Frances England

I happened upon this sweet music originally created by a preschool teacher in England!

 

Drawing And Design

The week before Thanksgiving was busy with practice for Thankful Thursday and photos . Many missed the studio so we took the time with those who came  to build and sketch from life. We have these very interesting blocks called"Dado" that the children built with. They had to make something that stood on its own. They then drew what they had designed. Their drawings were very linear and modern. They really responded to drawing what they had moments before created. I love the one where someone had made a marker holder out of the blocks.Le Corbusier would be so proud!

"The Studio"

  

This is the stamp that you will see if your child's work

comes from the studio.

 

YD Paints

  

 
The Young Discoveries are growing and changing. They eagerly
come to paint whatever I bring in. We have been painting boxes.
One large ,one small. The large one has three holes cut into it.
Many times I will wonder where all the brushes are. After lifting the
boxes up I find them. The children peek at each other through the holes,
giggling at their surprise of seeing each other.
I assembled it and it will be at Thankful Thursday also as a little surprise for
Mom and Dad.

Two's Watercolor Big!!

 
The twos painted large! They painted one backdrop for the Thankful Thursday production.
Sometimes a child just does not want to paint. This causes exploration in other parts of the room.
A basketful of tubes was found and became many things. The favorite being
binoculars. It's amazing how something so simple can be so many things.

Color,Sharpener,Color

Some teachers come in to me and ask"Where did you get those paints?"

They are the very colors that we all use , just mixed in a different way.

The artists favorite thing to do is mix paint (after watercoloring). 

Their task is to rinse brushes in between painting. This of course is

hard to do. So we create many interesting colors.  

Then there is still the curiosity of what the pencil sharpener is and how it works. I had

it opened one day as someone had tried to sharpen I don't know what. Someone

said "Oh that's how it works" . They are incredibly curious about mechanics.

I still say a great gift would be a tape dispenser and an old fashioned pencil sharpener.

Brush and Paint

 
I tried something new this week. A few artists came to the printmaking area where
they were learning new concepts. At the painting table they could choose paint colors
as they wanted. We also   used wooden beads on pipe cleaners at another area.
I think that this was very successful and they got a lot out of their visit to the studio.
My joy is when one little girl quietly said"Miss Julie I love coming to your room"
That really makes me feel wonderful!

Bubble Wrap Prints

 
We start with a blank canvas and eager artists. We then learned about
our tools. These were: a brayer ( a rolling tool), ink and bubble
wrap . We rolled our ink out then onto the bubble wrap( which was
 hard not to want to pop) . We then had to flip it over and pat it with our
hands. Then ink again and do a print to take home.
The children always want to take something home to Mom and Dad.
They are very patient because they have to wait for their art to dry.
The three year olds had a wonderful time with the printmaking process.
Their work will be hanging behind them at Thankful Thursday as they sing.

Exploring with String

Young Twos worked enthusiastically with balls of string dipped into
black paint.This gave a high contrast print as the young artists dipped and
moved their arms up and down. 

Watercolor and Wood

The Twos learned how to use our watercolor area .
They saw that they could share their space and still paint
to their hearts content. Look at the grip on those paint-brushes!

After watercoloring they found our new area of work.
It is a bin of wooden beads with pipecleaners that
are easily strung  and then hung on a wire tree.
This builds  their fine motor skills in a fun way.
Also,standing to do this activity builds core body strength.

Mixing Color

The artists painted with their color wheel lesson and
then broke off into what interested them. Sometimes
it is the light table, drawing, cutting stringing beads, or
the easel. 

Color Wheels 101

The 3s,Pre-K and Kindergarten all learned about the color wheel this week.

As the age progressed the color was in more detail. 

The artist always use colors seeing them change from blue and yellow to green. 

This exercise offered them a tool to return to time after time to know how to mix a color. 

We started out with the primary colors:red,yellow and blue. Then mixed secondary

colors: green ,orange and purple. For the older students they learned about tertiary (third level)

colors. Of course they all were able to paint with their new found knowledge. Some painted small circles of

color keeping them separate. Some went back to painting layers of color to make the

brown that comes from mixing them all together.