Gingerbread Creation 2011

Every year we create, make and donate a gingerbread scene to our local Boys & Girls Club for their fundraiser.

The past several years we've created pirate scenes, playgrounds and pop up story books.

This year it was voted that we would make a castle scene.

 Our grade 3 big buddies each drew a picture of what a castle scene may look like.

I gathered all their ideas and came up with one picture.

Then we brainstormed to make sure all the ideas were included.

Today big and little buddies got together to start making the gingerbread people and animals.

We decided that we would need knights, serfs (people), kings, queens,

horses and shields to start.

Tomorrow just the big buddies will make the castle and turret walls.

And of course a dragon.

Non Messy Cooperative Painting

Another StrongStart facilitator did this at her centre and posted it on Facebook.

I immediately loved it.  

Clear plastic shower curtain folded in half. 

Lay paper on top of first half of plastic.

Add paint.

Fold plastic over top and tuck in edges.

Ready. Set. Smoosch.

 It takes a lot of fine motor muscle to move the paint around.

We also attempted to write on it by using our finger for a writing tool.

 Because it is sealed the little ones could easily be involved.

 That was our second attempt.

Here was day one.

 I learned to use a heavier paper.

And to take the paper out the same day.

I had left it overnight and the paper had disintegrated.

Tomorrow I think I'll place cars and trucks on top and see what marks they will make.

Will let you know how it looks.

Dinosaur Skin

What colour were dinosaurs?

What did their skin look like?

Those are a couple of questions that were asked today around the art table.

We used various sized bubble wrap to give the effect of skin.

The children loved painting on it,

as well as popping the occasional bubble.

We kept adding new colours because we don't know what the true colours are of dinosaurs.

Then we pressed the paper on top to make a print.

And voila we created our own dinosaur.  

What to name it?

 Hmmm?

There's the Daddy Dinosaur.

 Big Dinosaur Skin

 Coloured Dinosaurs

And a Valosorapter.

A Week of Spiders

We have been playing with spiders this week.

Making webs with paint but using different methods.

We used strings dipped in paint.

We used marbles and paint.

And we used styrofoam trays to make web prints.

Of course on all of them we had to add spiders.

The overhead projector was used to play with spiders and their silhouettes.

And we tried to weave our own web.

 Over, under, over, under...

But the delicious part of this week was making spiders to eat.

Glue Gun Spider Webs

A few weeks ago I posted about using the glue gun on coffee filters to make autumn leaves well today we did the same thing but made spider webs.

They turned out great.
But what I liked even more is hearing the parents teach their child how to use the glue gun safely and on their own.

After they glued on the web they used watercolour paints to add colour.

We also tried using white crayon on the coffee filter to make the webs but the results weren't as great.

All week we'll be making spiders at the art table using different methods.
Stay tuned.

Hallowe'en Day

What a fun day we had.
Lots of families dropped by to show off their costumes and play.
Here are a few things we did today.

Costumed rubber ducks swimming in green jello.

Pumpkin carving by hammering holes.

Ghost races.

Blow the ghost balls across the table to the finish line.

Sugar cookie cutting and baking.

Songs.

Stories.

Shaving pumpkins.

A favourite - tin foil painting.

Pumpkin puzzles.

A visit with the dental hygienist.

A visit from the grade 2s to share a Hallowe'en poem they've been learning.

And look who we saw during the school's costume parade.

Hope everyone had a fun and safe Hallowe'en.