May 26, 2011  by

Foam Scratch Prints

This week the 3s/4s class worked on printmaking using styrofoam scratch boards. This foam is similar to the type that often comes with pre-packaged meat. If you have any at home, you can give this a try!
The children first used ball point pens to draw a design in the foam. I had to encourage them to press hard so their drawing would be indented into the foam.

After drawing, they rolled paint onto their foam, flipped it over onto a piece of paper, then peeled it up to reveal their print.

They tried this in a few different colors to see how they could create the same print in a different color using their foam drawing.

The children also worked on the second phase of their clay etching projects from last week. Now that their clay has dried, they painted it, making sure to get the paint deep into the scratched drawings. Next week they do the final step!

A couple of the painted projects…

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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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February 24, 2011  by

1s Clay Exploration

This week we focused on clay. For their first introduction to clay, the new 1s class began with a soft, grainy clay, a rolling pin and a popsicle stick for poking. At first they really didn’t know what to make of it. They were daring and tired to touch it, but quickly moved to the easels where they felt more comfortable.
At this age I like to introduce children to clay on it’s own at first, but eventually I always incorporate water to entice them. This brings them back to the table and helps them to engage more with the clay.
Once the children felt more comfortable working with the clay, I began to introduce paint and various tools to use in their exploration.
After getting to know the clay (hard work!), the children moved on to what they know and love… pure water play!

The other 1s class are returning students with a little clay experience under their belts. So instead of the soft pliable clay I use with beginners, I offered them a modeling clay that is more firm and very smooth. Because it isn’t as squishy as the other clay, it shows pokes and prints really well. The children began rolling, stamping, and poking the clay and seemed to be intrigued by this new material.


After a while, I offered the children more tools, paint, and water to use with their clay.


This clay is soooo smooth- when combined with water it creates a sensory experience unlike any other!

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February 20, 2011  by

Clay Pinch Pots and Messy Exploration

This week we focused on clay. While the new students spent some time getting to know the clay, the returning students were offered a chance to learn a new clay technique. The 2s class started off with a soft, grainy clay (usually used for wheel throwing) which is easy to manipulate for a first clay experience. They held and poked the clay, then used a variety of tools to explore its properties.




As returning students, the 3s/4s class learned a new technique to make “pinch pots.” They used a modeling clay that is more firm than the throwing clay, but very smooth. After they formed a small bowl shape, they decorated their pinch pots with rhinestones, buttons, glitter, and paint.





When the children finished their pinch pots, we put them to dry and I offered them new clay to explore with tools and water. Allowing the children to continue investigating clay in an open-ended format is an important part of the learning process.





After some messy clay exploration, I offered the 2s class new materials to incorporate into their clay work (paint, buttons, rhinestones, popsicle sticks, and toothpicks).





It’s been a rainy week, so the children gathered around a bucket of water for wash-up time inside the studio.

The finished pinch-pots from the 3s/4s class…

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January 26, 2011  by

Exploring Clay

For our third class of the session we focused on clay work. I first offered the children a few tools to roll, poke, or shape the clay.

Many of the children have worked with clay here in previous sessions and immediately knew what tools they wanted to use. Soon they were at the shelf retrieving trucks and animals to roll and stomp in the clay.
We talked about how you can pinch off parts of the clay and roll it in your hand to make balls or coils. I offered them toothpicks to use with their clay to continue our exploration of building up from last session. I also offered the children a tray of little “treasures” to decorate their clay (this included beads, buttons, rhinestones and googly-eyes).


The children in the 1s class were not quite sure about manipulating the clay with their hands, but they were very excited about decorating the clay!

Sometimes it’s nice to take a break from working at the table…


After working with clay for a while, it can begin to dry out, so I always offer the children some water and a sponge to moisten their clay.
Sometimes it can get really wet and the kids will soak up the excess water with the sponge or an eye-dropper.
After working with fabric last week, many of the kids wanted to cut and add fabric to their clay work- an interesting new combination!

And sometimes a bowl is needed for all that water!


In one of the 2s classes, the children asked for the spray bottles and glue. They began to mix the glue and water together which began to drip onto their chairs. This gave one of the kids the idea of spraying the chair with watercolor, then cleaning it off with a sponge!
Pretty soon all of the kids were “cleaning” the chairs.

I thought it was interesting how the chairs suddenly became a new surface for their art experiments (good thing these materials are washable!)
At the end of the 2s class, the kids painted the batiks that they had started last week. Next week I’ll show you the final results.

Yay for clean up time!

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November 18, 2010  by

1s clay and watercolor

This week I offered the 1s class a similar clay provocation as the older kids. Instead of giving them clay slabs to work with, I presented the clay in balls and coils and set popsicle sticks on the table (no pointy toothpicks for this group). Clay in this form is easier to pick up and manipulate than in the form of a slab, which makes for a new kind of exploration.
A new friend, Grayson, joined us for class this week and was immediately interested in the clay.
Pretty soon, I brought out a variety of tools and water to continue the exploration.
Aly was curious about the materials on the shelf as well as the liquid watercolors at the easels.

At the end of class I brought out some large watercolor paper and different stencil-like shapes for each child. They painted the paper with liquid watercolor then placed the shapes on the paper. The watercolor tends to pool up underneath the shape and when it drys you can see a darker image of the shape on the paper. Electra came over to paint, and sat down right on top of her paper!

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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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October 20, 2010  by

Clay and Halloween Ball Paintings

This week the new 2s class and the 1s class both experimented with clay. Each child was first given a slab of moist red clay and a few simple tools (a rolling pin and a pizza cutter). After the initial introduction, I began to slowly bring out a variety of new modeling tools and familiar items to use with the clay. The children cut, poked, and squished their clay, enjoying the cool sensory experience on these hot days.




When the children began moving to the easels to paint, I encouraged them to bring the paints back to the table to use on their clay. The unexpected mix of paint and wet clay was exciting! The kids then began going to the shelf to choose new materials to work with as well (such as sticks, necklaces, and glitter).



The 1s class especially enjoyed squeezing water onto their clay.

After working with the clay for a while, I brought out a new golf ball painting project for the 2s class. In the spirit of Halloween, I gave them black paper and orange paint to use with their golf ball and tray. They then shook the tray around to create interesting lines on the paper.

This soon turned into mixing and scooping the balls and using them with the other materials.
For the 1s class, I placed a bucket of warm soapy water in the corner of the room in case they needed to wash the clay off of their hands before going outside. This was much more exciting than I had anticipated! They hung out here for a while, dumping items into the water, giggling, and using wet chalk to draw on the chalk wall.

At the end of both classes, we moved outside and experimented with a larger version of the golf ball painting… another Halloween inspired piece!
But of course pouring water is the most fun of all!

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October 4, 2010  by

Colored Glue Collage and Garden Art

This week we focused on gluing and collage. In addition to gluing on paper, I brought out the children’s dried clay work from the previous class for them to re-visit. I offered them colored glue and trays of collage material such as buttons, beads, sequins, pasta shells, and cotton balls.




Some of the kids experimented with the glue, rubbing it over their hands like finger paint. Although it may look like paint, they soon found out that it didn’t quite feel like paint!



Before heading outside for the second half of class, some of the children found time to make prints and check out the shelf for more materials.
Because of the hot weather, I decided to bring the kids outside for the second half of class. We began with a bleeding tissue and water collage where the kids placed pieces of tissue onto a large paper and sprayed the whole thing with water. When it dries, the tissue falls off, but the color remains.


The rest of class was spent playing with water, making mud pies, and painting on the easels.





Some of the finished bleeding tissue collages!

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September 26, 2010  by

Clay for 2s and 3s

For the first few weeks of a session, I like to keep the projects very sensory-based and experimental. This way, the children can get to know the materials and the open-ended style of the class before they learn new art techniques. Along with tempera finger painting, clay is a great medium for this type of introduction. I began by cutting each child a slab of clay from my block (they watched how I used a wire to cut through the moist clay). Initially, I offered the children only a few materials to work with, such as rollers, and modeling tools so they could really focus on the clay. Eventually, I began to add new tools to the table.After working with the clay for a bit, I explain to the kids that clay can dry out as they are working with it and that it’s helpful to use a little water and sponge to re-moisten the clay. Of course using a “little” water is just a suggestion. Most of the time, the children want to use the squeeze bottles to add much more than just a little water!




The children began to collect new materials to use with their clay: paints, glitter, toy cars, and even collage materials.







This week the children got more into using the acrylic easel as they moved around the studio.

As Kirsten scratched into her painting with a cotton swab, she said “look I made a design!” Then she used a piece of paper to make a print.

Atticus found a new way to use the Corian samples on the shelf.

An impromptu apple party after class!

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