Arts & Crafts & The Great Outdoors

Everyone loves Fridays; it's the end of the work week, and the weekend lies ahead with all its promises of sleeping in and a new episode of Game of Thrones and not having any real responsibilities for two whole days. For me, I look forward to Fridays because it means I get to spend another amazing afternoon with the kids from the South Boston Neighborhood House out on Carson Beach!

Getting ready to paint...before discovering the magic of fingerpaint

Last week the kids started working on a long-term project of giving a rowboat an artistic makeover. After taking a nice long dip in the water, the kids came up under the gazebo to work on the boat. Paintbrushes in hand, they set to putting their ideas to paper. The idea was that we would take what they painted, cut it out, and decoupage it onto the boat. Maybe my bias is showing a bit, but these kids have a lot of talent! The rowboat is going to look incredible when it's finished.

Naturally, when you have kids, paint, and not enough brushes to go around, paint is going to end up more places than just the paper it was intended for. Once kids figured out that fingers make an excellent substitute for a paint brush, just about everyone in a six hundred foot radius ended up covered in paint. Luckily the paint came right off with a little bit of water and elbow grease. The boat project is off to a great start, and I can't wait to see how we progress next week!

Another day another fish print!

After my afternoon at Carson Beach,  I took my art skills over to Constitution Beach to spend the evening fish printing with kids at the East Boston YMCA's Family Fun Night. We were joined by one of our pirate story tellers, Tony Toledo, and Stephanie, a trainer from the YMCA who was teaching a family fitness class! Tony got down to business right away, telling the kids some incredible stories and helping us build a crowd while Stephanie got her class started.

That night we met some really fun and incredible kids and families, and made some really beautiful fish prints! Due to some strong winds and my own two clumsy hands, I ended up covered in the ink used for the prints. I headed back home drenched in ink, paint, sand, and fish, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

Black and white and red and blue and green and pink all over,
Melissa

Mayor by the Harbor

Hi everyone,

Not only was last Thursday an excited day for All Access staffs but also for the kids. It was the last day that a lot of summer camps came out with us which was a surprise because I was not expecting that many groups to come out since a lot of the summer camps wrapped up their summer a little early.

As kids and staffs waited at the Pavillion to welcome our Mayor, we had a few activities going on such as fishing, fish printing, crabbing and coloring. We also had a couple of staffs do a beautiful fish print on a white T-Shirt for our Mayor. As all of the kids gathered in the Pavillion to welcome the Mayor, they all screamed "Good morning Mr. Mayor". Thursday morning, everyone tried getting a selfie with the Mayor and I was lucky to have a picture taken with him as he congratulated me as the fishing tournament winner. I had no idea of what was going on when my boss Bruce Berman called me up next to the Mayor in which the Mayor handed me a brand new rod. It was a great morning having the Mayor there to start off our morning. All of the kids were excited and had a great morning before headed out to Spectacle Island.

Until next time,

Andrea Lopes :)0

Nothing but Good times

This past Saturday I volunteered at the Harbor Illumination event at Hull's Lifesaving Museum! I rarely travel out of Boston and to go to Rhode Island for fish printing and some fresh Del's lemonade, it was awesome! With cool breezes occasionally coming by the temperature was just right! In the middle of the field where we were set up, there were a small band of kids chasing bubbles and dancing to the festive jams. In the midst of the event, I couldn't help but dance along myself to the goofy guys running a show for the kids.

Throughout the next couple of days, we were finally seeing a shift in gears in the number of fish caught weekly! We were averaging two to three fish a day during the first half of the week! We had yet to catch anything besides a squid on our hooks so far, however the crab traps have shown us time after time why they are one of the kid's favorite activities. We had two flounders about four to five inches in length, just about the perfect sized for the kids to hold in their hands briefly and another species of fish which we (at Pier's Park) have yet to identify.

-Raymond Chai

At Atlantic Wharf........

At Atlantic Wharf

  Good morning everyone, on Friday July 15 Christian, Bella, Chris, Luke, and I were at Atlantic Wharf, funnest spot of all access. What we do at the Atlantic Wharf is we participate with the kids on fish printing or fishing and talk about a story about the pirate but the most fun part of the day at Atlantic Wharf is that kids enjoy eating burritos. I and the staff help out to give some burrito to the kids but they ask for chicken because they don't like the veggie burrito or spice burrito so they ask for chicken. Also, kids could play a game with a pirate guy to pretend that they jumping of the boat it was so funny because kids really think that they are really a pirate. I was a fisherman at Atlantic Wharf I waiting for a fish to get hook on but I guess it didn't so I could show the kids how to catch one at the Harbor beach but at least we got some crabs. When I was showing the kids the crab I was playing around with there claw so when I was about to show the kids the crabs the crab pitch me so I tossed it on the floor the kids was like I killed it but I was like no it's still alive but make sure never play around with crabs that are really aggressive. Also, when I was taking the spot for fishing and crabs catching i told the kids at the end of the day we could toss the crab in the water or let them have a race but they heard me wrong one of the kids toss the crabs in the air and it the dock i was running towards the kids to tell them not to throw the crabs in the air toss them in the water i was like oh my god these kids are crazy. But it was a great day seeing the kids having fun at Atlantic wharf one of the girl said in the microphone that is the best field trip ever and she wish to come back i felt excited and nervous because the kids are very wild and crazy with the crabs.   

Always exciting events

Hi everybody. So this past week was a little different than usual because on Friday my group and I didn’t go to Camp Harbor View. Instead we went to Carson beach for the annual Beach Bash and Splash. We had a great time on friday playing games with kids, face painting, clamming, fishing and fish printing. It was very hot on Friday so there was plenty of water and food for all of the kids. I was assigned to the sports section so I was playing soccer, football, frisbee and many other games with tons of kids. At 12 in the afternoon we all lined up on the edge of the water and we all sprinted into the ocean. It was really refreshing and overall just a great day.

On Sunday I worked at the Boston Seafood Festival at Boston Fish Pier. I had never heard about the festival but it was really cool. There were a lot of tents all from different seafood organizations and they sold delicious food. The Save the Harbor tent was the best tent by far. We had a fish printing station and chalk to play with but the most popular table was the shell painting table. We supplied sea shells, paint and brushes for the kids and they had a blast. My friend Ahmed even painted me a shell as a surprise.. This festival was exciting for almost every age and I hope to do it again next year.

-Maeve

Printing Fish at Hull's Harbor Illumination

Hello again fellow adventurers!

This past weekend myself and a few other summer staffers traveled to Hull to take part in the Hull Harbor Illumination event. Driving through the bustling streets of Hull and past Nantucket Beach, it felt more like Miami Beach than the south shore town I was used to. Once at the event we were greeted by the sights and sounds of a true festival. The smell of BBQ filled the air, children were laughing and playing with giant bubble wands, friends and family were laughing and just taking in the scene.

When we got to our table, we laid out the paints and brushes for the kids to see for themselves. While creating interesting designs is fun, perhaps my favorite part of fish printing is watching the look of shock come over the kids and parents when we explain that the fish is indeed a real flounder! After a few moments of touching and looking at the fish, some skeptics remain, but intrigue usually turns to excitement that even ugly looking flounder can be used to create beautiful pieces of artwork. There were some great designs created by the young kids we saw, and aside from the paint getting all over our hands, it was an amazing event to be a part of. Sadly we couldn't stay for the lighting of the flares around the Harbor, I'm glad we were able to send some of the kids home with their very own fish prints. I know there is much more fun to come in the last few weeks of the summer, and I can't wait!

Until next time, keep on exploring!
-Luke C

Fish Printing and Ice Cream

Hey guys, it is day three at Piers Park. Today was the first day that the kids got to do some fish printing. They were really excited to do it. We broke the kids into small groups and the tables had to come up with a group idea on what colors and design they wanted their flounder to have. One table made a pink flounder with yellow spots and another table made their flounder red with green stripes and white fins. They came out really well. The kids were smiling with the amazing ideas that they came up with. We even let the kids have a choice between the flounder or a mackerel. Most of the kids chose the flounder because it was bigger, but some kids did decided to use the mackerel.

The kids also went to the park today and had a water fight. Kids were trading teams and going rogue. Then all of a sudden, when they heard the music from the ice cream truck; they ran to the fence just to stare at all the different ice creams. It was so adorable to see their little faces light up at the ice cream truck rolling by. Today was a great day once again. See you later
                 -Ary

Pirates and Fish Prints

Recently I participated in an event with the South Boston Neighborhood House at Carson beach. While at the event, I was sent back in time and became a pirate. Norah Dooley, as the pirate Mary Read, came with supplies to turn the rest of us into pirates as well. The kids looked and waved at me all during the event. They loved it. It was a little strange for me, only being able to see out of one eye. As I walked around looking at and talking to both kids and adults, I got looks and "argggghs" from everyone.

At the event, we also had fish printing. Most kids really liked this. They loved picking the different colors and seeing the real fish. They picked the colors that they liked and where those colors went on the fish. The kids' faces lit up when they saw how the colors transfer from the fish to the paper. I have no doubt that the kids who went home with a print will hang it up and have fun memories of the experience for a long time.

Until next time-Joe

Family Fun Night on the Beach

Hey guys, so I got to work my first event as a Save the Harbor employee this week. I worked the Family Fun Night on the beach, put on by the South Boston Neighborhood House. We brought sand rakes, fish printing materials, and pirate gear to support the pirate Mary Read. We also brought our JetBlue sponsored blue marbles to hide on the beach as a sort of treasure hunt for our family fun night friends!

After we set up shop on Carson, a group of harbor explorers took the sand rakes down to the water. Shortly after, they came back up and sadly shared that the tide was in; there would be no sand raking for us this evening. Note to self: check tide schedules before offering an activity that relies heavily on where the tide is. Oops! But not to worry, because fish printing was a hit! We had one fish, which was great because we could really focus on an individual child and their own fish print. A lot of the children seemed freaked out at first that it was a real fish (albeit a dead one). But once they got over the initial shock, they were so amazed by the final product that they created! It was awesome to see. Children also made fish-themed crafts that they really enjoyed. Here's my friend Ari, so proud of her art products!



We also hid about 10 blue marbles on the beach, and set all of our event goers out there to try and find them. We told them that they would be entered to win enough JetBlue miles for a trip! And, as a one-time winner myself, I assured the searchers that this was a real possibility. Here we have featured a marble-finder in all her glory.

All in all, Family Fun Night was a huge success! Looking forward to the next one already.

Wrapping up another week as an SHE,

Bridget

Seafood Festival..........

      SEAFOOD FESTIVAL

      On a Sunday morning, I knew it was going to be a great day because I was waiting to go to work and after work go to the Puerto Rican Festival with friends and family. At the seafood festival there were a lot of people visiting and volunteering at the pier, but mostly what Save The Harbor Save The Bay and the people that were there was enjoy the talent shows on the pier. We had a lot of kids coming to us for a fish print, it was exciting because we were teaching the kids how to paint their fish and make their fish print on the paper. It's awesome to work as a team and think of an idea what colors to use on the fish.

      My favorite part of the seafood festival was the little talent shows. At the talent show the most funniest part and awesome part was the guy dancing. He said that he was on America's Got Talent. It was cool because his dancing part was crazy. He jumped over four people but I thought it was going to be five because there was a kid in the middle but the guy told him it was to dangerous for so he returned to his parents.

Sincerely, Carlos Garcia

Fun and Fish Printing

This Monday started off really good. Fifteen of us did fish printing! We had a few big groups of kids come by. I really enjoyed seeing all the SHE's, LHE's and JPA's getting into it. It still amazes me how good the JPA's are at teaching children. Teaching someone is not easy, and they show great patience, kindness and generosity when they do it.

Today was also really good at Children's. We had a lot of people come by––close to 200! We got swamped by these large groups leaving the museum, and everyone was really into it. Marco and Arianna did a really great job showing the kids crabs. I was really impressed at how good they were talking with the kids that came by. They showed great kindness and maturity. Sam did an awesome job for her first day. I am determined to work on her dislike of crabs :) She did an great job with the arts and crafts side of the site and really got kids into it. Not to mention, she did an awesome side walk drawing.

Until next time,

Mike