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Showing posts from June, 2017

Garden Mosaic

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We were wondering what to do with our big paintings and decided it might be an interesting idea to separate the colors. The children ripped and used scissors and sorted the colors into baskets. When we were finished with this task the children put the baskets in the order of the rainbow. We put a large piece of butcher block paper down on a table and invited the children to arrange the colored paper . What started to appear on the paper was a garden. They made flowers, butterflies, a tree and a bird. They made a beautiful blue sky and a bright yellow sun.  Look for our mosaic on the wall of our studio. It looks gorgeous! 

Painting big, painting bright

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Summer is a great time to relax a bit. We like to spend the time learning about our art materials and exploring color, texture and shape. Learning to hold the brush so it does what we want and understanding how just a few colors can make so many more colors are important first steps, not to mention fun!  We started out with a large piece of butcher block paper. We set out yellow and red paint and different size paint brushes. The children had plenty of room to use their bodies to paint big and to paint small.  They quickly observed that red and yellow make orange, that smaller brushes make finer lines and that if you keep painting in the same spot the paper will rip. It's always interesting to see a new group of children exploring these simple material. What looks only like random color on paper is a whole world of new discovery. The next day we used yellow and blue and the next blue and red. Each child was given the opportunity to explore for as little or as much as they felt insp

Summer Week 1

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Our first week of summer camp has flown by!   We always use these first couple of weeks as a time for our new friends to get to know their new classrooms, classmates and teachers. There are a lot of new rules to learn. Along with all this new stuff we also start out the summer practicing basic skills. Learning to use scissors is one of the many important skills we are tackling.  Initially we set up an area that invited those interested to cut paper.  A secondary activity was set up that allowed the children to cut yarn. This activity is a great hand-eye coordination exercise. 

Fathers Day

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We set up a provocation that invited the children to draw their Dad. If they were so inclined they could also use the time to practice their writing skills.  We used our cutting and gluing skills to make beautiful Father's Day collages.  We talked about the shape of the human head and all the different parts that make up our faces. We counted eyes and ears and talked about where on the face they go. We asked questions like, " are our eyes above or below our nose?" . For some of our friends this might be their first representational art. Collages are great because they allow children the ability to manipulate the pieces before they glue them down.  We hope our Dads enjoy their cards and their special day. Happy Father's Day!

Decorations and so much more

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The weeks leading up to graduation always go by swiftly . Our classroom is busy with all things graduation related. We have many group discussions about what it means to graduate, who is graduating and what it all means for our younger friends who will soon be assuming the tittle "senior" . Kindergarten is on the minds of our present seniors and we try to help make the transition smooth by keeping the conversations flowing.  Besides all of our mental preparations we have a lot of practical stuff to get done too. Creating decorations for our graduation ceremony is one of the ways we involve the children . Helping the children feel a part of this upcoming event, letting them have and feel ownership over it is all part of our process. As with most things we do at Imagine we try to make connections. Decorations aren't just decorations, they are colors, primary, secondary and tertiary. They are conversations about rainbows, rain, sun and weather. There are fine motor skills to

Graduation

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I'm sorry to say I have no pictures of our graduation to share here, too busy to snap even one pic. I will instead try to paint a picture as best as I can using words. This year we chose a new song to sing for graduation. We also learned some sweet hand movements to go along with it. We were very fortunate to have a new friend that plays the guitar help us out with this endeavor. A giant shout out to Travis. We can't thank you enough, you made our song even better!   For so many reasons, this song by Ben Harper seemed to be the right fit.  With my own two hands I can change the world, with my own two hands Make a better place, with my own two hands Make a kinder place, oh with my, oh with my own two hands With my own, with my own two hands With my own, with my own two hands I can make peace on earth, with my own two hands And I can clean up the earth, oh with my own two hands And I can reach out to you, with my own two hands With my own, with my own two hands Oh, with my own, o