Bunchland

This is what the Stephen Lewis Foundation does with your generous donations

For those of you participating in our Dare to Draw challenge, your kids have been dutifully creating drawings everyday for the last month while you sponsor them to do so. Now that the campaign’s wrapping up, it’s time to turn in those generous pledge dollars!

Want a little more info about the Stephen Lewis Foundation? Here’s what they do:

“The Stephen Lewis Foundation was created with the express purpose of putting money directly in the hands of community-based organizations working on the frontlines of the AIDS pandemic in Africa. We support women, children orphaned by AIDS and the indomitable grandmothers who have stepped in to care for them, and sustain associations of people living with HIV and AIDS, who are bravely declaring their status and working to address stigma, educate their communities and press for change.”  Read more...

Throw that last drawing up on the fridge (if there’s any room left), and give that tiny, trembling hand a high five. Retire those crayons (temporarily!) and relax – you and your kid should feel great about contributing your time and creative energy to turning the tides of AIDS in Africa.

Seeing the masterpieces that poured into our Facebook page from our team not only made our day here at Bunch, but truly helped make a difference in the world. We hope your kid never forgets the part they got to play in the huge and important movement spearheaded by the Stephen Lewis Foundation. Those drawings helped put money directly into the hands of community based organizations working on the front lines of the AIDS pandemic in Africa. We at Bunch are in awe of your dedication and thank you.  Read more...

As we press on to the middle of February, the end of Dare to Draw is nigh

The end of Dare assignments means that not only will you have to think of some new ways to keep your little artist’s hands busy, (we have crafts for that – check out our Valentine’s Day Ideas), but  also don’t forget to get those hard earned pledges in to The Stephen Lewis Foundation!

Hannah Potter’s drew herself holding hands with a kid from Africa. We admire both their enthusiasm for making new friends. It looks like Hannah’s tall friend might be whisking her away on an adventure. Perhaps he’s eager to check out the Canadian winter? Both subjects squiggly legs make us think they’re about to go somewhere, and Hannah’s large eyes and her friend’s upward motion give us confidence they have a fun day in store.

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What to draw today:

Hannah Potter drew the stars in the dark sky above her house. That’s her standing next to the big tree behind her house, looking up at the stars.

How’s the Dare campaign coming in your house? Jen Farr, who runs Kitchen Counter Chronicles wrote a great summary and displayed some of the artwork her girls have done, like ts “where food comes from” assignment.

Wow! We can’t believe there are only four more dares left to go! Best start getting those pledge dollars in!

Darers drawing what they love to do!

Today’s Dare to Draw challenge is to draw your favourite game. Hannah Potter loves hockey, good Canadian that she is, so that’s what she drew. Also, note her players are drawn in blue. Go Leafs go!

What do your kids love to play? Soccer? Candyland? Hopscotch? The floor is lava? Oooh, we’d really love to see an illustration of the floor is lava. We’d probably draw hula hoops… is that a game?

Here’s Hannah working hard on  that hockey drawing:

If you’ve fallen behind a few days, you can always refer back to the Dare to Draw page and check out the assignment list. And don’t forget to check off which drawings are completed and sponsored.

Get those sponsored dollars into the Stephen Lewis Foundation!

Yes! Another concept drawing!

Today’s challenge is to draw where food comes from. Like where water comes from, we figure kids will come up with an assortment of explanations. Will your kids interpret food as coming from whatever parent has prepared it for consumption? A trip to the grocery store? Will they draw some modern pastoral with farmers’ fields as far as the eye can see?

Hannah Potter drew her family’s weekly trip to the Halifax Farmer’s Market, which is one of our favourite places to get food. Is that a visit to a produce stand in the picture, or perhaps a cinnamon bun from Mary’s Bread Basket? We’re guessing it’s not the buck-a-chuck oyster guys (a personal favourite).

And how did all the weekend drawings go? We’ve got a couple more from Hannah, including a portrait of her doctor and a wildcard where she did indeed let her markers go wild:  Read more...

The daring drawers take on a virus

Teaching kids about HIV/AIDS is no easy task, even when you break it down into parts. Kids may know the word virus, but since it’s something we can’t see without the help of a microscope, it’s hard to know exactly what is it a what’s it’s doing in someone’s body. We thought getting kids to illustrate “virus” would yield some interesting results and we haven’t been disappointed.

Above, Cynthia’s kids, Suvi, Max and Finn, all drew a single cell of a viral bug and assigned it a name and personality. From left to right: the Bully Bug, which pretends to be nice, the Blood Bug, which presumably gets into your blood and wrecks havoc and the Footie Bug, which we’re guessing turns one into a soccer hooliganism. We hear it’s caused quite the epidemic in parts of the UK. Or maybe it just likes feet, we’re not sure but it looks fantastic.  Read more...