Creative Kids Summer Class: Nature Art

On our last day of this first session, we explored the beauty of nature. We read The Curious Garden, a sweet story about taking care of plants and how they bring color and beauty to the world.

After the story, we went outside to explore the different plants in my yard. Plants come in all different colors and shapes- nature is very creative! We collected our favorite kinds of flowers and leaves to make a nature suncatcher so we could bring some of that beauty home with us.

Some kids added their own creativity to the plants by cutting them into different shapes with scissors or making a pattern with certain colors, while others carefully designed using the leaves and petals that they liked the best.

This project was a fun way to take a closer look at nature in a new way.

Creative Kids Summer Class: Tape Resist Art

As part of our Perfect Square theme, we explored squares with some tape resist art.

First we thought about how we could make square shapes on canvas panels using tape lines. I then let the kids make their own tape lines, whether they actually made squares or not, because our focus is creativity and using tape is great fine motor work. Then we painted.

The next day we peeled off the tape to see the designs it created.

Everyone was proud of their design!

Creative Kids Summer Class: Creating with Squares

Today we read Perfect Square by Michael Hall, one of my favorite authors.

This square in this book keeps getting changed in some way: ripped up, cut into pieces, etc. So then it makes itself into something new, like a fountain or a river or a park. It is a great model to show young artists how they can manipulate a shape and use their imagination and creativity to change it into whatever they want it to be. In other words, this book was a perfect fit for our summer class this week.

I set out an "invitation to create" for our little group with paper squares, scissors, fancy scissors, hole punches, glue, and writing utensils. They got right to work, and it was so fun to watch each individual in their own creation process.

We have a range of mixed ages in the class this week, and this activity allowed everyone to create in their own way. Although in the book the square makes a "finished picture" with an end result, it was up to the kids if they wanted to name or make their product into something.  

Some had a goal in mind and gave their creation names, like "A River" or "Polka Dot Wall with a Book" while others were just happy to be engaged in the processes of cutting, glueing, ripping, etc.

Who knew one shape could lead to so many fun possibilities?

We also started another project using squares, and I'll post more about that after we finish it up tomorrow!

Creative Kids Summer Class: Pete the Cat

Today we kicked off our first round of summer classes with one of my favorite characters: Pete the Cat. There are so many fun Pete the Cat books out there now, but we stuck with the classic I Love My White Shoes  for our hour-long class.

If you  aren't familiar with this story, watch this!

After reading the story, we did a life size retelling using bubble wrap and paint.

We wrapped bubble wrap around our feet to act as our "white shoes."

Then we walked along little piles of paint that were the same colors from the story...

..including brown for a big puddle of mud

...and some water tubs for the wet shoes at the end

The water also worked well for cleaning off a bit :) 

We ended up with a fun, big piece of footprint art in the end!

We also used our creativity to think of other things that Pete could step in, and colored his shoes accordingly.

Then we acted out our own version of the story using our new colored shoes and the catchy tune from the story.

Celebrating the Year

Our school year ended last week, and I'm finally catching up with blogging about our activities for the end of the year. During the last two weeks of school we did a lot of celebrating- we had a "Favorites" day, where the kids were involved in choosing our activities. We went on a field trip to the Aviary, and we used a review of seasons to look back at all the things we've learned this year. Finally, on the last day of school we had a summer party to welcome in the new season. Here are a few highlights from all our activities:

We made a book about birds as we prepared for our trip to the aviary.

Field Trip to the Aviary

We had an awesome tour guide that taught us some really great things about the birds. In this picture she is holding a toucan beak for the kids to explore.

Ice Excavation

One of our favorites activities...

Magnet Play

Another favorite.

Alphabet Hunt

We played several group "review" type games. This one was searching for words all around the preschool and putting them on the word wall. 

Family Program

We shared our portfolios, artwork, and some music with our families, and then everyone took their stuff home. I always get a little sad when the artwork goes home- this wall of spring art is pretty empty now.

Summer Celebration!

It wasn't warm enough for true water play, so we tried out some summer themed, sensory play outside. :) This is another family event on the last day of school. 

Beach Sensory Table

Ice Cream Play dough

Snake Bubbles

I love celebrating the end of the school year. It's amazing each year to watch the kids grow and change so much over the course of  just 9 months!