Textured Play Dough

We added dried quinoa to our play dough to give it some interesting texture. Our children were greatly interested in the unique feel of it, and spent much time sculpting it. We added some materials to enhance their artwork and exploration including wooden shapes, popsicle sticks, wooden clothespins, and straws.

Notice how innovative the children were in creating layers of the play dough and connecting them with the materials? We spent time at the center engaging in discussions with the children about how they went about sculpting in the way they did, and why they chose to use the materials they did to make the sculpture taller and more stable. Now that's creative problem solving!

Some Ontario Curriculum Expectations this activity fulfilled:

2.2 demonstrate a willingness to try new activities (e.g., experiment with new materials/tools, try out activities in a different learning centre, select and persist with challenging activities, experiment with writing ) and to adapt to new situations (e.g., having visitors in the classroom, having a different teacher occasionally, going on a field trip, riding the school bus)

2.4 communicate results and findings from individual and group investigations (e.g., explain and/or show how they made their structure; state simple conclusions from an experiment; record ideas using pictures, numbers, labels)

4.2 demonstrate spatial awareness by doing activities that require the use of small muscles

V2.1 explore a variety of tools, materials, and processes of their own choice to create visual art forms in familiar and new ways (e.g., use natural and recycled materials at a learning centre)

Shaving Cream + Blocks = Great Structures!

Today the children used shaving cream as mortar to help hold their block creations together. Not only was the shaving cream play appealing in itself, the children were amazed at the intricate structures they could create due to the stickiness of the shaving cream.

Some Ontario Curriculum Expectations that this activity fulfilled includes:

G3.4 build three-dimensional structures using a variety of materials and begin to recognize the three-dimensional figures their structure contains

G3.6 demonstrate an understanding of basic spatial relationships and movements (e.g., use above/below, near/far, in/out; use these words while retelling a story)

2.1 state problems and pose questions before and during investigations

More Marble Painting

Today we continued with our exploration of metal marbles, magnets and paint. The children used the magnets to drag paint covered marbles on top of a piece of paper in order to create intricately coloured swirls and designs. Their work was beautiful!

Fighting Island

Yippee!  We have been approved for our end of the year field trip to Fighting Island! I had the pleasure of attending training for this field trip back in the fall, and I can honestly say it is the most amazing experience I believe a field trip can offer young children. We will explore the natural elements of an island that has been reclaimed including an analysis of pond water using microscopes, an animal track hunt (complete with making a plaster of paris print), a bug exploration, an examination of local wildlife, and a short hike. We will leave our school first thing in the morning and return just before the dismissal bell at the end of the day.

We will be in need of one adult supervisor per student. Please save the date of May 9 and plan to attend this amazing experience! We will be ferried to the island so please plan on staying the whole day. If you cannot come, your child's special relative (grandparent, aunt/uncle, etc.) is more than welcome to come in your place!

To learn more about Fighting Island, please visit the following link:  Fighting Island

Magnet Painting

The children created artwork today with magnets and metallic marbles. Using the clear water table lid as the canvas, they dropped the marbles in paint and used the magnets to roll them around. This resulted in some beautiful designs!

It took a lot of coordination to control the marble and move it around on the plastic lid. Some children enjoyed the experience of getting right under the lid and looking up at the artwork.

And of course any paint activity usually turns to finger painting by the end!

Sorting Bears at the Water Table

Our sorting bear math manipulatives have not had a lot of attention from the children lately, so we decided to add them along with our sorting bowls to the water table. The children were immediately drawn to them and experimented with many math concepts.

Here the children are sorting the bears by colour.

The second day with the center the boys were interested in arranging the bears in a specific way on the wooden board. When I asked what they were doing, they told me that certain size bears had to go in special places. The children were identifying the bears by size, practising their measurement skills.

The game quickly turned into one where the poor bears got washed into the sea! It was interesting to see the boys experimenting with force and movement using the water to move the bears. They identified the slanted board as a ramp.

Balloon Stamping

Today we placed a number of balloons along with sparkly paint at the art area. We invited the children to paint with the balloons. It was interesting to watch them smear, dab, and stroke the paint onto their papers. Their creations were beautiful!