oh my stars!

 

magical chalk

 

flower investigation: roses

 A flower is a flower is a flower? Are all flowers the same? I often begin a flower study by asking the children to identify what I am showing them. Generally it is a flower from my garden, and generally all the children will shout "It's a flower!" Some, may even identify the type of flower I am showing them. I then ask "How do you know it's a flower?" Usually I get a few blank stares, along with a lot of hollering and yelling "Because it's a slower!" "I saw one on tv!" "We have them in our garden!" "My grandpa showed me!" 

Once the hullabaloo has quieted down, I pinpoint references to the attributes of the flower and point out which senses are being use. "Oh, your eyes tell you it's a flower because you see petals." or "Your nose can smell its fragrance which tells you it is a flower." and so on. After this, we ask the children if they would like to draw a flower for us. Most often they will and almost always, every single flower they draw is a traditional children's drawing of a flower, the kind that someone, somewhere, "taught" them how to draw. 

But, not all flowers look the same, Not all flowers feel the same. Not all flowers smell the same, so how do we share this information with the children? We explore ALL the flowers! Everyday we showcase a different kind of flower and we do a show and tell. Passing out the flowers to the children we ask them what they can tell us about the flower they are holding. Before this, however, we demonstrate, from the very first day of school, how we use our senses to put information into our brains. We use descriptive words to describe objects, textures, foods, etc. and we always support each child's view of what they are describing, whether it is "correct" or not. 

With each flower that is introduced, we set up a still life study and invite the children to draw, paint, craft, create what they see, and we mix up the materials and invitations for each flower. Here, for this rose study, we have offered oil pastels, liquid watercolors, pencils, pens, and colored pencils in the the color palette of the roses. If a rose is created, hooray! If a car is created, hooray! If an abstract painting is created, hooray! It's all wonder FULL.

a fine motor tree

 

To color match, or not to color match, that is the question. The tiny little hair clips really work those pincer muscles. When we set this out, we often find those little clips everywhere, including hair! 

punched paper collage

 

painting with spice paints

A parent made us this nifty batch of spice paints using Chalk paint as the base. We keep them in the fridge so they do not mold or spoil. The children are loving the texture, colors, and scents. 

an invitation to paint: with berry baskets

 

What is in the Mystery Bag?

 

a makeshift kaleidoscope

 

Somewhere on the internet someone shared a beautiful floral kaleidoscope and pondered "How can we make this?" We already had flowers in our classroom, all we needed was a little bit more. Flat basket? Check! Lazy Susan? Check! Dollar Store prism viewers? Checkity check check! 

nature weaving

 

insects in the grass: a fine motor invitation

 

a colorful invitation

 First, the children all brought flowers into the classroom, then we used our senses to explore each one. We learned the words for the parts, and then we used our fingers to pull them apart! From there, the petals were added to art, mixed in with play dough, brushed across arms and faces, turned into potions, crushed into perfume, added to the water table, and SO MUCH MORE! 

they had so much fun

We took it outside! A lot of new teachers may ask, "What can I set up outside for the children?" The answer is "Pretty much anything you do inside, you can do outside." From easel painting to chalk work, to block building, to egg shell crushing, your classroom kiddos can do it all outside! Sometimes, we even take our naps outside. 
 

stamping with plastic eggs

 

it was broken

 

crushing egg shells

 

nature patterns

 

more butterfly fun with dollar store finds

This butterfly frame is the outside part  of a butterfly sign that I turned into a chalkboard. It was originally glittery pink, and now it'...not. We set it out on a table, along with a plethora of small bits to explore.

Some children designed a loose parts butterfly, some showcased their skills in symmetry, and other essentially used a one-to-one correspondence approach to their design. More blurry pics, but they show the variety of exploration in this group of three and four year olds. 

dollar store butterfly chalkboard

A little chalkboard spray paint can transform all manner of dollar store signs. This particle board butterfly being one thing. We used makeup sponges as chalk erasers, and set out the thinner chalk to really eke out those pincer grips! 

butterfly fine motor fun

I found this butterfly placemat at the dollar store. It was a bright pink, so I spray painted it black and set it out with a variety of other colorful felt pieces. The photo is blurry, but it works. The older children (and often their even older siblings) will set about to create a symmetrical design, while the younger children take a more is more approach to the whole thing. You can also do this by cutting out a butterfly from felt. I liked the placemat as it was much larger and more sturdy than the felt I had at home.