The Pantry Goods

creative spaces, tips, and extra goodies

 

January 13, 2011  by

New Session For The 1s

For the 1s class, we began the new session with finger painting of course! I always start the sessions with finger/texture painting at this age because it is a great introduction to messy, open-ended art. The children get to explore the feeling of the paint as it slips around their skin and the way it dribbles from their spoon, or rolls underneath a toy wheel.
I first offered paint and one or two tools to the children so they could begin a simple exploration. Eventually, I brought more tools to the table to further incite their investigation.
Glitter is always exciting to children. I’m not sure if it’s the sparkle or the fact that they can shake it!
After working at the table for a bit, the children began to move around the studio to find new items on the shelf or to paint at the easels.


Because toddlers love to move, I also introduced the children to two different gross-motor art techniques. For the “shake painting” technique, we put a piece of paper and a painted golf ball into a container. Then we closed the lid and the kids were able to shake, shake, shake!

For the next technique, “jumping prints,” the kids rolled paint onto a piece of bubble wrap, flipped it over onto a large piece of paper, and then jumped on it. If they jumped hard enough they could hear the bubbles pop. This group seemed to enjoy rolling the paint more than the jumping!

After class we enjoyed some warm water wash up time!


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January 11, 2011  by

Printmaking To Kick Off The New Session!

Everyone was excited to get back into the studio this week after such a long winter break! For the 2s classes, we started off our session with mono printing. The returning children were already familiar with this type of printmaking and the new students caught on right away. The children began by rolling out paint onto a large acrylic box.
Then they used a cotton swab to draw in the design
Next, they pressed a piece of paper (slightly larger than the box) down onto the design and gently rubbed the back of the paper.
And finally, they peeled up their paper to check out their print!
After making a few prints, the sensory experience and mess making began!

Adding glitter to the prints was a big hit this week.


Soon the children began to move around the studio and find new materials to work with. Although the print-making had slowed down, they were really interested in using the acrylic boxes as bases for a variety of interesting work.
After a while of experimenting with the accessible materials, I brought out coffee tins and plastic jars to introduce “shake painting.” I put paper along the inside of the containers while the children scooped painted marbles and golf balls inside and secured the lids. Then they shook the containers making different sounds between the tin and plastic.
Then we opened the containers up to find that the papers were covered in interesting designs.
The shaking was fun, but not quite as much as scooping and touching the paint-covered balls!
The children were also very interested in the easels this week.

This session I attached a framed canvas to the wall for the kids to work on each class. It will be interesting to see how it evolves over the weeks!



In our Monday class, some of the children discovered bubble wrap on the shelf. They were really interested in jumping on it to make popping sounds, so I offered them the paint rollers and paper to see if they could make jumping prints. They rolled the paint onto the bubble wrap, then flipped it over onto a large paper and began to jump. It was so fun, I decided to try it with all of the classes. One thing we discovered is that the large bubbles make much better popping sounds than the small bubbles!


See you next week!
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January 3, 2011  by

New Year Organization

Over the winter break, I cleaned out, organized, and added a few new things to the studio. I think for the kids sake it’s important to keep most things familiar, but to also add something new as an element of excitement and surprise.
When you walk up to the studio you’ll see a new sign hanging on the front door that says, “atelier,” which is “studio” in Italian (it is also the name given to the art studios in Reggio Emilia preschools). Of course this is more for me than for the kids, but I found it at an antique fair and couldn’t pass it up!Inside the studio, I added icicle lights to the ceiling beam to add some warmth and magic during this cold, rainy winter.
Lately the children haven’t been using the chalkboard as much as I thought they would. Why use chalk when you can use paint? So I added some shelving low on the wall for paint cups and fastened a large canvas to the wall for painting. This will now become a rotating wall for various painting projects.
With many new kids this past fall, I created new photo documentation panels to display on the wall. I wanted the new children to feel as much a part of the studio as the children who have been here all along. Seeing photos of themselves on the wall helps them to make connections between present and past work -as well as feel a sense of ownership here.

I’m excited for a new session and a new year!
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December 4, 2010  by

Winter Break

While the classes are on a winter break, I’ve been cleaning and organizing the studio to get ready for the next session. Check back soon to see some exciting new changes to the studio!
Are you looking for a simple art project to do with your young toddler? If you’re feeling brave and willing to get a little messy, check out my short article on Red Tricycle:
Messy Art: Toddler Painting 101
Happy Holidays!

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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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