Just finished up a week of Vacation Bible School. My church does 'themes'
and this year it was the 'county fair'......I was in charge of 'hands on
exhibits'.....they were as follows:

Monday - book said to buy small hot house plants and put them in decorated
pots - the Ginny version - pulled up necessary number of mint runners, took
in potting soil and paper cups. Had the kids plant the mint to take home
and replant in their 'garden' etc. with instructions on how it could be
used.....iced tea, jelly, tabbouleh, etc. Lot more practical than a
geranium that would croak in a week.

Tuesday - We be Jammin'.......since the lesson was the Fruit of the Spirit,
we made jam. Also a Biblical lesson on the Trinity, we made a 'trinity'
jam. Strawberries, raspberries and blue berries all smooshed up in one
jam...three berries, one jam, get it....trinity..... Lesson said to make jam
like substance by squishing fruit and sugar together and letting them taste
it...Ginny said 'fooie on this' If I am going to make jam, it's gonna be
the real magilla. Borrowed a camp stove and off to the parking lot we went.
Didn't BWB it, but that's okay, we popped the individual jars in the fridge
for later. (Hey, Barb, betcha never made jam in a parking lot did ya?)

Wednesday - called for making dye out of fruit and veg and THEN dyeing cloth
with it. We were to have another activity also in the same small amount of
time we were given to 'exhibit' so we scrambled a little and we made butter
by putting whole cream in baby food jars and shaking (aka churning) them
during the lesson time. Oooohs and Ahhhs from kidlets when they saw real
cream butter that they made with their own grubby little hands. This group
was made up of fifth graders so they were 'too cool' for the little kid
stuff, but boy did they really get excited when they realized 'they' made
it. It, too, got popped in the fridge.

Thursday - Exhibit was supposed to be about dairy products and using a
rubber glove hanging from a broom handle simulating a cows teat. As the
kids said 'that's so lame' so we made ice cream. Real, honest to goodness
ice cream. We used the kick the can recipe and also, to make sure we had
enough, two electric ice cream makers, we used the left over fruit from the
jam exhibit. We had 'administrators' and the person taking pictures for the
foyer all 'checking in on us' to see if the ice cream was 'done
yet'.....When it was, now that was a heavenly experience.

Friday - Bread. Bread is the Staff of life. We made bread, cooked it in
the church's kitchen, then when it was all hot, steamy and smelling the
class up like a proofer, we pulled out the real cream butter, and the
trinity jam and we had a party.

Best part yet. When we decorated the class before the beginning of the
week, I pulled out my fair ribbons, blues, yellows, reds, whites, and hung
them around the room. I also went to the local ag office and picked up some
registration books for the upcoming Allentown Fair. Since the kids had also
made fabric painted t-shirts I pointed out how plants, jellies and jams,
breads and textiles could be entered in the fair and prizes won. I am on a
bandwagon with the fact that very few kids could sew a button on or cook a
meal if their lives depended on it. So if I can get them interested in
competing in the fair, I've made a step in the right direction.

This morning was closing ceremonies. Two girls asked for copies of the Fair
entrance booklet. My heart cockles were warmed.
-ginny