All About Me: BIG and SMALL

This week our intern Lacey planned a week of "All About Me," for her class. For today's activity each child had a turn to get traced and then paint themselves. It was a lot of fun and fascinating to see all their individual artistic styles through the way they decorated themselves. 

Once the children were given the paint, we did not interfere with how they wanted to decorate their people. 

To some of them it was simply a giant piece of paper and they were not going to let that person outline get in the way of their painting.

 For others it was a template for making a face and hair and a colorful outfit.  

Some started with a face and hair, but enjoyed using the paint so much they painted right over the face when they ran out of blank space elsewhere. 

Some chose to stay in the lines and others used the WHOLE paper. Some of them traced the outline with paint, while others made a few very intentional blobs of color and stated, "I'm done."

No matter their styles, they all really enjoyed having a turn being traced and seeing their "big" selves on the paper. They also loved having a large piece of space to create all on their own.

We also have mini-me versions of everyone that they like to carry around and play with. This week we taped them upright on to blocks to encourage even more play with the photos.

I'm realizing right now that these are all girls in this picture. I just went to check and one (or more) of the children seemed to have created a boy shelf and a girl shelf. Not sure if it was intentional or not. Very interesting!

This is such a fun way to get a group photo when everybody has such different schedules.

Circles, Spots and Polka Dots: Art Show 2015

This was our Third Annual Circle, Spots and Polka Dots Art Show.  The goals is to create art with circles using many methods over several weeks. The children love the repetition of using the circles. They love that we can find circles anywhere at anytime. 

It opens their eyes to the fact that circles are a huge part of our lives and world. 

The Art Work

The sculpture was created with recycled materials that families contributed from home.
The artists took turns adding pieces over the course of a week. They were able
to come back and add more pieces as the sculpture grew. The base of the
sculpture was a piece of artwork created for last year's art show.
After it was finished the artists each shared a title or words about the piece of art, which
were displayed around the edge of the table with their names. 

Each child selected circles from a large collection of paper circles that
had been cut from construction paper and hole punches. They glued them in layers
from largest to smallest. Each child had one circle stack displayed on this tower.

These circles were created with tissue paper and glue. The children chose their strips and
used glue sticks to attach them. The next step was to paint over them with watered down
white glue and a paint brush to create a shiny and smooth effect. They then folded the edges
onto the back or cut them with scissors.

The children each had turns to wet-felt balls from white and dyed wool. They also created clay beads.
Some children had a chance to paint the beads and others sewed the strings together.
This was truly a group effort. The strings were attached to a horizontal stick and hung from the ceiling.

The artists used three different sized tree blocks to print small, medium and large circles.
I loved how much their personalities were reflected in the way they chose to use these materials.
They wrote their names with a silver sharpie on the front of the display.

These were created with school glue that had blue watercolor added to it.
The children were shown how to slowly make circles by squeezing and moving the glue bottle.
They were also shown that they could make dots instead of circles.
A day or two later after they had dried, the children used watercolor and q-tips to add more dots,
fill in their circles or create new circles. The labels displayed the children's titles for their artwork.
Names such as: Ocean, The Future, and Circles.

 The Show

Families were invited to attend our art show on a Friday evening. They were encouraged to sign up to bring a circle themed food to contribute. Of course we always love seeing the children and some parents coordinate their outfits to match the theme. This was our biggest year yet and we decided to make it an indoor/outdoor event. The art was inside. Food table and activities were on the playground attached the preschool.

Each child could find a picture of themselves hanging from one of the balloons around the classroom.
The pictures were taken the week before to look as thought they are floating away.

I always love to display any extra circles that I can find around the classroom and
our favorite circle themed books. The children created
many of these circle garlands to hang around the art show as well.

The children helped draw chalk circles up our stairs and along our ramp
to welcome guests to the show.

Everyone seemed very relaxed and the artists were SO proud to have their families attend.
I was very excited that we had 100% of our children attend with family members.

Bubble blowing was a big highlight for the children outside.

The children were surprised to find a Ball Pool under the covered climber.
The enjoyed lounging around and being silly with friends and siblings.

There were many circle themed foods contributed by families.
This is a chance for the parents to show their creative side.
Notice even cups, plates and napkins have polka dots and circles on them.

Some of the menu:
Circle Pasta Salad
Pepperoni, Cheese and Crackers
Circle Cereal Mix
Circle shaped fruit salad
Mini Pizzas
Cookies
Circle Tortilla Chips and Salsa
Meatballs
Circle Cut Veggies

 The children are so proud of their artwork and of course a chance to share their preschool with their families. A big thank you to all the families of Inch By Inch who continue

to make this event wonderful for us all.

You can find previous year's posts here and here.

Masking Tape Art

Every year I volunteer to set up a table at a local children's festival put on by the Children's Task Force. This festival is over two decades old and I remember attending as a child. 

Local organizations and businesses set up tables with hands on activities for children. The first few years I did paper bag puppets, pasta necklaces and things like that. I found there were often duplicates of my activities around the room. 

Several years ago I started bringing colored masking tape and black cardstock. This is such a hit every year now. 

 I am always amazed by the different ages that participate and the amazing creativity that I see.  The last couple years I have also added stickers for the smaller toddlers.

Some children sit and stick two pieces of tape and are ready to move on (there is a lot of things to do).

Some children stay at the table for A LONG time working on one picture or sometimes making several (if their parents allow them the time).

Some children come back later in the day to make a new picture (or to add details to their original).

The children use this open ended material in so many different ways that reflect their age and creative styles. For the first time this year a child (4 years old) cut up his paper and taped it back together into an animal. "Naturally" if you have tape, you must need something to tape together. 

Other creative styles I see:

Concrete images

Abstract Designs

Initials and Names

Rainbows

Patterns

Frames

Smoothed out tape

Crumpled table (intentional and not)

Kids love tape. The End.

** I purchase the tape from Discount School Supply. I prefer the 3/4" size. 

Creating Bears: The Process and The Product

I have realized over the last couple years how much it bothers me that so many things in Early Childhood have to be Right or Wrong. A school/teacher either has to follow one philosophy or another. If you are play-based than you are not allowed to sing the Alphabet Song. If you are a quality program than you would never allow children to play with food. These are just a couple examples of the never ending list of do's and don'ts of preschool.

Another example of this is the great debate between Process Art versus Products. I am a firm believer in children being allowed to express themselves freely through art with available open ended materials. I also agree that if children are always provided with a template or an example, that their creativity will most likely be stifled. 

 I have realized more and more that it doesn't have to be one or the other. There are many types of learning styles and personalities in every classroom. If a variety of methods are not used, than how will the needs of all the children be met?

There is just as much value in crafting as there is in process art. Both provide a chance for creativity, expression and learning, when they are approached with specific children's needs in mind.

Every single thing that a teacher provides in the classroom should be done with intention. 

My basic rules for creating projects in the classroom:

Children should always have choices on the outcome of their craft or project

An adult should NEVER adjust or finish a child's project for any reason.

All the finished products should look unique in their own way.

Here is an example from this week on how a project might be presented in our classroom:

At circle time I showed the children all the pieces that would be available during this project. I showed them different ways that they could put them together to create a bear. 

I did not have a finished product glued together. 

The supplies were later available at the table for the children to create their bears.

Almost all the pieces available were circles, but the black pieces were bunch of different sizes and also included some heart shapes too. 

I sat at the table and spoke with the children and showed them a real teddy bear. On the teddy bear I pointed out the bear's "muzzle" and how it had a nose and mouth on its muzzle. Many of the children wanted to include that, but some chose not to. 

Many of the children have been struggling with getting things to stick with glue sticks, so this was a good chance to practice.  In order to encourage the children to be thoughtful about their bears and to make a plan, I asked them to put their bears together first and then I would give them the glue stick once we talked about it. (Glue sticks are always available for free gluing, which some children really enjoy and seem to NEED to do) 

Again, it is all about a balance at our preschool.

 Everybody had a very different idea about how they wanted their bears to look. 

The bear below was a wonderful example of how adults need to be VERY careful before making assumptions about children's work. When I saw the bear below I wondered if the child had decided to add arms and legs instead of ears (which would have been completely fine in our classroom). The child (almost three) told me that the two circles on the sides were cheeks. :)  Sadly, I know many classrooms would have told the child that they took too many ears or simply removed them for the child without even asking. 

The final products all had their own unique flair that truly reflected the personalities of their creators.

The children were very proud of their projects! 

I am looking forward to seeing if this inspires anybody to create more things with paper, shapes and glue at the table during their own time. 

A couple years ago we did a similar art project, but the children were a bit older and the activity was much more open ended. I am hoping in a another year I will be seeing similar projects from my current group of children. 

Bug Camp 2014

Bug camp was a huge success. The little scientists got to do all sorts of bug play and investigating. The playground was wild with grasshoppers, beetles, crickets, "dragonflies," and spiders too. We had lots of conversations about "how many legs?" and "what is that buzzing sound?"

My favorite quote of the week was, "LOOK Jessica, I caught a bee!"

And so she had.... quite securely between two cups. Those who dared, came and had a peak and then it was released. Of course I had to be the one to release it, which resulted in me sneaking behind the school and flinging the top and bottom cup and their contents as hard as I could without the children seeing me. 

"A lovely little home for bugs."

There were lots of bugs inside as well.

It is not very often that I prepare a craft for the preschoolers. They always love it when I do. The materials were laid out on the table during free play as an option. 
I pre-cut the circles and the heads and also put out black paint with corks, glue, markers and googly eyes. They chose how they wanted to make their ladybugs. There was quite a bit of variation. A couple older kids even asked for additional supplies to create their own baby ladybugs or to add details to their bug that I hadn't thought of. One child stapled two white wings to a fan and then attached it to the underside of the ladybug so the wings could open and shut. 

I think it is important that IF you are offering a craft that results in a product, that children are always allowed to create it with their own ideas and in their own ways. I cringe at the thought of a parent or teacher rearranging art work or suggesting to a child where to put certain pieces. I always leave similar supplies on the art shelf for a week or so after, to see what they come up with on their own. 

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