Creating with Baking clay

With all the interest lately in insects the children mixed together flour, salt and water to create a few batches of baking clay. Lots of different and interesting insects were created and some were even added to the habitat area.

Now that's creative!

Last week on our field trip we discovered from one of our grandparents that one of our students is very creative with painters tape.  We decided to purchase a few rolls for our room and watched as a wonderful city was created!

High, Low, Everywhere We Go

Smiles filled the faces of our Suzuki kindergarten children as they climbed high, ran through, tumbled down, jumped over, travelled along, stacked up, zipped down, stomped on, gathered together, peeked through, pedalled around, balanced across, slid down... and occasionally... momentarily stopped for a pose!  Our trip to High Jinx was everything we could have hoped for and more.   

Big body play is one of the most important types of play for children.  Building big muscles, taking risks and learning new skills are some of the obvious benefits.  Some of the not-so-obvious benefits are such things as developing visual field, grip strength, problem-solving, memory, visualization, turn-taking, body/spatial/directional awareness, balance, hand/eye coordination and cooperation.

  Fun was had by all the children... big and small. An added bonus was that Greg the bus driver led the children through a not-so-quiet version of 'Everywhere We Go...' on the way home.  Thanks Greg.  And a special thank you to the families who joined us!  

Using nature to create art

Thanks to our concurrent student Katie Moore, very creative pieces of art were produced after the children collected a variety of natural materials from their walk to the hill.

On our nature walk, the children peeled their eyes for pieces that would be just right for what they had in mind.  "This could be a leg."  "Look, this is a head."  "We need more sticks."  "This is as big as my body."  It seemed like they would be making a population of people.  But, artists always have a way of interpreting as they create.

The children found things they hadn't expected.  "Look, it's Humpty Dumpty's Wall!"   "Is that the last dandelion before winter?"  "Mrs. Brent, look what Cameron found!  It's a slug!  He was hiding to stay warm."

They found rocks, leaves and a huge branch that had fallen from a tree during the wind storm.

Once in the art studio with Miss Moore, the children suggested using the sticks they found as paintbrushes.  That was... until some decided the sticks should become a part of their art!

What was amazing was how each child used the materials in their own creative way.

The artists were filled with ideas and we had so many unique creations by the end of the day. Some children even began using their hands to paint with! We were amazed with all the different shapes and pictures we could make with the nature we found.