Easel Drawing Fun!

Today Alex L. Wondered to the easel and found some crayons near by. He started to draw. First a lot of circles and then some lines. Soon Kayla came and together they drew. I was impressed how the two of them negotiated space together. Both could draw on the same easel and they even shared crayons. After Alex left Kayla traced her hand then my hand.

Soon Michelle came over. Michelle loved experimenting with the crayons. Sometimes she would press lightly to get one color and other times she would press with a lot of power to get a much darker color. Then Michelle noticed that neither Kayla nor Alex had drawn on the top of the paper. She preceded to draw on her tippy toes to draw in the open space at the top.

Easel coloring is a great way to strengthen arm muscles while working on fine motor development. Also the simple act of standing while moving you arm can help strengthen muscles in toddler's core. It was a great social, physical and creative activity and I'm sure they will do it again soon!

Coloring UNDER the Table?!

Early on this rainy Wednesday morning Adam and Josie walked in to find me laying on the floor under the table and were so curious what I was doing on the floor!? They quickly noticed that I was putting paper up UNDER the table?! As more kids came this became quite the hot spot as four or five kids gathered under the table to stretch their arms up and color on the bottom part. Josie was SO excited, "Look Joshua, Today we can paint UNDER the table!!!" See this is how you do it...." It was quite a change but we quickly noticed that there were two many kids under the table so then we put paper on top! Then we had kids painting under AND on the table. So wacky! It was neat to see kids laying on their backs some sitting, some squatting, they each had a technique for how to color. It  was very fun and definitely brought some sunshine into the rainy day!

Preparing for the Auction!

Today the children sketched/drew insects with black markers and then painted them with water colors.   Some chose to draw freehand and others looked at pictures from the WORLD OF INSECTS BOOK and sketched an insect or bug.  Their drawings are amazing!  Caterpillars, butterflies, beetles worms and bees!  Tomorrow we will paint the chair, and the last step will be to glue the drawings on the chair with modge podge.

Selling Art at the Shuk!

The Tel Aviv class created tile and stick art to sell at the shuk!  They used ceramic tiles, felt, buttons,popsicle sticks and glue to create colorful detailed sculptures! 

Creating Elijah's Cups

With Passover here we thought it would be fun for the Tel Aviv crew to create something that they could bring with them to the Seder Table:  Elijah's/ Miriam's cups! We used real glass cups which meant we had to be really careful but the Tel Aviv kids liked that responsibility. We used modge podge and tissue paper for the first layer and then some children added ribbon or paint for a second layer. As each child worked on their creation we could see their personality come out both in the steps they took to create the cup as well as the looks of the final product. They were proud and excited about their creations and we hope that some of you have seen them on your Seder tables!

We've Got That Chanukah Feeling

The Etzim class has been abuzz with Chanukah activity over the last two weeks.  We've made every variation of chanukiah imaginable - paper strips, stamping, gluing, playdough, snack, and, finally, our gorgeous menorah tiles!  We're learning new songs, reading new books, and playing Chanukah Bingo (check out Ben and Josh!)  What a joyful time of year!

Our Own Menorah Factory!

Last week the Tel Aviv class worked hard to create their very own, creative, one-of-a-kind menorahs! Each child took either a wood or tile base and then crafted it with additional wood and tiles and then added color through markers and acrylic paints to create a product that they really felt connected to. We worked for a few days and saw that there are SO MANY ways to make menorahs! After the menorahs were dry from thick layers of paint we added nuts with hot glue to put the candles in. Each child counted out 9 nuts: 8 for the candles plus an extra for the helper candle! After we had enough counted out we used the hot glue gun together to make sure that they were each in the right place. We finished the project by wrapping them up in tissue paper and writing cards for our families wishing them a happy Hanukkah! It was neat to watch each child bring to light their creative ideas and to see the uniqueness in each process as well as product. 

We hope you are enjoying using them at home!

Happy Hannukah!!

Required Fall Crafting

Everybody should have the experience of ironing leaves between wax paper at least once in their life.  Today the Etzim children sorted through the leaves we collected on the playground yesterday.  Eliana noticed the leaves had curled up because we did not press them overnight.   We sorted, arranged, then pressed them with the iron.  Good, old fashioned leaf pressing fun! 

Creating our new Ark!

One of the ways the Tel Aviv class celebrates Simchat Torah is that we create our very own class ark. Last week a few Tel Aviv children found a box that they wanted to use as an ark and this week we have spent time decorating it! The class spent a day using oil pastels in every color imaginable to create drawings of torah and the things torah should have in its house, including a toothbrush! The next day  we added paint and were amazed to see that the oil pastels popped out and that we could still see our designs from the day before. Using Q-tips they painted all the cracks between the pastels lines and really focused on fine motor skills while painting. Also using q-tips enabled more kids to work on painting the ark at one time without making too much of a mess. Everyone was excited to participate and we are excited to have a beautiful new ark which was a true collaboration amongst the 

Tel Aviv class.

Exploring and Creating!

At each child's work space, there were q-tips, paint, and a brown marker.   I told the children we were going to use these materials to create trees you might see during the fall season.

It was interesting to watch as some of the children picked up the brown marker right away and started drawing lines, swirls, and rectangles, which they called the trunk and branches of the tree.

After they created the trunk and branches they started dipping the q-tips in the yellow, green, and orange paint.   Once they had enough paint on the tip of the q-tip they created colorful leaves.   Josie placed the q-tip on the little lines she called the branches and rubbed the q-tip in a circular motion.   Zach dipped his q-tip in the paint and placed the q-tip on his paper, then he quickly pulled it up away from his paper and then placed it down again.  He continued moving the moist q-tip up and down, over and over again.

When the children felt finished with their painting, they laid it on the sensory table to dry.   We displayed them in our classroom today.   When you get chance come in and see your child's colorful, bright fall trees! 

Body Art!

The children had the opportunity to use face paint crayons to create designs, pictures, lines and patterns from head to toe! They had a ball drawing on themselves, classmates, friends and the counselors (EMILY was covered with beautiful Body Art).

The children drew on their on their face, arms, legs and belly! It seemed as though the children had an idea in their head as to what they wanted to create, and they went to work! They were so proud of their finished art!

Taking Care of our Classroom

Today while we were using liquid watercolors one of the cups spilled all over the floor and chair. Rachel said "Oops! Now I can't sit in the chair"  I asked her what would happen is she did and she laughed and explained that paint would get all over her bottom. She decided she didn't want paint on her paints so she was just going to stand and continue to work. I asked her how the paint was going to get off of the chair and suddenly a light bulb went off, "OH! We need to get paper towels NOW so the chair doesn't get blue like my pants would!" She then rushed to go get paper towels to clean up the spill. I was pleased that Rachel was able to come up with the idea to clean the spill on her own, she felt very empowered to take care of the chair and for doing the right thing.  Helping students arrive at the conclusion on their own gives them ownership and pride for everyday tasks.  It helps them show that being part of a community is being responsible for it. Rachel was so enthusiastic that Lily and Molly saw her cleaning and decided it would be a good idea to help her. Thanks Tel Aviv friends for keeping our classroom clean!

Lunch Bunch Printmaking

The Kohavim lunch bunch showed off their amazing artistic talent, ability to focus on their work, and their attention to detail during an intense printmaking session today.  This three step process included drawing the design, painting the print, then pressing it carefully to create a unique, gorgeous print!  Very impressive, Kohavim!

The Tel Aviv Class Begins to Conquer Glass

The students in the Tel Aviv class have been hard at work creating glass mezuzot for Taste of the Town. Our class finds mezuzot fascinating and love finding them around the temple. It only made sense for us to work on some new ones to donate to the auction. Cutting glass is quite the multi-step process. Fist each child has to put on gloves and goggles then they score, or cut, the glass and then they use the pliers to spit the piece of glass in two. Once they have cut and collected all the pieces they want to use it is time to assemble and glue. 

I thought that this process might be too challenging for most of our kids to stay focused throughout the entire task, but boy was I wrong. This class LOVES working with glass. They are excited to watch me work with it and to create their own designs. All of the children are comfortable using the pliers to split the glass independently and Dylan and Max are completely comfortable scoring the glass all on their own!! Dylan continually told me that he could do it himself.  


It was hard to let go and realize that even though glass is a sophisticated medium that Dylan does have an understanding of the materials and he can cut class on his own. It is so neat to watch and they are so proud of each and every piece they cut. Way to go Tel Aviv class! I am proud of each of them and excited that they are working on beautiful pieces of art that they are proud of as well!

Passover Books!

The Lunch Bunch children made their own story Passover books today. They included the plagues, the Pharaoh, baby Moses, the burning bush and Miriam.

Fun with Oil Pastel and Water Colors!

Last Thursday we had a fantastic art class with eight Unicorn, Levana and Rainbow friends! We started our lunch bunch time reading a book about Edgar Degas and we talked about how he used oil pastels to draw horses and dancers. We passed around the oil pastels and felt that they were softer than crayons and smooth to draw with. After the book we did a small science experiment. We pored some liquid water color in a cup of water and saw how the color and the water all mixed together. Then we took another cup of water and guessed what would happen if I poured oil in it. Most of the group thought that the oil and water would mix just like the food coloring and boy were they surprised! We saw that the oil floated and that they didn't mix together. I then asked them what did they think would happen if we put water color on top of oil pastels and they agreed that they wouldn't mix.

Then we started our project. We took some time and drew designs with oil pastels and after they were done we added water colors! They colors were beautiful and it was neat to watch the group use two materials that are so different in the same painting. They spent a lot of time on their pieces and were so proud of their final products! We will continue exploring color and color mixing through colored bubbles and liquid water colors this Thursday! Hope to see you there!

Creating our Elijah's Cup

Last week we the Tel Aviv class talked about different objects we use to celebrate passover. Then we had a vote to see which object the children wanted to create and Elijah's cup won! Today we got started on making our own Elijah's cups by decorating them with modge-podge and tissue paper. The class was excited to be using real glass and they were excited to try mode podge again with a new medium. It was neat to look through the glass and see all the colors of tissue paper. We used much smaller pieces of tissue paper wit smaller brushes which gave each person more control of their design while practicing fine motor skills and control of the brush. Over the next few days we will be adding paint, beads, and wire to create very special cups that we can use at our seders this weekend!

MESSY ART DAYYYY!

Today the Rainbow, Unicorn and Levana friends had a fantastic time during our lunch bunch messy day! Everyone had their own pieces of paper to create their own unique paintings on. We had lots of different unique ways to paint. We painted with pasta both cooked and uncooked. The cooked pasta was wiggly and you could drag the paint across a page. The uncooked spaghetti worked more like a paint brush where you could put the paint exactly where you want it. The uncooked spaghetti was also a neat way to scratch into paint to remove it and draw a picture within the paint. In addition, we also had liquid water color ice cubes. It was neat to watch the paint dissolve on the paper. Each child liked experimenting with these different ways to paint. Molly wanted to paint with a brush and after she painted with a brush for a bit she picked up some uncooked pasta and exclaimed, "This is just like a brush!" Elias like using the ice cube paint to push the other paint around on the page which mixed both kinds of paint together. Max and Nathan painted the spaghetti with the brush and then rolled the noodles across the page. All the children tried using both the pasta and the ice cubes to paint and they left with beautiful multi-media painted creations!

The Shushan Castle!

Our palace/castle has come a long way! Check it out!

Collage Creations!

We had a wonderful messy day with Unicorn, Rainbow and Levena friends making collage creations! First we read the books, "Beautiful Oops" and looked at how art can be made in so many different ways! The we looked at all the fun material we had and worked on our own collages one step at a time. We colored with crayons and then added paint. After that we added string, felt and glue to add a three-dimential flair to our pieces. It was neat to work with different textures and materials. We loved mixing colors and using our hands and rollers to spread paint. I was impressed how long they spent working on their collage pieces! Thanks to all my friends for such a fulfilled afternoon! I can't wait to see everyone again next week for messy day!