Baking Clay Creations

The children make baking clay often throughout the year. The recipe of salt, flour and water can be placed in the oven, or left to dry over several days. This day, the children's sculptures were going into the oven.

 

The junior chefs set to work to make the clay while the chat was about the enjoyment of gathering the natural materials that were gathered from the roof top garden. The children became so creative with their baking clay creations with the addition of the natural materials.

 

Was it the trip to the rooftop garden and the children's connection to the natural materials that inspired the children's sculptures?

 

Wings, antennae and many sets of legs emerged in the children's creatures.



Some of the additions transformed the sculptures into 3-dimensional creations that went up and out.

Some of the children represented landscapes as they

shaped and worked with the materials.

Soft and fuzzy wild grasses that had gone to seed were transformed into whiskers.



Dried seed pods became eyes.

The more often the children work with sculpting materials, we notice that the more refined the sculptures become.

 

 Some of the children use their hands to do all the work, and others use tools.

 The trays are filled over and over again. Some of the creations will be painted when they are dried and cooled.

 

 

There are many wonderful things to consider about an activity like this:

 

* We get to see the children's thinking made visible.

* The children gather the materials themselves and start their thinking before they begin their creating.

*The enjoyment of hearing the children talk about their creations and the story-telling that comes along with them tells us what they know.

* The children make the clay themselves.

* The only cost is flour and salt. Water and nature is free!

 

Our Recipe:

1 Cup Salt

1 Cup Flour

1 Cup Water

Mix!

Let the children experiment and add more of the ingredients. Happy mistakes will abound!

 



Pizza Time

Nothing like the smell of pizza cooking to spark some hearty appetites!

What great teamwork! 

P.S. - No teamwork needed to taste our scrumptious pizza's.  

 

Following A Recipe To Create A Masterpiece

The art studio can sometimes become a great place for science to happen. Recipes in the kitchen aren't only for us to share at the snack table.

Willow brought in a recipe that she and her mother made at home.  She was excited to share this recipe and talk about the fun activity they had done. She even had a sample ready to go!

We shared the recipe with the children and encouraged them to help read the list of ingredients that were needed.

It was interesting to talk about the differences of the materials. When we talked about what might happen when the coloured water was added to the flour, Grace exclaimed, "It will turn into a liquid!"

The colours were vibrant! The children stirred and stirred and helped each other pour their 'puffy paint' into the container.

The puffy paint was added to the art studio after it was decided that we needed thicker paper for this type of paint.

The paint was thick and heavy and gritty. It didn't move around the paper the same way as water colour or tempra paint.

But why is it called 'puffy paint'?

The paintings took longer to dry than art using other types of paint.

As the pictures dried, they looked 'puffy'! They also 'sparkled' because of the salt. 

This was truly an art activity and a science activity all at the same time!