Our love of painting

There is only one thing more wonderful than the paintings the children create when they visit the art easel.

 



You might think it's the way the children explore the paint.



You might think it's how the children learn about shapes, colours and lines.

You might think it's the imagination the children show us through their creativity.

 



You might think it's how the children show us that they are connecting to the natural world.

And you'd be mostly right....But...

The one thing more wonderful than the children's paintings, is the stories the children tell when they share them with us!

A Natural Fit With Natural Pod

We are tickled 'GREEN'!

 

Recently, two of our educators were featured in a profile of people who play the natural way! Mrs. Pizzuto and Mrs. Brent, together with Mrs. St. Onge and Ms. Lecoq began a relationship with Natural Pod. Natural Pod is a Canadian company that believes in natural play and supports their belief through their superb products and the partnerships they form with their customers. Even more wonderful than that...they also believe in being environmentally friendly and are very conscious of their green footprint. This company continues to support their partners, children's play and play environments the world over.

 

We are very excited to be featured as part of Natural Pod's Natural Play Community. We thoroughly enjoy the light table, sensory bins, logs, earth element nesting arch and house puzzle. Read this community profile and find out all about Natural Pod! Can you guess what's on our wish list?!

Natural Pod Community Profile

Salt Paintings

Ms. Beaudry brought a couple of her very special artistic students to showcase a most interesting method of producing artistic masterpieces!

This method had certain steps that the children had to follow.

Sometimes, it takes a process of following steps

to produce an artistic effect.

Take a look at the materials on the table.

Can you guess the order of steps that they are used in?

Step 1: Use water colour paint to make a picture on the canvas.

 

Many strong, vibrant colours can fill your canvas if that's what you'd like.

Paint a picture with flowers and a purple sun and pink clouds

if that's what you'd like.

Step 2: Spray your painting with water.

Watch what happens to the colours when you spray your painting!

Step 3: Drizzle white glue all over your picture.

Step 4: Sprinkle salt over the entire picture.

What happened?





Were you surprised when the salt mixed with the water and glue and paint?



Did you use a lot of water or just a spritz?



Did your colours become muted and mixed together?

Were your colours vibrant or soft?

How much glue did you drizzle and salt did you sprinkle?

Did you shake your salt all around your picture

so everything would be coated?



Our room was filled with these frosted works of art!

Thank you Ms. Beaudry and company for the artistic inspiration!

Our Builders At Work

Whatever good things we build end up building us.

~ Jim Rohn ~

Builders come in every shape, size and wonderment!

Builders become royalty, captains, astronauts, engineers, scientists, zoo keepers, mommies and daddies, knights, pirates, super heroes, planners,

...well, everything they could ever be!

Builders can balance, calculate, think, determine, revise, experiment, collaborate, discuss, problem solve, disagree, find solutions, share, position, count, add, take away, tell stories...inspire!

Building windows to the world, or are they cubbies for animals, or are they doorways, or maybe steps or ladders or...?

2 sets of 4. 
4 on top and 4 on the bottom...8 hollow blocks in all.

Now it's time to make a wall.



"Mmmmm....this is our rocket ship."

This rocket ship began with areas. Areas for sitting.

Areas for waiting. Areas for, "Mmmm...that's just for where we can stay."

More blocks were added. More blocks filled in spaces. More blocks were set on top...and beside...and inside...and more and more and more.

Ivy took two curved blocks and balanced them together over top a tree slice.

A rocket ship that goes "up to space".

A rocket ship that gets made and unmade and remade.

And the captain is ready to fly us to the stars.

The next day...the rocket ship had many engines ready to blast off!

On some days, the big blocks stay on the shelves.

Given the chance to value only the tubes, small blocks and materials in the baskets,

a king's throne becomes more.

Many small blocks are stacked, placed and balanced.

Many small blocks fill every little space!

And then knights are added. A city becomes a kingdom.

Cylinders, quarter rounds, rockers, bridges, tunnels, cubes, rectangular prisms!

Very big 'protector guys' come to protect.

Inspiration, excitement, gentle and careful work.

Great battles are fought and won.

Days and days of epic stories.

Then tubes become tunnels and a way to deliver blocks.

Tubes carry small blocks to the ground.

But, wait a minute...cars are near...

"Hey, I got a  idea. What about you get the cars?

We could shoot the cars down!"

"Miss, we can use the big blocks and the ramps and aim our cars."

Oh my! Tubes are aimed to direction cars into other tubes and onto lanes and ramps.

Precision! Coordination! Perseverance! A new game!







Challenges are made and unmade and remade.

And then another day comes along.

Another day.

Another idea.

Builders gotta' build.

And show their thinking with their doing.

And inspire.

Becoming...

who they could ever be.

Planning and recording for others to know.

Building a great foundation in the wonderful world of kindergarten.