Preschool Art Group

Today's preschool art group theme was Thanksgiving with tribute to Native Americans.  First the kids painted paper sacks to make vests.

Whew  - they were WILD by clean-up time.  Two words: paint everywhere.

Mr. Intensity was banished to his room for spitting on another child. The other children asked, "What will happen to him?"  

I told them, "At our house, we follow God's word in the Bible that says, 'He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him.' So that means..."

The children enthusiastically filled in the blank and actually cut me off by saying, "He gets a spankin'!  We do too!  That's what my Mom and Dad believe, too!"  And they took turns telling me (funny to me) details.
After the momentary affliction, Mr. Intensity re-joined the group to make a head dress.  When I told the kids we were making a "head dress" one of the boys said, "Boys don't wear dresses!"
While they made their feathery creations, I told them a story from the book I'm giving away.
And ended the story by making popcorn, since the Natives showed the Pilgrims the wonder of POP!  This simple treat made me the most fun mom, ever.  I'd planned to add a bit of real maple syrup (again, like the natives showed the Europeans) but the kiddos seemed perfectly content with bland pop corn.  So I skipped the sweet.  They were wired without it.

Wanna guess who's kid is crying?  It really was a good morning, I promise.

Preschool Art Group

Salt dough ornaments were on the docket for this week's preschool art group.  This week we made (and baked) the ornaments.  Next week we'll paint them.

I tried to steer them towards the creation of something "Christmas-y."    We even talked  about pictures and symbols that reminded us of Christmas.  However, the bulk of my cookie cutters were along the lines of transportation and shapes.  And so shall the ornaments be.

After the art time the kids quickly transitioned into free play and

 finding a few rolls of masking tape.  They made a wonderful web in the living room that  morphed itself up the stairs.  It was fun to watch them enjoy and create.

All was not lost during clean up time.  Mr. Intensity rolled it into a ball then took it to show Dad.  It's the size of his head.

Of course they had to play a quick game of catch.

Thanks again, Shelley for the tape!

Art Group

The themes for preschool/art group today were darkest to lightest, tallest to shortest, biggest to smallest and a bunch of descriptive words in between.  I tried to use a variation of verbiage like big, bigger and biggest, larger (or smaller) than, etc.

When the children arrived, we spent 45 minutes doing Montessori type activities.  I wasn't planning for it to take so long.  Then again, I didn't think about how the materials were new to Levi and Julia (Mr. Intensity was totally bored with my explanations and was quite distracting.)  There were 7 prepared activities from which they could choose.

Below you'll see that Levi was quite please with himself, building the (not so) pink tower.  The only mats that I own are being used by the doors; improvising I used towels to help define the space.

Mr. Intensity working with the number rods.  Over his left shoulder you'll see the dressing frames.  The boys totally ignored them.
Only one set of the knobbed cylinders was presented today.  Maybe next week there will be more.  Mr. Intensity is such an extrovert and so excited that other kids were here today that he had a hard time controlling himself and settling down.  Think: preschooler with too much caffeine, sugar, ADHD, pure boy, super excited with extra wiggles sprinkled on top!  All this to say that he tends to be rough with things anyway and with the extra kids here, I had to remind him SEVERAL times to be gentle and respect the materials.  When constructing his pink tower it toppled seconds after he completed it then was frustrated it fell.  It fell because he unknowingly knocked it down from his extra energy.  [At times I wanted to pinch his little head off!  Good thing he's my kid, or he probably wouldn't be invited back!  :)]

Below, you'll see Levi concentrating so well.  He worked very hard to assemble this cube.  Eventually I stepped in to help him so that he could experience the other stations. 

Julia stepped up to the (not yet painted) red rods and said, "oh, this one is much too hard!"  But she mastered it - as with the other activities.  She was a very diligent and patient worker.  I think she performed all the tasks without any coaxing or prodding.  
The matryoshka dolls were enjoyed by all the children. 
From the living room, we moved to the kitchen.  After showing the children a handful of candy corn, I asked about its shape and colors.  Then gave them Elmer's glue and a Q-tip to spread it.  With baby spoons they sprinkled yellow and orange lentils and a bit of white rice.  They all did rather well keeping the stray kernels on their trays. 
Julia's baby brother even got in on the action!  

After the candy corn collage, they were given other colors of lentils and rice with which to be creative.  (Look how intense one little boy is, using the glue...)The favorite activity: counting candy corns!  They were all given a treat bag with numbers 1-7 and 28 candy corns.  If they completed the task, they could eat 5 (and the rest after lunch.)  Over Levi's shoulder you can see the tray where I demonstrated how to "pair" the even numbers.
Then we worked on the concept of darkest to lightest with the homemade color box.  They zipped through it.
Last, but certainly not least, they painted! I bought the orange washable paint thinking about...well, you know, I have a boy.  When practicing last night with the paint I was sorely disappointed in its quality - it's very water-y and the color isn't very bright.  I won't buy that brand again.  I'll probably stick with the brand of white tempera (pictured).  I've not had a problem getting it out of his clothes as long as I wash the day of painting.

The children loved painting - and adding white to orange to make lighter orange.  
After art group, we ate lunch at the park.  The boys found the shovels on the patio and were ready to whack somebody dig.  It was only 101* today and will be 74* tonight - autumn is coming to Arizona -  Yay!

Preschool Art Group

In preschool art group this week, they painted the salt dough ornaments from last week.  I was brave (or silly) enough to let them use acrylic paint.  To my great relief, wasn't that bad.  They really had a good time painting and chatting. 
With minutes before the other children were to arrive, I realized I hadn't followed my golden rule: ALWAYS make the craft before starting.  So, I quickly tried this idea and decided to tweak it.  Instead of using glue and foil, I gave them contact paper.  Actually, I tried it with liquid starch.  The tissue paper stuck to itself, but when dry, it came off the foil.
Lastly, they practiced sewing a popcorn garland with a real needle.  No blood drawn, or causalities I promise!  Along with the popcorn, I let them count out ten mini-marshmallows.  They had the option to eat the sweets or put them on the garland.  Only one (of the 30) survived to the garland.  And, I think they all tasted a cranberry.  Wish I had my camera ready for those puckered faces!

As you can see from the end results, their attention spans were a bit short.  I think Lucas would have lasted longer if the other two could have glued themselves to the chair.  Julia, we missed you - hope you're feeling better soon.

Preschool Art Group

The theme for the day was geography with an emphasis on Christopher Columbus (who is honored in many North American countries this time of year).

Last week, I shared how out-of-control-excited Mr. Intensity was, when friends were here.  [Sunday he was very disruptive at church, both in Sunday school, as well as Jr. Church.  Both sets of teachers had to talk to us about his behavior!]  So, today I tried to coach him (before the kids arrived) to hop like a bunny when he felt excited.  It worked!!  On several occasions I saw him hopping!  I'm thankful for The Spirited Child book that has helped me see into my child's life.

Side note *I just have to share this:*  Last week, I was complaining to Hubby about Mr. Intensity's intense, and sometimes out-of-control behavior.  I tried to get Hubby to brainstorm with me as to how to help Mr. Intensity self-soothe, or calm himself.  I shared the following story - (scroll down to the rest of the art group pictures if you don't care about this parenting problem of mine.)

On Thursday two kids came over to play while their mom took the baby to the doctor.  I heard a loud "thump" like a slamming of a door (which is against the rules at our house.)  I waited a few seconds to react, to see if it was an accident.  The same noise came again from Mr. Intensity's room.  By the time I made it to the top of the stairs, I heard the same LOUD noise a third time.

Upon entering his room, I asked, "What was that loud noise?"

He says, "I didn't hear a loud noise."

"Really?!  I heard a very loud noise, like slamming of a door.  Did you slam the door?"

"Nope."

At this time, one of the other children piped up to say, "He was running across the room and throwing his body against the door."

What the heck is wrong with this child?!!

So, I'm telling Hubby this scenario and he replies, "I remember in the 7th grade, being so excited that I was around my friends, I would bang my book against my head.  It made a cool sound and it felt good."

ACK!!  I have 8 more years of sensory integration?!!   [Pam, I asked if you knew this info - he said, "No, I only did it at school when I was with my friends."]

whew.  thanks for letting me dump.  I just wanted y'all to have a bit of insight into my world.  It's chaotic most of the time. 

Back to our regularly scheduled program.

Below you'll see Mr. Intensity working with the cheap creative mom's version of metal insets.  They're made of styrofoam chip board (not sure of the technical name.)

Levi with the number rods.
Destany with the knobbed cylinders.
Mr. Intensity working with materials from Handwriting Without Tears.  The letter focus of the day was N, S, E, and W (letters on a compass).  There was also a station prepared with the sandpaper letters and a tray of rice with these same letters.
Before painting, we played a quick game of "Where's North America?"  I took the NA piece from our Melissa & Doug puzzle and hid it. While pretending to be explorers and searching we sang (to the tune of One little, two little, three little Indians):  Nina, Pinta, Santa Maria (3x's) These are Columbus's ships. For more Columbus day ideas, look here.
Above you see the children painting their maps (on the back of paper grocery sacks that I'd singed the edges and crumpled to look old).  On the wall, I hung maps of the world, US, and Arizona.  You'll also see N, S, E, & W in their proper locations.   I had a Phoenix map in the car that didn't make it inside.  I also forgot to mention the location of Kenya - Levi and his family are moving there next month.

Below is our attempt for a ship in a bottle.  It's blue water and vegetable oil with glitter/confetti in the center as ships.  The kids thought these were totally fab.  I added a bead of hot glue around the cap to keep it on. 

Last, but not least - the SHIPS!  They're made from egg cartons, toothpicks (sails) and play doh to anchor the sail.  There was enough material for each child to make 3.  However, by the time we made the ships the kids were toast and so was I.  We stopped at one ship, each.
After art group, we ate lunch at the park. Then we went to Madison Camelview Elementary to volunteer for Good News Club.  Some ladies at my church have been doing this for years.  Last year, Hubby went with us and got a seminary credit for volunteering.  Mr. Intensity loves singing songs, hearing the stories and eating sweet treats!  

[as I type, Mr. Intensity is laying in bed singing Nina, Pinta, Santa Maria!]

Preschool Art Group

Today's art group was rather uneventful.  I didn't do my normal planning since I had a super-splitting headache Tuesday night and went to bed at 8pm.  Last week, we didn't "do-art" for various reasons.  Instead we went to the Children's Museum; so this week's art was planned last week so I could participate in the Unplug Your Kids' theme- wax.

The children grated crayons with my mircoplane onto wax paper to make these stunning leaf shaped "sun catchers." They were quite enthused that the iron would cause the wax paper to stick to itself. Note to parents: make sure to

 cover the wax paper with newspaper so as not to ruin your iron. 

They also used oil pastels and watercolors since Lucas and Destany weren't with us the day we initially used them.

And, since Lucas didn't get to use the stencils two weeks ago, I pulled them out today.  It surprised me that Destany and John Isaac wanted to use them, too.  They all really enjoyed the oil pastels.

Solo Art Group

Preschool art group this week was quite sad boring.  Levi's family left for Kenya, Julia's mom was sick, and Destany & Lucas just needed home-time.  So, that left me and Mr. Intensity.

We started the day by making a turkey.  He loves using the stapler, and he bammed a few feathers into a paper plate.  Lovingly he affixed a beak and legs then scribbled more feathers.

The next craft was copied inspired by Chrissy & Annabelle: blowing paint onto paper in the shape of a turkey.
He then requested a paint brush.

And this picture of his mid-morning snack was taken by Mr. Intensity.  Downloading my pictures is a treat.  I usually find a random picture surprise.  Or, at least I don't remember taking a picture of cheese and crackers.

Montessori Color Box

We own a poor creative man's set of the color box; they're free from Home Depot.  About a year ago, when I started my Montessori kick (and when I knew nothing about Montessori), I presented these to Mr. Intensity.  It flopped.  We both were frustrated.  I still don't know a lot about Montessori, but thanks to the world of blogs, I'm learning.

Today's "game" with Mr. Intensity started with giving him scissors and asking him to cut along the white lines.  It's not perfect, but I think he did a smashing job.

I'm thinking of doing a variation of this activity with the art group, so I thought I'd let him give it a whirl today to see where the activity needed revisions.  

I showed him how the colors are lighter at the top.  "The colors are dark at the bottom and as white is added it gets lighter."  I wasn't sure if this explanation was adequate but when I looked at his face, he was totally trackin' and digging it!  We went through all seven colors, pointing first at the dark bottom and saying, "add a bit of white and we get this color." 

After he cut them all apart, we mixed them into a big heap.  He separated them into color piles then organized them lightest to darkest.  I was mucho impressed.  A few of the swatches are hard to discern (esp. the two lightest yellows.)

The first time he completed the activity and checked his work against the "control" (which was a paint chip still in tact) he needed to correct 3 colors.  Then it was my turn.  :) 

The second time he completed it he didn't need to make any changes!  I love watching him learn and grow.  Next, I want to try the sunburst.

UPDATE:  used these in preschool art group.