Painting Egg Shapes - Part 3 Clay

Our last day before Spring Break was our final day of painting

with corn syrup.

 We painted on clay shaped eggs that I had made when the families

were exploring clay.

 

Have you noticed over these three posts how the children use 

the tiny paint brushes? 

 They are about the size of a small pencil 

and they experiment holding it in different ways.

 I notice that they are very careful and purposeful with the paint.

Ready for stringing and hanging.

Hope you had a fun Easter.

Working with Clay

The week before Spring Break we played with clay.

Everyday the table was busy, some children creating something new

on each visit.

Clay is a wonderful medium for building our fine motor muscles.

As well as building their curiosity and creative expression.

How is clay different from play dough?

I find it interesting that clay draws the interest of boys far more

than any other medium, including play dough.

It might be the tools available.

Hammers, rolling pins, anything that will pound.

At the end of the week all our pieces were left to dry over 

the weekend.

I filled the kiln Monday morning and by the evening it was done.

Tuesday morning I emptied the kiln, thrilled to see everything was still intact.

All ready to paint when we go back after Spring Break.

Painting Egg Shapes - Part 2 Stones

On the second day of painting egg shapes with corn syrup

we used stones.

Lucky we live by the ocean so we have an abundance of rocks. 

While painting on the rocks I notice the children

were more sensitive to the stickiness of the paint.

But it didn't stop them

 from enjoying it.

We noticed that the colours didn't show that much on the grey rocks

but if the rock was lighter or whiter then you could see

colours.

Painting Egg Shapes - Part 1 Paper

Last week we the children painted a variety of egg shapes

using coloured corn syrup.

The first was on paper.

Colourful q-tips at the end of the morning.

Drawing in Sand

I have this beautiful purple sand that is great for putting in a tray 

and making marks with our fingers.

That's what I usually do but this time I put it in our sensory bin

with paint brushes (dry).

Using the paint brushes in the tub, instead of a tray, allowed the children

to make big movements without the sand flying out onto the floor.

They were able to make a lot of quick swipes.

Fast enough to clear the bottom.

Using a paint brush gives them another opportunity to hold a 

printing tool.

Grandfriends in the Gym

This week our Grand Friends visited us while we were in the gym.

We started with Ring Around the Rosie.

Unfortunately we didn't get any pictures of it.

But the seniors got right into it.

I was a little worried that they would actually fall to the floor when we sang 

"all fall down".

One did but I assured the rest that they didn't need to.

 We shared a snack,

some songs,

and stories together.

At the end of the morning one mother told me that her daughter

was unsure about the grand friends.

She was shy and stayed pretty close to mom

until one grand friend showed interest in her doll.

It was lovely to see the little girl share her doll with the grand friend.

She let the grand friend hold it.

After the grand friends left the little girl told her mom that

she liked the senior.

The mom told me that they will try to come to the Grand Friends

home when we start our Wednesday visits again in April.

I Spy

 

Inspired by the I Spy books I created our own I Spy containers.

 
The containers contain beads, coloured rice,

 
alphabet pasta and lentils.

Each item that is hidden has a matching picture.  

The children and parents loved this activity.

All ages took a turn playing in these bins.

You might think it was really messy and it was at times.

But overall the children were more interested in picking out the hidden items.