December 7, 2011  by

Gluing Collage and Sculptures

Last week in our art classes, we focused on gluing collages and sculptures. The 1s and 2s classes experimented with collages using an assortment of items and colored glue.

The 1s class was working their fine motor skills just trying to squeeze the glue bottles! I love how this age group is fascinated with what the other kids are doing. They learn so much by watching their peers.

We also experimented with a sticky collage, using clear contact paper and lightweight items. At the end of the week, the collage was full and we hung it in the window!

The 3s/4s classes worked on 3-D collages and sculptures. They were each given a sturdy base, glue, and a variety of natural or recycled objects (sticks, cardboard, wood scraps, old toy parts, etc.).

Some kids enjoyed stacking flat objects or filling their entire base, while others opted to build tall sculptures.

The tricky part was how to make something stand up if it wasn’t very sturdy. The kids began to figure out how to stand a piece up by placing other, sturdier items next to it.

 Towards the end of class, some of the kids worked on print-making at the acrylic wall panel. They rolled out paint…

 Drew a picture into the paint with a Q-tip…

 Pressed paper onto their design…

 …and peeled up their print! This was the perfect introduction to our next project, printed holiday cards!

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November 30, 2011  by

Clay Exploration, Leaf Prints, and Sculpture

For our week of clay exploration, some children worked with clay for the first time, while others re-visited this fun medium, experimenting with new techniques. The 1s and 2s classes began testing out a few tools to manipulate the clay.

After a bit of exploration with only the tools, the children were offered decorative objects to use with their clay (popsicle sticks, buttons, glitter, and paint).

The older twos classes tried out our new plaster molds. They pushed clay into the mold, rolled over it with their rolling pin, and then peeled it up to see detailed designs appear- So exciting!

The younger classes were eventually given water to add to their clay for a super sensory (and messy!) experience.

Window painting was also a hit this week!

The 3s/4s classes first were introduced to resist leaf printing. They chose leaves to press into their clay, painted over the entire thing with tempera, then peeled up the leaf to reveal their print.

After peeling up the leaves, you can see the veins printed into the clay. The leaves also acted as a resist to the paint, allowing the outline of the leaf to show when peeled up.

After leaf printing, the kids began to add to their work with more clay and decorations.

Some kids also decided to pick out items from the recycled materials bin to use with their clay.

 A couple of the finished sculptures…

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September 7, 2011  by

Testing Clay

As you might have guessed from my last post, I’ve been on a product testing bender for the past few weeks. I want to make sure that the products I’m selling meet my high standards of quality art materials, are of good value, and are easy for children to manipulate. I try to get kids involved in the testing as much as possible… they make it so easy to see what works and what doesn’t!

When it came time to test the clay that will be in our kits, my 3 yr old daughter, Karuna, was super excited to try it out. She’s been working with clay in my art classes for a year and 1/2, but this was the first time she decided to sculpt a recognizable figure. I was caught off guard by the details of the little person she ended up creating. I love witnessing new stages in children’s creative development! Karuna was so proud of her sculpture, she wanted to keep working with the clay and decided to make a pinch pot as well.

After the clay pieces dried,  Karuna painted them with tempera and doused them with glitter (and to make sure they last, I sealed them with Mod Podge). I think we’ve found ourselves an awesome clay product for kids! Keep your eyes out for our Create With Clay! supply kit and project ideas in the Make+Believe shop. Coming soon :)
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July 13, 2011  by

Exploring Clay- Creating Textures

This week was dedicated to clay exploration. For the mixed age class, the young kids worked inside, getting to know the clay and experimenting with various tools. The older kids sat together outside making sculptures.

In the 2s class, we experimented with different textured tools. The children first rolled out a slab of clay with textured rollers to see what kinds of marks they made on the clay.

Then I offered the kids clay hammers that pound different shapes into the clay. They got creative with the tools and began making textures in the clay in new ways.

After creating a variety of textures on their clay, the children decorated their work with glitter glue and fun materials like buttons, jewels, shells and pebbles.

After putting their work to dry on the shelf, I offered the kids new clay to explore with water. This is a sensory experience that is an important part of learning about clay. It won’t result in a finished product (more like a mushy clay soup )- but it sure is fun!

After working with clay, both classes got some painting in before class was over.

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May 18, 2011  by

Clay: One Medium, Many Techniques

This week we explored clay in many different ways! Each class focused on a different clay technique, based on the ages of the kids. The youngest 1s class had their first clay experience- mostly poking, pinching, cutting, and getting to know the clay.

The older 1s/early 2s class started off learning about leaf prints. They used a rolling pin to press leaves into the clay to make a print. Later on, I offered them some “treasures” (buttons, rhinestones, and popsicle sticks) to decorate their leaf prints.

The 2s class started off making pinch pots. They shaped the pots by pinching with their thumbs and fingers, then they decorated their pots with buttons, rhinestones, and glitter.

They were so proud of their pinch pots!!

The older 2s/early 3s class worked on building sculptures with toothpicks and wooden skewers. I showed them how to shape the clay into balls and coils while they tinkered with connecting and stabilizing the shapes. We did this same activity a few months ago and it’s so great to see how their composition and ability to construct has evolved.

In the oldest class (3s/4s) we experimented with clay etching. This will be a three week process before the final product is ready to take home. First the children drew a design with a toothpick into a block of clay. Next week they will paint the clay and let it dry. Finally on the last week, they will sand down the top layer, leaving only the deep lines painted. I’ve never tried this before, so I’m super curious to see how it will turn out!

After each class worked on these very different techniques, they were all given new clay for the chance to play around and experiment in their own ways. Learning technique is important, but it’s not worth much if the kids don’t get a chance to mess around afterward and test all that they have learned.

 

And of course water is a very important addition to the clay free-play time!

If you ever are looking for an activity that is guaranteed to keep kids busy for at least an hour, just give them some silky modeling clay, and plenty of water. The sensory experience is addictive!

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December 3, 2010  by

Beading and Open Studio

For the final week of the fall session, we focused on beaded sculptures and jewelry. For each child, I pre-made a base for the sculpture using a wood block, nails, and plastic coated wire. Then I offered the children beads for stringing onto the wire. For the older children, I also offered them elastic beading cord for making jewelry.Instead of planning a second project for when the kids got sick of beading, I wanted to offer them an “open studio,” with most of our materials accessible to them on the shelf. I began the fall session with only tools on the shelf (and paint at the easels) then eventually placed the glitter on the lower shelves as well. Now that the children have had weeks of experience with the materials, It is time to give them a greater sense of autonomy in their creative process. On the lower shelves I placed glitter, markers, oil pastels, tempera paint, liquid watercolor, colored glue, collage items, paper, and a variety of tools (the rollers, brushes, and eyedroppers were new additions). I was curious to see how the children would respond to the variety of choices and accessibility.
In the first few classes, the children came into the studio and immediately began beading, without noticing the new shelf set-up. Their focus and fine motor skills were incredible!

Luke and Brooks checked out materials on the floor while the big kids worked on beading… too cute to not include!




When the children finished beading their wires, I helped them to twist the wire around the other nail head and… voila! A wire sculpture that you can bend and shape again and again.
While some kids took to beading right away, others spotted the new set-up and went straight for the shelves!
The children were encouraged to use the materials on the shelves, even if that meant gluing all over their bead work or passing up the beads all together.


I think it is important for children to learn at an early age how to be self-starters and creative thinkers. In my experience it seems that young children naturally start out this way, but aren’t always allowed the opportunity to strengthen these skills. This is something that I work on with the children throughout each session. I was delighted to see on this last week that without planning and prompting from me, most of the kids knew exactly what they wanted to do and how to do it.
The rest of the photos will give you a glimpse of the “open studio” work of the children.




















Thanks for a wonderful session and Happy Holidays!

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November 16, 2010  by

New Clay Provocation and Watercolor

For our second clay exploration of the session, I decided to present the clay in the form of balls and coils, rather than a slab. The addition of toothpicks and popsicle sticks offers a provocation for a new way of working with the clay (Reggio Emilia early childhood experts use the term “provocation” as a form of provoking, or inviting, children to interact with a material or idea). I set up a workspace for myself as well so I could model different ways to use the materials. I wanted to present the clay in a way that would encourage the kids to build up, rather than out. The toothpicks proved to be great tool to connect the pieces together to create a sturdy structure. The children also loved sticking them into the clay to create spikes.


After our initial exploration with the toothpicks, I began to bring out more tools, water, and extra slabs of clay for the kids to work with.


Sienna celebrated her 2nd birthday with us in class! Happy birthday Sienna!






The kids began to move around the studio and found the easels set up with oil pastels and liquid watercolor paints.



Some of the kids decided to bring the watercolors to the table to use with their clay. As the table began to overflow with watercolor, I brought out coffee filters to soak up some of the liquid, creating interesting effects.
To continue the watercolor theme, I offered each child a large piece of watercolor paper with various stencils and cookie cutters to place on the paper (everyone started with a stencil of the first letter of their name). Then the children sprayed their papers with liquid watercolor and left the papers on the floor to dry.



When they were dry, I removed the stencils to reveal white images of the shapes on the paper!

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November 9, 2010  by

Tissue Paper Sculptures and Various Painting Projects

As daylight begins to shorten this time of year, I thought about offering projects that can incorporate the darkness of winter. This week I decided to focus on tissue paper collage sculptures that are fun to play with in the dark! (thanks to The Artful Parent for this great idea) First I created a circlular frame out of wire, then placed it on a sheet of clear contact paper (sticky side up). The children were offered bits of colored tissue paper to create a collage.




The children also decided to add glitter and sequins to their collage!


When the collages were finished, I helped the kids fold over the sides of the contact paper to seal it up, then showed them how they can bend and sculpt the wire into various shapes. I happen to have a flashlight handy in one class, so I showed the kids how to illuminate the sculpture by shining the flashlight through- which is especially fun in the dark!
For the rest of class, the children re-visited their scrap sculptures from the previous week to add paint and more details.









As the children finished up their sculptures, they worked on various projects around the studio.





We even took advantage of the warm weather to finish up class outside.


While we were outside, I introduced “splat paintings.” First we soaked pom-poms in watered down paint on a tray…
then we threw them at the easel to create a “splat!”

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November 5, 2010  by

Building Sculptures with Wood and Recycled Items

This week the 2s and 3s classes worked on sculpture building with wood scraps and recycled objects. The children started off with a thick poster board base and white glue. On the table were two types of trays- one with wood scraps and another with recycled items such as old toy parts, containers, and CDs. We observed the shapes of the objects and how they can stand up in various ways and stack on top of each other.





Some of the children were not sure about stacking and building with the large items, so I brought out the colored glue and glitter to make it a little more interesting!




The children were very interested in easel painting this week, working alone as well as in pairs.





After moving to the easels and shelf, the kids brought back paint and various items to the table to use with their sculptures.


Towards the end of class, I brought out a new medium for the kids to experiment with… Bioputty. To make the putty, we used Biocolor paints and a Bioputty solution (both are non-toxic children’s art supplies) and mixed them together. We got to see how combining these two special liquids could create a solid.


Here is what the putty looked like in it’s gooey stage. It is a very sensory-based medium to work with, but can definitely get a little messy!
In the 3s class, rather than work with the putty, the kids experimented with body painting! They started off painting their nose, then moved on to painting their feet to make footprints.


Washing up in a tub of warm water on a chilly day!

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October 25, 2010  by

Halloween Monoprints and More!

We began this week finishing up our paper mache pumpkins. I offered the children orange, red, yellow, green and white paint. We looked at a real pumpkin and talked about the colors, but I encouraged the kids to paint their pumpkins any way they liked… which of course meant adding plenty of glitter!



A few more of the finished pumpkins after I sealed them with Modge Podge.
This week we also worked on a variety of monoprints. We started by rolling paint onto acrylic boxes to cover the surface.

Then I offered each child a cotton swab to draw a design into their paint.
When the design was ready, the children pressed a piece of paper onto the box (we began with folded pieces of paper to use as Halloween cards).
Finally the children peeled up the paper to discover their print!


Next we experimented with bubble wrap monoprinting. The children rolled their paint onto the bubble wrap and then pressed paper onto it in the same way as the previous printing project. We talked about how the orange circles looked liked little pumpkins!

To continue the printmaking theme, the kids used the acrylic easel and whiteboard to make even larger prints. They covered the boards with orange paint and said that they were making a pumpkin patch! Then they drew pumpkins into the paint and used paper to make a print.

Some of the other classes expanded on our ball rolling project from last week, this time using marbles.

After a bit of rolling the marbles around, the children decided to add water. This led them to scoop, stir, and pour the marbles- so exciting!
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After all this talk about Halloween, the kids began waving their painted hands around saying, “spooky!”

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