October Outing: Sugar Skulls @ the Nevada Museum of Art!

Our theme for October was "All Kinds of Art" and so we took a trip to the Nevada Museum of Art to take part in their hands/ON! program for our monthly outing.  Hands/ON! is a free art program for kids that takes place the last Sunday of each month.  This month's project was making sugar skulls in honor of the Mexican Day of the Dead, or Dia de los Muertos, which is celebrated to remember deceased loved ones.  Dia de los Muertos falls on November 2nd each year.

Traditions connected with the holiday include building private altars honoring the deceased using sugar skulls, marigolds, and the favorite foods and beverages of the departed and visiting graves with these as gifts (thanks Wikipedia!).  Here's a picture of sugar skulls:

And now back to the Cadets!

We got to the museum early to get places, which was a good thing because it was packed!  We let the kids play outside for a while to burn off energy!

After that we got into line and then headed over to the classroom to learn about Dia de los Muertos and to make the sugar skulls.

The sugar skulls were pre-made with sugar and glue (and not edible, much to the disappointment of the kids!!).  The Cadets got to decorate them however they wanted using frosting, jewels, and colored foil.

One of the coolest things about some of our Cadet outings is discovering things in our own community that we didn't know about before.  The hands/ON! program is a great example of that, and I know a lot of our families will be returning again to take part in more of their events.  Thanks to the Nevada Museum of Art for having such a great program that exposed kids to art and culture for free!

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Halloween Costumes for the Reno Family Shelter

Project 33, with the help of our kids (the Cadets), went to pass out Halloween costumes for the kids living at the family shelter in Reno. It was a great opportunity for the Cadets to see how those who are less fortunate live. It also gave them a chance to share the fun of getting costumes, which is the best part of Halloween! Each Cadet family also brought along cookies to share with the families at the shelter. Here we are getting the costumes unloaded to bring up to the shelter.

DeeDee first had all the kids (the Cadets and the kids living at the shelter) come over to listen to a Halloween story while the Project 33 volunteers sorted out the costumes.

 

Then Project 33 volunteers and their Cadets helped the families find costumes.

 

Some very happy kids with their new costumes!

After costumes it was time for cookies! The Cadets did a fantastic job making sure everyone got a treat!

The kids at the shelter were very happy to have all these wonderful costumes. A big thanks to all who so generously donated or bought costumes for our Kids Clothing Closet!

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Halloween Costumes for the Reno Family Shelter

Today the Cadets went to help Project 33 pass out Halloween costumes for the kids living at the family shelter in Reno. It was a great opportunity for the Cadets to see how those who are less fortunate live.  It also gave them a chance to share the fun of getting costumes, which is the best part of Halloween!  Each Cadet family also brought along cookies to share with the families at the shelter.  Here we are getting the costumes unloaded to bring up to the shelter. 

Ms. DeeDee first had all the kids (the Cadets and the kids living at the shelter) come over to listen to a Halloween story while the Project 33 volunteers sorted out the costumes.

Then the Cadets and Project 33 volunteers (in the orange shirts!) helped the families find costumes.

Some very happy kids with their new costumes!

After costumes it was time for cookies!  The Cadets did a fantastic job making sure everyone got a treat!

Thanks to Project 33 (and especially to Ms. DeeDee) for giving us such a wonderful opportunity to teach our kids how great giving feels!  And a huge thanks to our Cadets for diving right in to help!  This is what being a Cadet is all about!

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October Meeting: Art Theme-All Kinds of Art!

Our October meeting was hosted by Allie and Ryan!  Their theme was Art, and they made a poster to teach us how art means many different things.  We learned that art isn't just painting or drawing, but photography, dance, music, sculpture, and literature!

We went around the Cadet Circle and shared what art meant to us.

For our activity, Ms. Valerie had us do a Halloween-themed art project!

Thanks again to Ms. Valerie, Allie, and Ryan for doing such a great job hosting and teaching us about art!

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