Bead Creations

The many cold days spent inside gave us the perfect opportunity to bring out a gift from one of our families. 

 

Lauren was so excited when she saw the activity set out on the table!  She knew just what to do and was able to let everyone know how to make fun bead creations.

Children had to be patient to fill the pre-made forms with soooo many beads! Fingers had to work with in small spaces and be delicate when they were place the teeny tiny beads.  

We were impressed to see such creativity in the colours the children chose and the patterns they were creating!

Thank you Mailloux family!  We melted away the minutes in the wonderful world of kindergarten!

Cornmeal In The Sensory Bin

Cornmeal in the sensory bin has ignited such excitement and interest!  Perhaps it's the golden colour.

                                       Perhaps because it  p

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so much faster than some of the other materials! 

Perhaps the children are discovering the feeling of gritty, heavy, smooth, soft.

Perhaps because the children recall wonderful baking memories from home.

One thing we are very sure of, though...

The cornmeal craze is catching on!

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!

Tools and Texture in the Art Studio

~ It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child. ~ Pablo Picasso

Brynna began to use the new tools in the art studio. The foam brushes were her choice to smooth the bright paint colours. When she folded her painting in half, she was excited to show us the texture that she had created.

Addison watched Brynna and decided to fold her painting too.  The lines that she had made with the scraping and raking tools disappeared.  She reached for the raking tool again then signed her name when she finished adding the texture she was looking for.

The children continued to experiment with texture and mixing colours with the raking and scraping tools.  

The addition of classical music made for a very artistic atmosphere!

Wonder if Jackson Pollock started like this?!

Taking Care Of Our Birds

~ A bird doesn't sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song. ~

Lou Holtz

The children are often drawn to our large windows and quietly absorb the natural world just beyond.  Our recent discussion of birds inspired an addition of books and binoculars to the window.  Where are the birds?  What do they eat in the winter?

We  were gifted with unique, homemade bird feeders at holiday time. Willow and her mother shared the recipe for the bird feeders.  Mrs. Webb and Mrs. Joseph brought this fun activity to the wonderful world of kindergarten.

The children took turns adding the natural ingredients. Feeling the difference of stirring the ingredients when they were dry, and after the corn syrup and gelatin was added gave them an idea of 'thick'.  

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The bird food mixture needed to be thick to be put in the molds.  The gelatin was added to thicken the mixture.  

The children added straws so that a ribbon could be inserted and the bird feeders could be hung outside. Then the feeders were left to dry and harden.

It was pretty tricky to get the ribbon through the holes! The seeds had dried and hardened in different ways.

Slowly but surely, a feast for the birds was filling the basket.

All that was left to do was to bring the bird feeders outside and hang them up. The children wanted them on the bushes near the windows.

We will be leaving the children's camera near the window so that they can capture the images of the birds as they come to their feast!  The children will be able to compare the photos of the birds to the ones they see in the books.  

Thank you Mrs. Webb and Mrs. Joseph, for visiting the wonderful world of kindergarten and helping the children take care of our birds!

Some bird books you might enjoy with your children