Circles, Spots and Polka Dots 2014: Art Show

To kick off our summer, families were invited to join their preschoolers for an evening Art Show. Everyone was encouraged to wear Circles, Spots or Polka Dots. They were also invited to contribute a circle-themed dish to our food table. It is exciting to see all the creativity put into finding circles to wear and eat.

The preschoolers enjoyed showing off their artwork and searching around the room for their "Featured Artist Balloons." 

There was a sensory table full of water beads that attracted quite a crowd (and a few grapes). 

In the block area attendees found ramps and ballpit balls along with a photo slideshow of the children's art process. 

Thank you to all the children and their families for making this event so memorable!

Here is the link to the 

Circle, Spots and Polka Dots 2013 Art Show

Circle, Spots and Polka Dots 2014: The Finished Art

Here is the link about The Process.     

Check out the The Art Show here.

Circles, Spots and Polka Dots 2014: The Process

The Artists

These "mini me" artists were all holding on to real balloons hanging around the art show. One child had suggested "our parents can try and find us."

Printing Circles with Paint

Each day we used a smaller container and a new color of paint to add circles to this collaborative painting. The only direction they were given was not to overlap the lines. Some of the preschoolers enjoyed putting circles inside other circles and others looked for the empty spaces in between. Printing the circles encouraged the children to move slowly and using planning in their artwork.

Redesigning the Wheel

The children were each given a section of the "pie" or "wheel" to paint however they wanted. The pieces were all put back together to create a group piece of art. 

Individual Quilt Squares

For this project the children were pulled aside and asked "How do you want to decorate your square?" They got to choose what type of medium and materials they wanted to use to create circles on their square of paper. After they chose from paintbrushes, glue, printing, markers or whatever they could think up, they were asked for "their plan." The artists did not see each other's artwork until they were all finished. Lots of different methods were used and they were all displayed together.

Bright Dots on Black Paper

The children were given neon circle stickers, white reinforcement stickers and a half sheet of black cardstock. The different approaches were very fun to see. Some children did intentional patterns or rows and others just loaded as many stickers as they could. 

Circle Stacks

The children were presented with multiple sizes of circles and glue. They were encouraged to start with a big circle on bottom and get smaller towards the top. Names were not written on these and they were all added to a mobile that I helped the children hot glue together in no particular order. 

Paper Chains 

The children were given strips of colorful construction paper, markers, stickers and glue sticks. They created one or many circle links and added them to a couple group chains.  These were used to decorate the ceiling for the art show. 

Mandalas

Many of the preschoolers were very interested in creating mandalas with loose parts and also on paper with markers. They were provided with space in the classroom to create and recreate them throughout the month. A few children created some prior to the art show to leave on display.

I believe in process art. I also believe that children should have the experience of being introduced to different methods that are used for creating art.  The simplicity of using circles helps the children gain confidence as artists. We studied several famous artists that focus on circles in their artwork. Simply put, the children walked away with the message: 

If you know what a circle is 

then you can be an artist! 

Also check out our posts about the Finished Products and The Art Show 2014.

This is our post from Circles, Spots and Polka Dots 2013 and Process.

Snail Races

On Friday, while playing in the rain, the children discovered a bunch of snails (and slugs). They had all collected a few and were carrying them around.

For the sake of the snails, I suggested collecting them all in one place and watching them race.

Child: "But snails are slow."

Me: "But one of them surely has to be faster than the rest."

Everytime I watch the video I'm amazed at how much language, social interaction, investigation, and discovery took place. 

If all these kids tried to sit this close together during storytime there would be pushing and complaining, but not around this stump.

Little Moments in a Big Big World

We have two playgrounds. 

Our smaller and older playground is wedged between the building and a major road. 

No trees and very man made.

Our bigger and newer playground is out back of the building with lots of trees, ferns, rocks and a few mushy leafy muddles.

Our small playground is a great place to find ants in the sand and grasshoppers in the lawn. That is about all.

Our big playground has birds, moss, frogs, grapevines and snails.

Today I had to look twice as I stood on the small playground and looked down at the dirt of the bike path.  

The tiniest little Painted Turtle. 

Thank goodness the preschoolers were all huddled in the sandbox and not whipping around on the wagon or tricycles.

The preschoolers insisted that we return him to his Dad. They were having a hard time comprehending that baby turtles are on their own once they hatch. They were also just as confused as I was on how he ended up here.

The preschoolers were concerned that he might be hungry. We did a bit of "Googling" on the playground and learned that when they are young they are more carnivorous. This led to a worm search and the discovery of a tiny worm for our tiny turtle. He wasn't really interested though.

At the end of the day a few of us walked down the road to the "beaver swamp" and released our tiny friend into a safer habitat.

He seemed pretty content with all that his new home had to offer.

Good luck little friend. It's a big big world!

Nature's little surprises are one of the best parts of my job. I get to feel like a child again. A chance to be as equally fascinated as they are by the world around us. Taking me back to many cherished childhood memories in nature. 

I hope that one day, when these kids are wandering around in the big big world, they will look back and cherish these moments too.