Story Stones made by a Kindergartener

This week one of my kindergarten students came to school with her own story stones.  She had wanted her own set and found a way to make them - stickers!  I was so impressed with her creative solution of how to get an image on the stone!   Her mother told me she gathered the stones from her grandmother's garden.

Creating With Copy Paper

It is astonishing what children can create with a simple piece of paper, scissors, staplers and a little glue or tape.   It is such a dynamic way for children to use their creativity.   I put out paper and let the ideas and creation begin.  At the beginning of the year the children just draw.   By now, the scissors and glue are standard!  

Exercising the brain in this way builds:

• spatial intelligence
• problem solving
• relationship between form and function
• fine motor skills 
• eye/hand coordination to name a few.

Here is a peek at what was created in my classroom yesterday:

A purse with a special inner purse for keeping treasures.

A fan to keep cool.

A three-dimensional landscape.

A satellite!

Pokemons

A cage for paper creatures.

Another view of cage.

A three dimensional village.

Free Number Posters Download!

I absolutely loved this number frieze I saw in a first grade classroom in Switzerland.  I have made a version for myself.  I wanted to share it with you!  What I love about this number line is how it relates the number to something concrete that occurs naturally.   I chose images that are found in life with that number.  It is such a great anchor for the brain.  Enjoy!

In the Hallway

There are always such great things happening in the kindergarten rooms around me!  I wanted to share a few of the current happenings:

Mrs. Mendoza's class made these after reading "It Looked Like Split Milk."   The images were made by putting white paint on blue construction paper and folding it in half.  The children decided what it looked like!  The writing was done in pencil first and then traced in marker.

This is a torn and crumpled paper project from Mrs. Flynn's Class.   Look closely!  There are real sunflower seed glued to the center around a photo of the student.

This is a foot project that Mrs. Hatch's kindergarten made after reading Dr. Suess's Foot Book.  Each student traced their own feet.

The kindergarteners in Mrs. Lacy's class made these "cat in the hats" from their own foot prints!  So cute!

Developmental Stages of Playdough

Playdough is an important facet of the early childhood environment.   Playdough exploration provides important opportunities for the development of fine motor skills (such as pushing, squishing, squeezing, and pinching).   And, as many early childhood teachers know, it provides an excellent outlet for releasing tension and stress.  It is calming to children!

The Discovery Stage: Ages 3-4  

• “piled” and stacked shapes and clumps
• very little detail 
• squishing, pinching and poking
• pounding and hitting of playdough pieces with hands and tools

This stage is characterized by the pure sensory experience of the playdough.   Attention is on the manipulation and exploration of the playdough for the sheer pleasure of it.
The language of this play at this stage is push, poke, squish, pinch, pound, and so forth.  "Watch this!"

 
The Shape and Form Stage:  Ages 4-5

• simple, recognizable forms
• more detail such as mouth and eyes
• beginning of “rolling” coiled, snake-like forms
• begins to make balls
• rolling out and cutting out of forms from cookie cutters and “pretending” 

 This stage is characterized by having a purpose in using the playdough.  Children are engaged in how they can create something out of the playdough.  “Things” are made and destroyed.
The language of this play is the narrative of the imagination. 

Schematic: Ages 6-7-years-old

• Standing forms and objects
• attention to the details
• making balls and three dimensional shapes
• designs that have patterns and repetitions
• Using basic forms to create people and things in vertical position

This stage is characterized by the child's impulse to create.  The playdough becomes more clay-like as children build and create people, dogs, and other things from not only their imagination but their daily lives.
The language of this stage is creativity.

Inspired by the work of Elesse Brown and Stokrocki.

Pop-up Flowers with Roots!

Sometimes it is the simple ideas that capture a child.  The children loved this project!  This is one of those projects that reinforces the understanding of how a plant grows AND gives the opportunity for imaginative storytelling in its "pop-up" (the flower can hide  and grow up as it pops up.)   The set up is simple.

Needed Materials:
- small dixie cups with slit in bottom (I pre-slit the cups with the tip of my scissors)
- left over scrap paper to wrap around cup.
- green popsicle sticks for stems
- scrap paper for flowers and leaves
- yarn for roots
- tape  (I provide tape for my students to use in creating.  I think it is a valuable tool for construction and I provide tape in the big heavy tape holders.  This is one of those projects that requires tape!  Otherwise it will be too frustrating for the children - or you will have to construct the pop-up and that is no good!!!)

Step One:  Attach one end of a scrap of paper to the paper cup.  Wrap the cup and secure the other end.  Tape the paper to the top of the cup as well.

Step Two:  Cut out a flower.  I made strips of paper that the children could cut a design out of and then wrap it around the stick.  Attach it to the stick with tape.

Step three:  Cut off yarn to attach to the bottom of the stem (stick) to create the roots.  Attach the yarn with a piece of tape.  I did not control the amount of "roots" they added.  LOL! Some of our flowers had an intense root system!

Step Four: Push Stick through slit in the cup.

Looking in you can see the roots.

Tell the story of how a flower seed grows:

Once upon a time there was a little seed that was planted in the soft folds of the earth.  Slowly it grew roots deep into the soil.  Gently it began to peek up and stretch to the sun.   The little flower danced in the sunbeams.

"Can I make another one?"  asks this student.

"You have two, how many more are you making?"  I question.

"Only Five."  she answers.

Becoming Scientific Illustrators

This week we are dwelling in the world of flowers and plants.  I told the children I knew a "scientific illustrator" - a person who draws illustrations of nature.   We had our own bean plants growing and I took one and displayed the roots, stem, and leaves.    I told them we were going to be "scientific illustrators" and draw/label a flower plant.   We looked at photographs in books at the parts of real flowers and compared it to our bean plant.

They were so excited when we began drawing.  They kept telling me more to add to the drawing - such as the sun, dirt and rain!  One student inquired, "How do the plants stand up with out falling over?"  We observed the plant we had removed from the soil.  "What do you think?"   It was amazing - they knew!  It was the root system that "anchored" the plant.

Materials needed:  sharpies and cardstock for the drawing, watercolors

Here's how to draw this illustration:

Step One:  Draw a horizon line.  Put the seed in dirt.

Step Two:  Give the seed a solid root system.  Draw these like little wiggly worms.

Step Three:  Add the stem that has grown up out of the seed!  Use two lines to make the stem.

Step Four:  Make a circle at the top of the stem.  Add the pollen as dots.  Add the petals as ovals.

Step Five:  Finally, let's add two leaves.  I like making pointy ovals.

Step Six:  Label the roots.

Step Seven:  Label the seed.

Step Eight:  Label a leaf.

Step Nine:  Label the stem.

Step Ten:  Label the flower, sun, rain and dirt.

Step Eleven:  Watercolor!

Painted Paper Flowers

In my previous post, I shared how I love painted (monoprint) papers.  Here is one of the projects my class is creating with the papers.  This is a simple project that my students managed without assistance. 

 "A Vase of Spring Flowers"

How I do it:

1. I make tracers on old file folders.  VASE: I fold the file in half and trace half the vase so when I cut out the tracer it is balanced.   FLOWERS:  I cut out random flowers.
2. I pre-cut the stems.
3. I provide small squares of green paper for leaves, if desired.
4. The entire piece is created on a large construction paper sheet.

Stems are attached to back of vase and then glued to paper.  

Flower shape is traced on painted paper.

Glue is applied to back of flower.

Flower is pressed down on top of stem.

Leaves are added and ta da!  Done!  So easy!

Simple Monoprints

Monoprint making is the official term - painting on trays is the early childhood term!  A monoprint (sometimes called monotype) is when only one print is made at a time after which the artist must begin again.  The process is basically painting (or inking) on a non-porous surface and then pressing paper on top of the painted surface resulting in a single piece of art.

This is a great activity for any age!  The level of color and pattern making will depend on the age and awareness of the child.  I love making painted paper for collage work such as Eric Carle's illustrations.  Here's how:

1. Set up a painting surface.  A tray is ideal.  I have also covered a table in foil for monoprinting.
2. Paint brushes - you can use a regular paint brush, scrub brushes, dish mops, back scrubbers. . .anything you can swirl paint with!  (Look in the dollar store!)

 

3.   Squeeze tempera paint on to the painting surface.   I like to use two colors.  

4.  Press a sheet of paper (we used construction paper) on top of the paint.  Rub all over the top of the paper.

5.  Lift the paper off the tray and see what you created!  Save all "pulls" as you never know what it might be perfect for!   Keep painted papers in a box for future art works.