The Talent Location
After 35 years in Ashland I moved to Talent in December 2014. I am still holding summer camps and after school classes in Talent . But, because my new home is smaller I am more limited.
When school is in session, I allow kids to drop in and try out the activities. I limit class size to 4 kids. I can hold after school classes from 3-5 every Monday through Friday. If anyone wants to come at an earlier time, just call me at 541 488-0155 to reserve the hours. I'm willing to hold classes for a minimum of 2 kids (so round up some friends).
During school sessions, I will hold special classes some Saturdays, with themes such as Lego Lounge, sew-along Saturdays, making doll accessories, etc. I will announce the Saturday workshops on the Ashland Family Circle facebook page, and on my own facebook page for Helga's Playhouse. (it's not up yet).
When school is in session, I allow kids to drop in and try out the activities. I limit class size to 4 kids. I can hold after school classes from 3-5 every Monday through Friday. If anyone wants to come at an earlier time, just call me at 541 488-0155 to reserve the hours. I'm willing to hold classes for a minimum of 2 kids (so round up some friends).
During school sessions, I will hold special classes some Saturdays, with themes such as Lego Lounge, sew-along Saturdays, making doll accessories, etc. I will announce the Saturday workshops on the Ashland Family Circle facebook page, and on my own facebook page for Helga's Playhouse. (it's not up yet).
Core Activities of 2023 Summer Camps
at my Talent Home
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Lego building with vast variety of inspiring Lego pieces.
Playmobil miniature world to play & make up stories with. |
Sculpey polymer clay to make beads, miniature doll foods, small sculptures. Plastilina modeling clay for making large scenes.
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LegosTo make creative building easier with the many kinds of Lego pieces, they are all organized by type of piece. No more need to dig through a bin of Legos just so your kid can find a piece. I have been teaching Legos at the Ashland Library for years, and have collected pieces into large boxes with these themes: cars and strange vehicles, space and robots, houses and castles, and technics. There are many instruction books to use, if they want to learn a few tricks. I find that some kids like to work with Lego instructions, and others prefer to invent on their own. Either style is welcome and encouraged.
I prefer that kids in Lego camp are at least 5 years old (depending on skill level). I have had advanced builders stay engaged and challenged up to whatever age they remain interested in Legos. I’ve had great builders as old as 15, and encourage girls to build too. If you sign up for several days, they will of course stretch their skills. They will use the many unique pieces, which I’ve collected at yard sales over the last 20 years. Since they don’t get to take their creations home, I take digital photos for you to show others what your kids made. Those photos will be shown on my facebook page : Helga's Playhouse. I now have room for about 4-6 kids at my Talent home. So round up a few kids who love to play and build together. Then reserve the days of your choice. I need to know by the day before which days you want to come. My camps are with flexible hours between 11:00 and 5:00. Saturday hours are by arrangement. Call to set up special hours. DollhouseThis is a larger size dollhouse for an 11” doll about the size of Barbies. I don’t have any Barbies, and maintain a Barbie-free zone. The dolls I have are called “only hearts club”. They have natural body proportions and are totally poseable. The house has many furnished rooms, and a campground with horses too. The dolls have a large wardrobe to dress them in.
The dollhouse is set up inside my air-conditioned house. You can make an appointment to play with it in my Talent home. |
PlaymobilMy Talent home has limited room on the floor to set up playmobil scenes. But there is so much stored in my garage... so my solution is to change the theme every month or two. There are houses, mountains, castle, cars, and animals that inspire kids to make up elaborate stories as they play and re-arrange the scenes. It is perfect for kids as young as 4 to do open-ended play with.
I have accumulated i.e. bought a very complete collection of miniature Playmobil toys over the 30 years since I started my first playgroup. If you are not familiar with this German toy system, you can look it up on the web. The Playmobil world will be set up all summer long. The theme of what’s set up will change throughout the summer, and kids can request themes too, since I have more than can fit on the floor at the same time. Sculpey ClayBecause I have an internet Etsy business making miniature doll food, the clay table for the Sculpey clay is available all summer long in a workshop room at my Talent home. This polymer clay can be made hard by baking at 275 degrees in an oven which I use. Some kids want to make doll food, but other small things like beads or sculptures can also be created. We work small with the sculpey clay, because it is quite expensive, compared to the plastilina (non-hardening) clay that I use for making larger diorama scenes.
I will have the non-hardening plastilina clay available to make larger figures or diorama scenes . You can take it home and pay the cost of $3.60 per pound. Then, when you don't want it anymore, you can return the piece for me and I will refund the cost. I take apart and melt down the plastilina clay again. This type of clay is the ultimate in recycling potential - and I teach how to do this too. Other possible Projects
· Needle felting
· Fairy Houses · Bead weaving · Hand sewing . sewing on a sewing machine . Embroidery stitches · Backstrap weaving · Making large clay scenes & dioramas out of plastilina Making doll food and small sculptures out of sculpey clay |
