Polydron, Dice & Poker Chips - Take 2!

I wrote a post back in June about how adding some dice to our Polydron had made it become a much more versatile resource than it already was - I love Polydron and the plan for this year is to invest in more of it. 

Today one child decided to build on the floor with it rather than up on the Tuff Spot, he began by laying all the squares down, others then joined him snaking out into the hallway. They all worked really well together and there was lot son chat about what they building, what they could add etc. When the squares were exhausted they began to add the triangles to the outside, then the Pentagons and these allowed the 'snake' to go around the corner and then they decided to add the dice and finally the poker chips. 

This activity kept this group of children busy and engaged for up to 2 hours and made me realise that it is important to allow the children the opportunity to build on a flat surface too. As we need the tables on dinner days, perhaps on a lunch day we could have it outside and remove some of the tables to all the children to build on this scale again in the classroom.

Here is the last post I did on the Polydron & dice: https://nosuchthingasbadweather.blogspot.co.uk/2017/06/dice-what-great-addition.html

Building, building everywhere!

This week we started back after a two break for Christmas, it is always a bit of worry whether some children will find it hard to settle back in after the break but almost of all the children had no problem at all coming back in and settling straight to play. Most in fact, were delighted to see their friends again and couldn't wait to explore the playground again. 
It is always interesting to reflect on how far the children have come in just 4 months & sometimes it's easy for us the adults to forget how many new skills they have achieved since September. It's always good to read over the observations and for all staff to chat about how children used to be to help us appreciate the progress they have made. It is wonderful to watch a child come to pick a book to take home when you remember that same child not wanting to take part in such activities a few weeks ago, or to see someone get an egg timer to ensure they get a turn with a resource with no prompting from any of the adults. 
The past few days the children enjoyed building lots of different structures and we could definitely see an increase in concentration and perseverance at such activities. 
It's always great to see the 'harder' resources in action and to see how the children can really engage with them and extend their play - it never ceases to amaze me what the children can build as sometimes we as adults can only think of limited ways to use resources!

One child spent all morning playing with the 'Lasy' first building a windmill 'like on our jumpers' and then a 'big long thing' - it was indeed a very long thing, it stretched across the classroom and it took a lot of patience to join all the little 'H' shapes together.

"It's a round thing" - of course, silly me!

Another child stacked up some cardboard cylinders that we have in the block corner and found my hat on the shelf nearby & made her mummy - she then decided that it needed her own scarf too, I helped tie it on. She was very proud of her creation and we left up until the next morning so her mummy could see it too. 

As we begin second term, I can't wait to see what amazing structures the children will create as we add more resources together. 

You can find out more about LASY here:  http://www.lasy.org.tw/aboutus.htm

"Fablon" art.

Sometimes I forget about easy art activities like "fablon" art (some call is sticky backed plastic), last week when the children had finished snack but we were still outside for another hour, I remembered about some fablon I had in the office & decided to let them make a snowman to brighten up the door to the playground. We have lots of small tissue squares & offcuts that were perfect for this.

 

I cut the shape of the snowman out & the children enjoyed covering all the plastic up until we had a colourful snowman to display on the door. Then another day, I decided to let them use what was left to create some art for the story room window. The first time, it was weird as only girls got involved whereas the second time it was a very mixed group that enjoyed the activity. 

Luckily one of the assistants found a big roll of fablon & now we can make loads more lovely colourful stainless effect art for the doors & windows!

A big thanks to Monica for some of the photos.

Art as a process.

"Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up" Pablo Picasso

This week my class got to paint their 'paper people', these are always a big hit with the class and they love to see them up on display and there is always lots of excitement when they take them home. Last week before we broke up for a long weekend I explained they would be painting these large paper people shapes, one child got very excited as he knew there was one at home already belonging to his older brother. 

Now, many might see these templates as cookie cutter art but I would argue against this view. Templates have a place in any art process - these paper shapes give the children a starting point but no one is in any way similar to any other. I was amazed 5 years ago when one by one each child painted their paper person mostly blue to show they were wearing their uniform. It had never happened before and so far hasn't happened again, this year the children embraced the chance to paint using all the colours on offer and mixing them up to make different shades etc. 

I think in preschool we need to give as many different art opportunities as we can and it is part of our role to actually encourage children to take part in representational art activities as well as purely creative art activities. 

The children loved painting these 'rock babies' for us to enjoy playing with in the playground. It was a wonderful process to see the paint running off the rocks and opportunities to paint 3d objects should be encouraged as much as possible too.

Young children can paint representational images if given time & space to look closely at what they are being asked to paint. Another piece of art the children were very proud of when it was all displayed was their daffodil paintings. They are again, all very different but it was important that I as, the teacher, encouraged them to look at the flowers and really think about how they could paint their representational image.
Every 6 to 8 weeks we ask the children to draw a self portrait for their portfolio booklets and it is wonderful to see these develop over the school year. They usually have 6 portraits by June and it is a great visual way for the staff, parents and children to see how  skills have developed over the year. When drawing these, the children are encouraged to look into a mirror and again, really think about what they are going to draw. From experience, talking about these self portraits the day before is usually a great way to encourage the children to be even more ready to attempt the task.

Another art opportunity is provided on the iPads and this year we got a few iCrayons so that the children get the chance to practice their pencil grip while drawing on them rather than using their finger. 

I think preschool teachers have to ensure that the young children in their classes begin to see that there is a place for representational and creative art. Young children are probably the best at being able to see the potential of any image to be whatever they want it to be but they lose this as they get older. I do fear that the latter gets less of an emphasis in the lower primary end and that is why I hear 7 or 8 year olds tell me that they are 'rubbish at art/drawing' yet I remember them as being very creative in nursery. 

Then I hear colleagues who teach further up the school lament about how unimaginative pupils can be when it comes to more creative art - they will hear lots of 'what am I supposed to draw/paint?'

Unfortunately as there are more and more budget cuts in education, art will be squeezed out even further in primary school timetables and the opportunity for children to begin to fully understand the place for representational and creative art and to realise each has it's own value will be lost. 

Stain Glass Window - Highway Farm Style!

Stain Glass Window with Tissue Paper & PVA

The finished 'stain glass' window.

Whilst I was over visiting Highway Farm, I was lucky to see this great activity unfold and to see just how simple and enjoyable it was for all those involved. 

I had seen this done before when we had an artist in working with the children and she had pre-drawn a butterfly shape for the children to fill in but this was a much easier way to do it.

Martin got a black bin bag (any plastic will do) and taped it to a tuff spot, then he gathered some tissue paper, pipe cleaners, tiny beads, brushes and PVA glue. He covered the surface of the tuff spot with PVA and began to show the children how to place the tissue paper to cover the whole surface - they then brushed more glue over the top. He and Maria cut up the pipe cleaners into small pieces and encouraged the children to place these all over the surface too. Then they were sent off to gather leaves, flowers, petals etc. - in fact anything they could find - one child brought some 'treasure' - a glass pebble.
Soon the whole surface was covered with no gaps at all and then Martin added a final layer of PVA. 

What impressed me most about this activity was how all the children were so engaged, some drifted in and out of it during the hour or so but many stayed with it the whole time.

They were also able to make bracelets with beads and pipe cleaners as they sat around waiting for a turn with a the brushes.

I can't wait to try this with my new class next term.

The best things in life are free!

I don't know of any teacher who does not find themselves with a collection of 'stuff' as soon as they begin their career and I reckon those in the early years are probably the worst. I find myself eying up bread crates, cable reels and pallets as I drive along and sometimes only the fact that my boot is already full of accumulated 'stuff' I would stop and gather more. Teachers love free things even more than anything and a lot of the resources in my playground have been gathered up for little or no cost over the years. It never ceases to amaze me how much fun children will have from something another person saw as rubbish. I always love to see how the children will use some of the things that I do add, it is rarely how I thought it would be used either.

We are so fortunate to have The Play Resource nearby and as members we can take as much from the scrap store as we can fit into a car! We usually go for a visit twice a year to gather up as many new resources as we can, mow of it is used for craft purposes but occasionally bigger items are in stock that be used for construction indoors or for play outdoors.

Earlier in the new school year I spied giant styrofoam pieces down in the Play Resource. I could only fit 2 into the car - they were about the size of a surf board. I had no idea what their purpose was going to be but knew we's have hours of fun with them. At first the children used them as a roof on one of the platforms on the slide, then the slid down them on wet days. They were light enough for the to carry about but solid enough to hold 2 children if they stood on them when balanced on some crates.

It is amazing to see them still being used almost 6 months later & for something so inventive. I ended up cutting one of them in 2 and last week one boy discovered he could fit them behind posts on the fence - 'Look at my new wall I just decorated' he announced.

I had also picked up some old 'For Sale' and 'To Let' signs made out of corriflute and when mounted with the white side showing, these are a great canvas on the fence for the children to paint on, you can see 2 of them in the photo too.

When it comes to free stuff, my advice is grab it while you can and worry about it will be used for later!

Outdoor Play Party - Outdoor Art - Part 2.

The finished sea scape and beach scene!

Over the past few months the nursery class has created lots of outdoor art, mostly for Bear Woods, our little wooded/wild area above the nursery.

In February thanks to funding from the Integrated Education Fund, we were able to work with our partner school, Sperrinview and professional artist, Grainne Kielty,  to create clay footprints for the fence up in Bear Woods.

All 40 children involved in the project made a print of their welly boot or shoe in clay and then after they were painted and glazed our caretaker was good enough to display them along the fence.

Then I also applied for funding from The Play Resource in Belfast to allow the children to work with another professional artist, Fionnuala Duffin. I sent her some photos of the fence up in Bear Woods and Fionnuala came up with a greta idea to help decorate the fence with some weaving. However, not just any old weaving the children created a beach scene over 3 days by weaving strips of different coloured and textured materials into the fence.

They also made some jelly fish from recycled plastic containers and fish from old CDs. These were tied along the fence and placed between the plastic sections of the fence in the 'sea'!
They also made a big octopus and snail to go live outdoors in this space too.

I think it has really brightened up the space and allowed the children to see how they can use existing things like the fence to create art work. 

My favourite post from the last link up was by Small Wonders on their outdoor kitchen - sometimes simple really is best & the photos in this post perfectly illustrate how children don't need a lot fancy resources to have a fun time outdoors.

"Now it’s time for this week’s Outdoor Play Party. We would appreciate it if you included a link back to this post (either in your post or sidebar) to help us spread the word about the importance (and fun!) of outdoor play! In return, we’ll gladly further share your post on Pinterest. Please feel free to grab the Outdoor Play Party button from the sidebar and/or include a text link back. Please note that by contributing you are giving permission for an image and link to your post to be republished if featured.(If you have been featured, please feel free to grab the ‘featured at’ button from the sidebar.) Share your ideas for outdoor play activities with us every other week!"

An InLinkz Link-up

Art Outdoors.

A panorama of Bear Woods -showing the nursery & main school below & beside it.

We have an amazing scrap store in Belfast: The Play Resource; that offers busaries to schools to allow them to have professional artist come in to work with the children. Over the past 7 years we have availed if this scheme and the nursery is full of fabulous one off pieces of art work the children have created during this time. This year I was lucky enough to secure the services of artist Fionnuala Duffin & when we chatted about what she could do with the children, I mentioned wanting to have some large scale outdoor art for Bear Woods & the playground. Fionnuala will be working with the class over 4 days this month, a Friday & a Monday. On the Fridays we will actually create the art up in Bear Woods & then on the Mondays make some more pieces to add to Bear Woods or for the playground.

I had to send Fionnnula photos of the type of fencing we had etc. so she knew what materials to bring with her.

The finished woven sea scape with lovely boat bobbing along.

Today we had our first session up in Bear Woods and although it was dry it was a little chilly to start with. As Fridays are our outdoor days before we went up to Bear Woods we had made some creme egg popcorn, the children had declared this sticky & delicious! After this lovely gooey treat we all headed up the hill to see Fionnuala. At the moment there is some building work going on in the main school playground so the children can't run ahead anymore and they know they have to walk with or behind the lead adult. There was also great excitement because there was a new shed in the space too. This is for the gardening club but it will provide 3 wooden walls for us to 'play' with and eventually make a shelter off plus it has provided a proper home for our camping toilet. 

Fionnuala had lots of strips of coloured material and she had clearly marked a top and bottom to the piece so the children could see where to weave. They had lots of fun doing this & some spent the whole session engrossed in the activity whilst others just dipped in and out.

Eventually the sun came out and we decided to make a path using bags of bark chippings. Of course some of these became extra 'loose parts' for play as they were moved about in some of the dumper trucks that stay up in Bear Woods. 

The path created using bark chippings.

When we all had to go back down to nursery for lunch, Fionnuala finished off the woven sea score by adding a lovely orange boat. The children were very excited to see it when they went outside to the playground after lunch, that is a huge advantage of Bear Woods being just above the nursery.

On Monday we hope to make some jelly fish and decorate CDs to hang around the playground to brighten up dark mornings.

Finger painting fun!

I am a big fan of messy painting activities, lots of shaving foam & powder paint & finger paints. Early in the school year it is all just about the process - so the children are just encouraged to play with paint, exploring how it feels or moves on the table. I always enjoy seeing children who don't normally enjoy getting messy really embrace using finger paints.

This month the colours we are concentrating on are pink & blue, sadly the blue finger paint had all dried up but we had lots of white & a little red left, so the children had fun mixing the 2 colours to make pink.

At this stage of the school year, I knew most of them could draw in the paint or make interesting patterns that we could then 'capture' on a page to use a wall display.

'Daddy'

'My little sister'

'My whole family'

'Me'