I can feel the spirit of summer fun approaching as school starts getting out for our area schools in the coming days. There’s something so special about summer and all that it invites to our days. Just the word means a change of pace and instantly calls forth thoughts of sandy beaches and sunsets.
I have my own warm summer feelings as we prepare for our summer camp programs, slime workshop series, our spotlight on shells and stones in June and Rock Painting fun in the sprit of the 4th at the 50th Annual Fourth of July Parade and event that finishes at Bernice Bennet Park!
This summer we are excited to offer two half day specialty camp weeks through our partnership with the City of Agoura Hills; the week of June 17th we’ve got a week long Machine Sewing Camp with a Stuffed Pal theme where sewers of all skill levels will explore and learn about the wonderful world of Machine Sewing while creating a stuffed pet pal along with comfy supplies like blankets blankets and pillows for their pals.
The week of June 24th we are hosting a recycled Doll House camp where kids will create and decorate the interiors of their big Cardboard Box house with all their flair and detail they can dream up! This is a great opportunity for kids to explore their inner designer as they create the perfect home with furniture and accessories they are sure to play all summer long!
The week of July 8th we’ll host our annual Camp CReATE half day camp series for kids age 6-12 with a different fun theme each day and materials to fit the theme as well as our signature free-style creating!
The week of July 15th we offer TOT Camp CReATE for kids age 4-6 with a different theme each day as well as materials that match our daily  themes and free-style creating fun!
I am excited to have the Slime fun back this July with our Super Summer Slime Series each July Friday from 3:30-5:30pm where kids can make as much of a different popular slime each week as they have time for!
We are also excited to be partnering with Conejo Recreation and Parks District to offer a weeklong half day Recycled Art Camp Series with a daily theme for hands-on making fun from 9a to 12pm.
You can see all our summer fun listed on our Happenings page.
We can’t wait to spend the summer with your families! Let’s create!

When five friends got together, they were on a roll!
It just so happened that there were five friends creating together and five giant rolls just waiting to be made. All it took was one friend to spark the inspiration with her elephant tube and just like that, the ideas flourished in a wild fit of creativity.
All the tubes became characters with different back stories but the best part was the way the process unfolded as their afternoon wove together in conversation, connection and creativity. It was a great example of how fun can flourish when time and space stand still long enough to let kids be. They inspired each other as they created and told the stories of who they were making. They were loving it. Just watching them, I felt like a kid again myself, caught up in the play that only imagination can coax.
At the end of their time they took their tube characters home. I imagine that now, when they look at them standing in the corners ofd their rooms, they are transported back to their crafty afternoon together. They created memories in their fun.

After watching The Creative Brain, a documentary now on Netflix, it’s confirmed, we are all creative! At the studio we say, “creativity is a thinking muscle in your brain” and like any muscle, it needs exercise! As film maker and neuroscientist David Eagleman states “creativity is what  brains do”. It’s really what shapes our whole world and when exercised not only fulfills us but can heal us and help us meet the demands of our changing world. The creative brain is a must see, kids can watch it too.
Our family lives are so scheduled an it’s taking it’s toll. Let’s heed our mental call to be more present, calm and creative. I see how positively creativity affects people, it brings balance to living. So this week I have  5  simple actions you can do to help spark your creativity and your connection to the present moment. Being creative doesn’t have to be fancy or hard, in fact, it should be enjoyable. It just needs some space in our thinking minds to flow through and into the ways we see many of the things we do each day, giving them a boost of fulfillment and flair.
Try any of these 5 creativity boosters to help your creativity flow.
1. Sit down and just listen to a favorite record or playlist.
2. Get outside and take a walk in nature.
3. Grab your phone or a camera to take 25 pictures of things you think are interesting.
4. Take a walk around a hardware store.
5. Read a magazine

(photo credit -Netfix.com)

Tomorrow night is the big night!
It’s time for the 360 Talks. It’s an 8 speaker with 10 minutes of talk time format to inspire and inform. The event is hosted by The Las Virgenes Unified School District and Community 360.
Join me, Jemma Wildermuth as one of these 8 at 6pm tomorrow night in the Agoura High School PAEC where I’ll be talking about creating a reuse mindset. The Community 360 community cultivated 6 attributes aimed at helping all grade level students grow and develop as whole children. I am inspired to be a part of it!
Learn more about the program here
The 360 Talks are hosted at Agoura High School PAEC at 6pm.
28545 Driver Ave. Agoura Hills. CA.
Tickets available at community360.me/events
*photo credit Community 360 for LVUSD

Our donators just get it.
While I strive at the studio to connect kids and adults to the value of reuse for it’s own “perfectly cool to create with” sake, I work to infuse the importance of it’s practice for our planet too. Oftentimes kids see the materials we have for them to use as just another material source to create with without the burden of why.
Our donators know the burden of why. They know the impact that everyone’s stuff has on our landfills and recycling centers and that there is no such things as “away”. They are relieved by the idea that their things can be used again. That feels so much better than sending things to their end by recycling or even throwing them away . Though they may not be interested in the act of creating, they see that everything has potential for reuse. They are the hero’s in our eco efforts. I am grateful that thanks to their contributions we can all be a part of the solution for our planet. In that way, everyday is Earth Day for us.
Learn about the history of Earth Day and more by visiting earthday.org