despite feeling a bit under the weather.

The GAK kids present were a mix of new faces and Leonard Branch alumni. After greeting and singing the warm-up song, the Karma Kids Yoga instructors took the children through a varied story-time routine that included sing-alongs, stretches, kid-friendly asanas and even a downward dog tunnel constructed of willing parents.

Through the process of getting in touch with their bodies (and the support they relied on from the immediate environment), the observation of varied elements during still time and engaging their minds in a routine that was new and different, the kids strengthen their individual relationships with the earth.

We’ve included a video clip of the Green Apple Kids YoGAK! session below. We hope to have Erin and Iana return to take keep our little ones limber and their minds thinking green.

The New Website Launches

2009-01-28T07:56:00.000-08:00

Green Apple Kids has launched its new web pages. Please see the sample below:

Presenter for February 7th Workshop

2009-01-27T07:35:00.000-08:00

Erin has had a lot of movement since she's learned how to walk! She is fascinated by how we use our bodies to play and tell each other stories. Her training as an actor and dancer led her naturally to her yoga practice, where new stories are being told everyday!

She loves teaching children because of their beautiful willingness to take adventures. In addition to acting and teaching yoga, Erin is currently training to become a Sign Language Interpreter. She also teaches "Baby Fingers" classes, a musical sign language class for parents and their babies around New York City.

Erin is certified through Sonic Yoga's 200-hour program, and has been teaching yoga to children for 3 years at Sonic KIDZ and Fit Kids NYC. Her yoga classes at Karma Kids Yoga foster a love of dance, music, creativity and play.

K* donates 5% to GAK!

2009-01-25T12:33:00.000-08:00

Announcing a great collaboration. K* Shoes, has agreed to donate 5% of sales from the inaugural line to Green Apple Kids. We are happy to display the handmade K* booties on the Green Apple Kids website and blog. The booties and shoes are designed and made by Brooklyn mom Keiko Hirosue-Korolev. See the ad below:

January 3rd Workshop Review

2009-01-12T14:20:00.000-08:00

This was the last workshop in the eco-fabulous first season of Green Apple Kids, and what a fun time it was. After a brief introduction by Beatrice, Dez shared an improvised story with the kids during which they were asked to participate by naming various animals that live in the jungles of Africa. The parade of animals began with a gazelle, ended with an elephant, and besides turtles, cougars, lions, and tigers, even involved a T-Rex (a recycled version of the story will be posted shortly).

Next Beatrice and Liza demonstrated how to make recycled books and assisted the GAK kids in making their very own wordless creations. The items needed were rice glue, clippings from old magazines, rectangles cut from cereal or tissue paper boxes and a whole lot of imagination.

When the kids were done cutting and pasting, Beatrice and Liza bound their books together by sewing, gluing and using hole punches. And then came the big presentation. Our young storytellers joined Liza on the rug and presented their books and elaborate stories to an eager GAK audience.

Review the snapshots (by Manny) below and get ready for the next season at the Brooklyn Public Library Williamsburg Branch.

Dez and the GAK kids sharing a story

Announcing the New Season of Workshops

2008-12-29T20:19:00.000-08:00

The big news is that Green Apple Kids is moving to the Williamsburg branch of the Brooklyn Public Library. Below is the schedule of the new and exciting workshops we will be hosting in 2009:

FEB. 07. Karma Kids. YoGAK! We kick off the new green apple kids season with a half moon pose when Karma Kids leads us in a session of storytime yoga.

MAR. 07. NYC Bikes. It’s bike season! Come tune-in to bike safety tips and tune-up your bike at the same time when local bike shop, NYC Bikes pays a visit.

APR. 04. Solar One. Solar One will help kids build their very own toy race cars. The silent speedsters harness energy from the sun, so they never need batteries.

MAY. 02. Solar One. The Big Bad Wolf may huff and puff, but solar one’s second workshop will teach kids about the truly awesome power of the wind.

JUN. 06. Green Market. Old Mc Donald has a farm, and you can get all his fresh, local, organic produce at a ny green market. This promises to be a delicious workshop.

JUL. 11. NY Audubon. Did you know that birds are the closest relatives to dinosaurs? The Audubon Society visits and gives
us a closer look at the beloved pigeon.

What's in Store for the New Year

2008-12-27T23:00:00.000-08:00

Green Apple Kids is starting the new year with splendid new changes such as a new location, new time, and new presenters. Starting in February, our next round of workshops will be held every first Saturday of the month at the Brooklyn Public Library: Williamsburg Branch on 240 Division Ave. For folks whose children let them sleep in, workshops will begin at 12 noon!
Also we are thrilled to have new presenters such as Karma Kids, NYC Bikes, Solar 1, The Green Market, and the Audubon Society to help deepen our understanding of eco-conscious living.
Let us all challenge ourselves for 2009 to become more sustainable, more conserving, and more informative about what it really means to be active environmentally conscious beings.

Make Your Own Materials

2008-12-14T14:14:00.000-08:00

Play Dough:

1 cup flour
1/2 cup salt
1 cup water
2 tablespoons oil
2 tablespoons cream of tartar
beet, spinach, and carrot juice or food coloring

Mix flour, salt and oil, and slowly add the water. Cook over medium heat, stirring until dough becomes stiff. Turn out on cutting board. Knead the playdough with your hands until of proper consistency. Use as is, or divide into balls and add a few drops of the vegetable juices or food coloring to make all your favorite colors.

Rice glue:

1 cup rice
1/4 cup salt
3-4 (maybe more) cups water

(makes about 2 cups of glue)

Steps:

Combine all the ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil.
Lower the temperature and simmer for 45 minutes.
Notice that it should look a bit like oatmeal - if it still looks rice-like, add more water and keep cooking.
When it looks like oatmeal, remove it from the heat and let it cool.
Put it through a sieve to remove the larger pieces, or put in a blender (you might need a little bit more water).
Store in the refrigerator.

Now you're ready to create with the kids using renewable materials made by YOU...doesn't that feel good?

December 3rd Workshop Review

2008-12-13T21:03:00.000-08:00

Red Rover, Red Rover, can Jenny come over? Yes she can… Jenny Greene tore herself away from her galactic studies (she can sit inside the telescopes she uses) to host a workshop on the importance of water to life on Earth. Jenny did this by taking us on a quick trip to... Mars!

After an engaging pictorial comparison that went way beyond the obvious Earth blue, Mars red comparisons, Jenny explained that the possibility of life on Mars greatly depends on whether or not that white stuff currently on the surface of Mars - GAK kids correctly guessed that it is ice - hints at water previously on the planet in liquid state.

Green Apple Kids used homemade Play-Doh to create aliens they thought could survive on the planet Mars. Many created humanoid figures in multiple colors (with double mouths, septuple limbs and even scaly bodies). The kids that weren’t sculpting creatures were watching a film (similar to the one below) that documented a Mars rover leaving the Earth’s atmosphere, entering Mars' and making a landing. After the film, GAK kids had a chance to simulate their own rover data collection thanks to scale models brought in by Ms. Greene.

In an attempt to ensure that this verdant planet (Earth) doesn’t look like that barren planet (Mars) in the future, GAK founders Beatrice and Liza explained the importance of conserving wetlands and reducing water waste. Thankfully all of the Green Apple Kids came up with many imaginative ways to use less water in their own homes.

Presenter Jenny Greene (center) enjoying a Green Apple laugh.

Introducing December 6th presenter Jenny Greene

2008-11-17T17:42:00.000-08:00

Jenny Greene grew up in the Bronx. She spent many many happy hours in the Public Library as a child, and is thrilled to be working with children in the library now.

Jenny is an astronomer by trade, she spends her days (and nights)observing the sky. In particular she studies black holes, objects so massive and so compact that not even light can escape their gravitational pull. She loves to look through telescopes in Chile to study the sky, because there is a beautiful view of the Milky Way our galaxy.

When she is not working, Jenny teaches algebra in New Jersey prisons. This has taught her that learning is a very powerful force of empowerment, and has emphasized even more strongly how important programs like Green Apple Kids are for our children and society in general.

For Jenny, studying astronomy is a way to understand where we all came from, and because the Universe is just so magnificent and strange. In this Green Apple Kids workshop, we will focus on the wonders of our planet Earth. We will see how lucky we are to have our natural resources, in particularly, water. In contrast our next-door neighbor, Mars, is not so hospitable to life. We will think about ways to preserve our precious resources on this planet, as well as ways to adapt life to more extreme environments.

November 1st Workshop Review

2008-11-04T10:13:00.000-08:00

A wise person (I think it was Kevin Costner) once said, “If you build it, they will come.” And the developers in our local community seem to have canonized this quote. Our community’s children know all too well about the current, ever encroaching, building phenomena. Scaffolding inhibits their right of way on sidewalks, building materials litter their parks and the giant, gleaming, monolithic structures generally dwarf their points of view.

Presenter Ilya Korolev helped our kids voice their opinions regarding the current construction boom in the city. First Ilya read from the book 'Where We Live' (Adventures in Architecture by Bode, Achim) pointing the Green Apple Kids’ attentions to pictures of dwellings (both modern and historic) from around the world. The kids engaged in discussions as to why some houses were high in trees, or close to the water or made of certain materials.

Next it was time for our budding builders to create a scale city of their own design, utilizing materials pulled from household recycle bins. Some took the roles of architects, while others worked on interior design. A few kids teamed up to figure out the city’s infrastructure, while one dedicated his time to the inhabitants’ safety and security. And everyone was concerned about clean-up and waste disposal.

The experience encouraged the kids to think of alternate ways in which we can impact our environment through building and also displayed the many occupations that go into making a city function. Can we build it differently? Yes we can!

Presenter Ilya Korolev reading to the Green Apple families

Introducing Our November 1st Presenter...Ilya Korolev

2008-10-27T05:42:00.000-07:00

Ilya Korolev was born in Moscow, Russia. As a child he was very curious about how things worked, and often took toys apart to see what was inside.

He studied in Moscow Architecture Institute (Russia), and Pratt Institute School of Architecture in Brooklyn, NY. He is now currently working at Andrew Berman Architect. His current projects include NYPL Branch Libraries and Renovations/additions at PS1 Contemporary Art Center.

Ilya will be taking the Green Apple Kids families on a journey to a land made by children. The importance of sustainable structures will be the underlining theme while we create a city from our imagination by using, old milk and yogurt containers,toilet paper rolls, and other reusable objects that often go straight in to the trash. We will be turning these objects into houses and buildings, and these structures will then form a larger map of a land designed collaboratively by our very own green kids. This activity will engage children's and parent's understanding of urban living and challenge their thinking about their own environment.

October 4th Workshop Review

2008-10-09T10:39:00.000-07:00

Tea Bag: a container of thin paper holding tea leaves.

Tee Bag: a fabric container made through the process of refashioning a tee shirt into a shopping bag.

Our last workshop was a stitchin’ good time. The question posed was, How can we recycle t-shirts? And Marge Mendel gave us a smart solution: tee bags. After talking through the process with Green Apple kids and parents, Marge set to work readying her sewing machine while the kids used recycled crayons to make patterns on old t-shirts of their choice. Some made stars, others made numbers and there were those whose abstractions could have passed for Pollock’s. After a parent carefully used a hot iron to make the designs permanent, Marge snipped and stitched and Whallah! fashionable ‘new’ bags for all. The library supplied books for each bag through the Reading is Fundamental (RIF) program and every Green Apple Kid left with an organic green apple.

Below are the three simple steps it takes to create your own 'tee bag' at home:

Have a look at our pictures below of kids decorating and modeling their tee bags (there are lots of pics this week):

Presenter Marge Mendel modeling a tee bag.

Elzbieta Krawczuk explaining the RIF program.

Introducing October 4th Presenter, Marge Mendel

2008-09-27T14:36:00.000-07:00

Marge Mendel is an award winning author who has been doing crafts for the fun of it since she was a little girl making baskets by weaving together strips of paper. She has a Master’s Degree in Marriage, Family and Child Counseling and an MFA in Creative Writing. For many years she worked in programs that provided services for an adult schizophrenic population or adults with mental retardation. She began to write seriously more than 10 years ago when she authored a food column in a local Bronx Newspaper. Her short stories have appeared in numerous on line and print publications. This year one of her stories appeared in an anthology of women mystery writers, “Murder, New York Style”. She has just completed the first draft of a novel set in Vietnam on the eve of WW II.

Marge learned to sew when she was eleven years old and from that time on she made most of her own clothing. When she graduated from high school she worked as a power sewing machine operator for more than 5 years and during that time she learned to make just about everything that could be produced on a sewing machine.

Pottery, calligraphy, and yummy chocolates are just a few of the creative efforts that Marge has gotten involved with. In the last couple of years she has become an avid digital photographer and downloads her shots on flickr.com.

You can read some of her stories and view her photographs on her website www.margaretmendel.net.

Over the years Marge has realized that being ecological means many things. It certainly is conserving water and being kind to the environment, but she believes it goes deeper than that. Sharing for her has now become the heart of what it means to be ecological. Share what you know. Share what you have in excess. And always share your creative energy with anyone who is interested.

Old Clothing Turns Into New Ideas

2008-09-23T15:13:00.000-07:00

"Just because that old shirt you used to love is too threadbare to wear anymore doesn’t mean it has to end up in a landfill. According to the non-profit Institute for Local Self-Reliance, textiles make up about four percent of the weight and eight percent of the volume of all municipal solid waste in the U.S. "

If this is something you are concerned about you don't want to miss our next workshop with Marge Mendel. Many parents may struggle with their child's (or their own) overabundance of clothing. Unwanted presents you may feel guilty giving away, clothes that don't fit anymore or are too worn, or that shirt you just can't seem to let go of but never wear are all great reasons to recycle them. Whether it's handing them down to family and friends, donating them to a Goodwill, or using your crafty skills to make old clothes into something reusable, you're sending less to the landfill! So if you want to challenge your sewing skills with your children and at the same time teach them how to recycle their old clothes to help the earth, we should be seeing you on October 4th.

Interested in the percentage quote above? Read on...

September 6th Workshop Review

2008-09-10T18:45:00.001-07:00

All the kids who attended our recent workshop really dug it. And that’s not hippie surfer talk, they literally ‘dug’ into the day’s lesson. Presenters Beatrice and Liza educated the families on the smallest, but most important creatures in composting – tiny earthworms called Red Wrigglers.

After listening to a short reading on earth worms, each kid got a clump of composted material and got to work removing the tiny wrigglers from their hiding places. With the worms safely removed and placed in a hosting bin, each child then used a small planter – made from household recyclables – to deposit a pumpkin seed in the rich composted matter.

Many parents took home handouts on composting and a few even took home a some worms. Which means that at the core of many Green Apple homes, you might find a few worms… And that’s a good thing!

See our pictures and video below:

(Workshop presenters Beatrice and Liza)

Introducing our September 6th Workshop Presenters…

2008-08-21T20:05:00.001-07:00

LIZA MENDEL-WILLIAMS & BEATRICE TINIO

Liza Mendel, a native New Yorker who grew up in the Bronx, has been teaching for over seven years. She has an extensive teaching background with Public and Charter schools educating children on various subjects such as literacy, math, writing, social studies, and science. Currently Liza is teaching for a charter school in the south Bronx as a science teacher. Her science program is an enriching one where students participate in hands on activities where learning through exploration is essential. Liza was a strong advocate for having a garden for the school which, with the help of students, has grown to be a charming one for all to enjoy. She is a horticulture enthusiast indeed and constantly emphasizes the importance of it in her classes. In addition to teaching at Family Life Academy Charter School (FLACS), she is also a graduate student in the Early Childhood Education program at The City College of New York in Harlem, and is a mother of an almost 4-year-old boy.

Beatrice Tinio grew up in New Jersey and has been teaching English as a Second Language to adults and children for the past four years. She currently teaches at Family Life Academy as well and will be conquering new endeavors this 2008-2009 school year as a second grade teacher. Beatrice’s ESL classes incorporate total physical response, role playing, singing, and movement. She, along with a few parents of FLACS, also helped start and build an organic vegetable and herb garden, in hopes of raising awareness to more families about nutrition. Besides teaching, Beatrice is also a graduate student in the Early Childhood Education program at The City College of New York, and is a mother of a 3 1/2-year-old boy.

What do these two know about vermicomposting? Well on top of being educators, grad students, and mothers, they are also the founders of Green Apple Kids. The two met in 2006 at FLACS, realized they had similar teaching philosophies, and wanted to initiate a project that both incorporated their lifestyles and made an environmental statement. Being strong advocates for environmental consciousness and reducing their family’s carbon footprint is what they continuously strive for.

When Beatrice moved back to New York from New Mexico, where she learned the science of outdoor composting, she was compelled to find out how to compost in an apartment. Through the Department of Sanitation and the Bronx Green-Up workshops, she quickly learned how to recycle kitchen scraps using red worms. She was so enamored by this idea she constructed a worm bin for FLACS students, which during the school year, resides in Liza’s science classroom where Liza bases some of her lessons on which children often “oooh”, “aaah”, and “eeew” about. Liza and her family have experience with outdoor composting on their property upstate, but in their Brooklyn apartment, with no outdoor space, she eagerly had to start her own indoor worm bin as well.

So folks, look forward to a fun-filled, engaging workshop with these ladies and their worms…and be prepared to get your hands dirty!

Do Worms Eat Your Garbage?

2008-08-12T20:41:00.000-07:00

Our next workshop on composting with worms, or vermicomposting, may leave some people feeling squeamish. But the truth is these amazing red wigglers are nature's most efficient recyclers and help reduce our garbage by eating kitchen scraps. If you want to prepare yourself for our September 6th workshop or just want to know the benefits of vermicomposting read more.

For people interested in the science of vermicomposting and building your own worm bin designed for New York City apartments visit the Department of Sanitation.

August 2nd Workshop Review

2008-08-09T19:57:00.000-07:00

The latest workshop, hosted by artist Jessica Findley, was all stop-and-go and stop-and-go, and... Well, it went on like that for awhile. But it was all part of the fun as the day's exercise was Stop-Motion Animation.

While individual kids took turns directing and positioning the cast (toys brought from home) of a group stop-motion film, others worked individually on flip books using cut-out shapes from recycled newspapers, magazines and gift bags. It was amazing to witness the creativity kids can exhibit when allowed to express themselves constructively and freely.

At the end of the class guests young and young at heart gathered around Jessica's laptop for the screening of the Green Apple Kids' masterpiece. Watch out PIXAR, young directors grow in Brooklyn.

Here are some pictures from the workshop:

(Presenter Jessica Findley Directing the Green Apple Directors)

(Making Flip-books)

(Making the Film)

Here is a short film made using the technique Jessica taught in the workshop (due to a technical glitch, Jessica's computer crashed before the original film could be saved):

To make your own stop-motion films at home, Jessica recommends iStopMotion (a trial version is available for download from Apple.com)

Introducing our August 2nd Workshop Presenter

2008-07-28T14:37:00.000-07:00

JESSICA LING FINDLEY

Jessica Findley is a maker. The first time we met her was at an unusual event, one that in retrospect gave insight into her genius. It was a group outing to Kaiju Big Battel performance, where competitors dressed in hand-made monster costumes duke it out in a roped ring – think World Wrestling Entertainment meets the Godzilla series of films (the original sixties Japanese versions).

Jessica is also a talented conceptual artist who dreamed up the Aeolian Ride. As the website explains, the Aeolian Ride outfits fifty cyclists with wind-inflatable suits and sends them on a mapped course through cities around the world. To date the ride has been hosted in New York City; San Francisco; Los Angeles; Capetown, South Africa; Melbourne, Australia and Halifax, Nova Scotia.

It is in the suits that Jessica’s craft shines. Designed from rip-stop nylon, the suits come in three basic shapes. A personal favorite is shaped like a Portuguese Man O’ War with the cyclist’s arms and legs serving as the jellyfish’s tentacles that swing below its buoyant bladder. There is also an abstract bunny, with outsized ears that rise out of the biker’s shoulders and an orb-like suit with a puffy hump.

Ask her and Jessica will most likely highlight the fun involved with the project, she’ll say that she created this mass participatory event, with its odd uniform, to exude humor and “excite those riding as well as delight those watching.” She will not be one to lament over obstacles faced or ideas that died on the cutting board.

The payoff for her hard work was evident on the day of the New York ride as a stream of ghostly figures, that would have fit nicely into any Hayao Miyazaki film, sped out of Manhattan’s Riverside Park with the Fulton Ferry Landing in Brooklyn as their destination. As we rode onlookers cheered, cars honked in approval and bicycle messengers inquired as to where they could acquire their very own versions of the Aeolian suits.

You can view Jessica's marvelous work at sonicribbon.com.

EXPERIENCE

07.00- FREELANCE DESIGNER : BROOKLYN, NY
NOW Illustration, graphic, web design, animation, and video editing.
Clients: Computer’s For Youth, American Museum, of Natural History, Large Animal Games, LEGO, New
York Philharmonic, Tylenol, Cablevision,New York Underground Film Festival, Picture Projects, RMJM
Architects.
03.02- ILLUSTRATOR / ANIMATOR : PLANETII, BROOKLYN, NY
05.03 Illustration, character design, development + Flash animation for on-line + printed tutorials for children.
Also responsible for project management, quality control and sound design.
09.99- ASSISTANT TEACHER: NYU DEPT. OF FILM + TV, NEW YORK, NY
06.00 Assisted classes with Director, Premier + PhotoShop. Taught + managed TV studio workshops.
06.99- PRODUCTION TECHNICIAN : PORTLAND CABLE ACCESS, PORTLAND, OR
08.99 Assisted producers in edit suites + studios, managed + schedules + equipment.

EDUCATION

05.01 MASTER'S DEGREE FROM THE INTERACTIVE TELECOMMUNICATIONS PROGRAM
TISCH SCHOOL OF THE ARTS, NEW YORK UNIVERSITY, NEW YORK, NY
06.99 BA DEGREE WITH AN EMPHASIS ON MULTIMEDIA ARTS
THE EVERGREEN STATE COLLEGE, OLYMPIA, WA
SKILLS

DESIGN : PhotoShop, Illustrator, Director, Flash, Dreamweaver, GoLive.
PROGRAMMING : HTML, CSS, basic ActionScript + Lingo,
FILM + VIDEO : Final Cut Pro, Premiere, After Effects
ANIMATION : Flash, and Stop Motion 5
AUDIO: Pro Tools

July 26th Workshop Review

2008-07-27T08:25:00.000-07:00

The first Green Apple Kids workshop was a bangin success. Presenter Manuel Oquendo (aka MegMan) led an engaging class that resulted in the construction of various sculptural instruments (all from household recycled materials). In the coming days we will post instructions on how to make your own instruments at home, but for now enjoy our photos and noisy audio.

(Presenter Manuel Oquendo and a few Green Apple parents)

Introducing our July 26th Workshop Presenter...

2008-07-05T09:45:00.000-07:00

Manny I. Oquendo

AKA MegMan

Manny I. Oquendo is a Producer, Composer and Multi Instrumentalist. He began his music training at the age of 5 studying violin, African percussion, and storytelling at the Bloomingdale House of Music NY, NY. He also studied and performed with the Boys Choir of Harlem and more recently has studied West African Drumming with Master Drummer Laryea Addy.

Manny has had music videos featured on M.T.V and the B.B.C’s Radio 1 and has composed and performed music compositions at the Whitney Biennial, Brooklyn Museum, Dietch Projects and Exit Art gallery to name a few. Currently he is touring extensively throughout Europe with the groundbreaking Hip Hop innovators Anti-Pop-Consortium.

He is a supervisor for the Arts Conservatory Program for the Police Athletic League of NYC where he facilitates and teaches a highly enriching music and poetry program to the inner city youth of the South Bronx. He also teaches music in the New York Public School system. Recently he has collaborated with drummer/composer and founder of Fast Horse Records, Barrett Martin, to record his yet to be named debut album, which is currently in the final production phase, and is a blend of Electronica, soul grooves, and world music sounds, which reflect a slice of life in urban New York City, the place Manny calls home. Look for an early winter release worldwide, exclusively on Fast Horse Recordings. For more information and to experience his soundscapes visit him on Myspace.

The Benefits of Music for Children

2008-06-23T13:50:00.000-07:00

"There is a growing amount of evidence to show that music enhances a childs ability to think, learn, reason and create and it is in the first five years of a child's life that all of the formative brain development and connections are being formed."

Our first upcoming workshop on creating and playing percussion instruments serves multiple purposes. Not only will it be super fun, but research shows that music for young children makes them smarter! And who wouldn't want a more intelligent, and innovative child? Interested parents read more...

Announcing Free Green Workshops in Brooklyn

2008-05-29T18:03:00.000-07:00

In order to engage the community, the founders of Green Apple Kids have decided to host monthly workshops at the Brooklyn Public Library: Leonard Branch.

Details:

JUL. 26: Musician Meg Man builds simple percussion instruments from items in your recycle bins.

AUG. 02: Hands-on sculpture workshop using recycled material with conceptual artist Jessica Findley.

SEP. O6: Start a Vermicompost for your home and reduce landfills by sending less to the city dump.

OCT. 04: Marge Mendel turns old t-shirts into new fashion items for youngsters. Patterns free to take.

NOV. 01: Architect Ilya Korolev introduces kids to their immediate environment...their rooms!

DEC. 06: Astronomer Jenny Greene gives hints on how to better observe our natural environment.

JAN.03: Repurposed household items turn into objects d’art in the hands of sculptor Emma Spartus.

Our Vision

2008-05-01T05:49:00.000-07:00

To work in collaboration with parents to empower all children and families, by providing opportunities of enriched learning that promote environmental consciousness, and cultivate lifelong positive attitudes, and behaviors toward the natural world.