Happy Mother’s Day!

by | May 15, 2023 | Visual Arts

May 12, 2023:  If you don’t follow our visual artist Sharmila Karamchandani on Facebook, you should! Aside from being a generous, beautiful human being, she writes the best Facebook posts about her work with us! They are so insightful and detailed that we admit to cut/pasting/minor-edit them here. Her Mother’s Day project with the Casa Chirilagua kids, done over the last two Fridays, was no exception and one of the sweetest posts out there:

“A very happy Mother’s Day to all mother angels around us. Our mothers, sisters, aunts, grandmothers, teachers and friends who mother us. We made special wall art to honor our mothers. Kids created wall art with angels drawn on them to give to their moms. To begin with I showed them inspiration of two angels gifted to me by my sweet angel sister Marga Fripp who makes these wonderful angels. The kids were excited to see the collaged and painted angels made by her and made their own versions. Last but not the least endless gratitude and ever flowing love to my sweet Angel mom Anjana Khushlani.” A few of the 20+ super cute pics of the kids and their angel cards (the last one is for his departed doggie):

Robot Helpers for Household Chores

by | May 1, 2023 | Visual Arts

April 28, 2023, Casa Chirilagua: Given a chance what kind of a robot would you want to help out with household chores?

Always weaving kindness, generosity, and even history into her art projects, Sharmila asked her 1st – 3rd graders to create a helper robot for someone in their family. They couldn’t make it for themselves. They had to think of someone else first. Since so many kids wanted to make a robot for themselves, Sharmila told them the first robot will have to be for someone else (mom, dad, grandma or some one in their family) and they could create a second robot for themselves if they had time. Here’s a few of the “helperbots” the kids came up with. Aren’t they just cute? And don’t you want want one to do the dishes?
1. (left) Her robot is for her baby brother so he could hug him and care for him when she is at school.
2. (center) He made a robot who resembles his dog who passed away. This robot, “Doj,” guards the house.
3. (right) Her robot does all the laundry and gives big hugs to her mom

Cherry Blossoms and Dots

by | Apr 17, 2023 | Visual Arts

April 14, 2023: Our art teacher Sharmila Karamchandani summarized her Fun Friday at Casa Chirilagua so perfectly:

“Today at our Heard Fun Friday at Casa Chirilagua, kids from 1st to 3rd grades learned about dot painting and pointillism technique. We made cherry blossom trees and talked about their short-lived life. Then I asked the kids what were some of their experiences that were short-lived and yet they truly felt lot of joy and happiness with that experience.

Many tiny hands went up in the air. I was so surprised they were holding so much in their little hearts. A lot of them talked about their grandparents ( mainly grandmothers) who are no longer alive(almost half the class wanted to talk about them), one kid misses a baby bunny who he saw in his backyard but doesn’t know what happened to it, one of the volunteer shared how she had fishes and because of not knowing what was the right water to put them in, she accidentally put them in the wrong water and they died in two days. Some of them missed their pets who have died.

All of this happened so fast in about 45 minutes, we learned about a technique, some of them needed help with making their tree trunks, we spoke about difficult experiences and then cleaned up as most of them had white and pink paints on their body. They were all covered with paint. It could qualify as an immersive experience. 😂.

Phew!! Each time I leave the workshop my heart is so filled with gratitude to experience and witness these young kids. ❤️ Fridays are fun indeed!!“

Making History with Women’s History Month at Casa Chirilagua

by | Mar 13, 2023 | Visual Arts

March 3 and 10, 2023: It’s Women’s History (or Her-Story) Month, and we couldn’t wait to see what our creative visual arts teacher Sharmila Karamchandani would come up with for her Fun Fridays at Casa Chirilagua. And she went her usual waaaaaay above and beyond, as usual. These last two Fridays (she alternates weekly between grades 1-3 and 4-5), she challenged the kids to make stick puppets of women in their lives who had inspired them and they would like to honor. And the assortment they created! Some drew their grandmothers, mothers, sisters, and cousins. Others drew their teachers, two drew Helen Keller, and we even got Columbian singer Karol G. Very Fun Fridays indeed!

 

 

 

 

 

First, second, and third graders proudly showing off their creations.        Helen Keller              Mom and grandma, who is visiting this weekend.

Karol G. and mom                                 Her sister, who really cares for her.      Mom, who cares for and plays with him, and makes amazing papusas.