Update on Fairy Lane

It's been about 10 months since Fairy Lane became official.

A lot of activity has happened in the Lane in that time.

Take a look.

Working with Screwdrivers

Since building our plane the children have had a renewed interest in tools.

While most of our tools are plastic we do have some real ones available.

Such as screw drivers.

I started several screws into the stump as that can be difficult and frustrating.

 The children picked a screw and matched the right screwdriver to work.

It was obvious that some children had prior experience using a screwdriver.

The rest of the tools are used around the room wherever 

child sees a need.

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.