Our Art Gallery Show

                
If you’ve been following this blog for awhile you know about our interest in Fairies and that we used a path in a local forest to create what we called Fairy Lane.
             
Last fall I was approached by another Early Childhood Educator from Roseberry Preschool to collaborate on a project.  Every year her centre puts together an art exhibit at our local art gallery.  This year she invited our centre and one other to take part.
                            
We met a couple of times to discuss what interests were happening with the children in our centres and together we decided to call our exhibit “Pathways”.
                        
 
We started last fall by exploring the forest close to our school looking for signs of fairies.  We collected materials and practiced building fairy houses using play dough to help them stand.
 
           Then we spent some time building real fairy houses.
          
We listened to a story about flower fairies and then made our own.

     
      Each child was encouraged to create a story about their fairy.
 
This spring we spent a week making clay doors and imagining about who might
                               live behind each one.
 
       After they were fired we spent a couple of days painting them.
           
The week before our show was to open we created backdrops for our doors and fairies.  We painted trees on an old roll of transparency film (from an overhead projector).
 
                  
    We decided to install our Fairy Project on the windowsills of the gallery. 
                  The see-through trees gave it a playful feel.
    
            Photos and the children’s stories were displayed on the walls.

Here's a glimpse of the other centres' work.
        
Tigger Too Preschool Pathway was following the salmon that they raised at
                        their centre and released in the creek.
       
Roseberry Preschool followed the path of a slug that emerged from a carrot
                                  they found in their garden.

Opening night brought families from all three centres together to celebrate and
                     learn about each others' projects.  
  
Putting an art exhibit together has been a great way to follow a project through to an end.  Thinking of how it will be shared with others who know nothing about it.  Will they be intrigued?  Will they create their own pathway that takes them on an adventure?  I hope so.

Waiting for Our Caterpillars

     Our caterpillars were scheduled to arrive at the end of April.      
           
I set up this simple provocation to peak the children’s interest.  Unfortunately the delivery company failed to deliver the larvae and the company had to resend them.
          
Since we had to wait a little longer I changed the provocation and replaced the silk leaves with real leaves.  I added single hole punches and encouraged the children to cut holes through the leaves like caterpillars do when they are eating.
  
                          The children loved this activity.
  
It is probably the best hole punching activity we have done.  During past activities I noticed that the hole punch was awkward for the children to hold and squeeze but their determination this time, to be like a caterpillar, showed through.

               
I moved to it to the art table adding yarn so they could thread through
                                     the holes.
         
Our caterpillars finally arrived and we will add Lupin plants soon so we can
                                    watch them eat.

Goodbye Chicks

During this past week the children were given opportunities to record their
                             images of the chicks.
     
    
   To share with everyone we created a gallery wall above the brooding bin.
              
              We continued to play and get a good look at the chicks.
    
At the art table we used paint and different kitchen scrubbers to create
                           likenesses of the chicks.
  
                   
On the last day we made a thank you card to the mom/teacher who gave us
                                             the eggs.
          
Then I drove them to the farm where they will grow and be egg layers.
                        
Hopefully one or two of them will visit in June so we can see how much they
                                       have grown.