Painting a Giant Cardboard Box

 

 

About a week ago Rachel brought us this giant cardboard box. We weren't quite sure what to do with it but curiously it was shaped just like the new chairs in the Temple Lobby. The children had fun sitting on it but it was so drab. Today we began to add some color, painting it red, yellow, blue and white. Working cooperatively in small groups strengthens a feeling of community that is so vital to a successful classroom experience.

Getting Ready for Taste of The Town

Friday the Tel Aviv class did something so fun: painted a chair! For the taste of the town our class is working hard to create a one of a kind chair that is decorated with love from Tel Aviv class. Since we love bugs so much we have been practicing drawing bugs and will take our drawings and modge podge them to our beautiful newly green chair. It should be a super beautiful bug bonanza!   

Friday we spent part of our outside time painting the chair and making sure that all the brown was covered. It was important that it hides behind the green. Kids worked together to point out areas that needed more attention and together they did a great job! The chair will continue to change over the next few days. Check it out before it heads to the auction!

Bubble Wrap Art

 

 

 

The Keshet children made creative use of some fun packing material today, as they painted with small sponge sticks on the bubbly sheets which covered a table, and then made prints by pressing paper on top. Some of the prints now decorate our classroom wall. The children were engrossed in their work, spending much time with each step. We are impressed by how cooperatively they work side by side, and by how increasingly willing they are to try new media.

Getting Started

The Keshet class is looking ahead to Chanukah. We began today to prepare a special surprise to enjoy next week. The children are always enthusiastic about painting, and we notice that they are extending the amount of time that they will spend on an endeavor. They enjoyed using small sponges on sticks instead of paint brushes, and took great care in  applying the blue paint to the boxes. More steps will follow!

Beautiful Ice

 A new ice cube tray inspired lots of creative thinking in the Etzim classroom.  First we froze blue stars and put them in our water table, only to find them melting faster than we could play with them.  We next thought about paintin with the stars.  Lots of thought went into what colors to choose, how long it would take, and how we could use them.  Sophie surprised us all by discovering the ice made beautiful star stamps.  We have lots of ideas on how to use our stars next (Jacob - playdough. Eliana - add more color and make rainbows!)

Pumpkin Painting

Sydney and Abby use thin water color brushes to paint their pumpkins. It takes fine motor skill and some planning to control the brush and get the paint just where you'd like. Sometimes the brush just doesn't seem to be doing a good enough job and handfuls of paint work better - as we see Hillary doing. What fun she had. We ended up fingerpainting and making handprints, as well.  

 

Two Fisted Fun

Ethan started his day off with gusto and hot pink paint.  The children are entering the classroom more easily as they get used to the school routine.  Ethan and his brother, Harrison, were dropped off and walked down to the classroom with Rohan.  After storing their jackets and backpacks, they were off to start their day.

Painting at the Easel

We introduced the easel in the Keshet classroom today.  You can see that Harrison is experimenting with color mixing right on the paper.   Joseph has some bold strokes of distinct color on the other side.  At times during the morning, there would be one child at the easel.  Later, a second child joined the first and they were painting side by side.  The children seemed to enjoy painting together, as all of the paint cups ended up on one side of the easel.  As they create, the children are working the muscles in their shoulder girdle in a way that they don't when working at a table or on the floor.  

Making Connections

Today we cut open apples to see if we could find the star inside.   We did some apple printing, which lead to some fun, squishy hand printing.  When we told the children "Those are some messy Etzim hands!" Sophie S. said "If they were messy Etzim hands it would be algae or dirt on it because we are trees!"  This lead to further discussion about the meaning of our classroom name - trees.  This Etzim group will certainly be keeping us on our toes!

More Tel Aviv Painting Fun!

The Tel Aviv class LOVES to paint! Today kids were taking turns at the easel enjoying painting with both a skinny tiny brush and a big flat sponge. Each utensil created a different line that in interesting and exciting to use while helping develop different muscles and fine motor skills in children’s hands and fingers. Charlotte was even painting with one in each hand! I loved watching the different pairs and combinations of children at the easel. Together they created oceans, fish, castles and more. Adam and Josh added so many layers of paint that they were able to rip the paper and paint to sheets of paper at a time. What fun!

Rainbows Hard At Work

The Rainbows had a very busy morning and were involved with many different activities. The children played with rice, painted, used hammers and pliers with golf tees, and played in the kitchen area. Ask your child which activity he or she liked best?

Beginning to prepare for our trip to Israel

As part of our discussion about where to go in Israel,and what we want to see, the Kohavim children began to make a picture of an ocean or sea today. Joshua worked long and hard on this, and was then joined by Matt, Eric, and Teddy Fox. It is unclear right now whether this is the river Nile, the Red Sea, the Mediterranean Sea, or the ocean. Today we talked about how we might get to Israel, and whether or not everyone wanted to go. Tomorrow we will do more planning and hopefully we will soon be on our way!

The River Nile

The Levana children are painting the River Nile. We love to work together on a large surface, using large "real" paintbrushes. Our OT, Shana Krell, tells us that working from a standing position benefits the children in several ways. When they draw or paint in this way, children develop back and shoulder strength, balance, and a wide range of motion. These all facilitate the development of both fine and gross motor skills.

The Pincer grip

Last night's presentation about the physical development required before a child learns to write was so interesting! Just this week, the Rainbows have had a few opportunities to experiment with the pincer grip. They used shortened paintbrushes and water to create artwork on chalkboards. The chalkboards were mounted on the easel to achieve the proper angle to encourage proper hand position. The short handle on the paintbrush also made it difficult to utilize the palmar grip. The children also worked with eye droppers as they experimented with color mixing on some absorbent coffee filters. You can imagine those hand muscles getting stronger...

Red and blue make...

What started as an individual work of art with very distinct and bold swaths of red and blue was transformed as Molly welcomed Josh's participation at the easel. I overheard them talking. Josh asked, "Do you think red and blue will make purple?" As they continued to combine the colors, they exclaimed......

"It did! It did! We made purple!"

We are seeing more examples of dyad play as the children find ways to work and play with a partner. We also see the spontaneous formation of small groups at play. It is wonderful to see them discovering the joy of being part of a team - whether it's painting, washing a table, or building a tower.

Painting With Wood

The Rainbows did not paint with paper today but instead painted with wood. We told the kids that wood comes from trees, and since we are learning about Tu B'Shevat, which is the birthday of trees, this is why we are painting with wood. The kids each got to choose their own wooden animal and paint it. They soon discovered that this was easier said than done. One by one as they were done painting the front, they all said, "I'm done." To their surprise, the teachers showed them that the animals had more than one side and, in fact, they were not quite done yet. The animals were 3D and all had a top, bottom, and sides. Several of the children enjoyed this activity so much that they painted several animals. There were ducks, snakes, elephants, and many more to choose from. Ask your child which one was their favorite!

It looks like a......!

The children loved reading It Looks Like Spilt Milk by Charles G. Shaw. They were fascinated to see the number of different things that a supposed splotch of "spilt milk" could look like. Their imagination spawned so many answers that I had trouble keeping up with them all. The book was new to most of them. We followed up the story by making our own pictures using white paint and black paper. This was a big hit as well. They were so excited to see what shapes emerged when they folded the paper in half after applying blots of paint to one side of the paper. Teddy Post continued to show his interest in making books by starting a spilt milk book today which he plans to continue to work on tomorrow. Any budding Rorschachers in the group?

Painting to Plant!

As Tu B'shvat approaches, the Tel Aviv class is learning about how plants grow and how to take care of the plants and trees all around us. Rachel generously brought in some egg cartons which we decided to paint so that we can plant seeds in each of the egg holders. Each egg carton is begin shared between two students and everyone was excited to paint their garden with a buddy. Some buddies split it so each buddy painted one side. Other pairs just each grabbed a brush and just started painting! It was neat to see how each pair negotiated to create a piece of art that both children were pleased with. We are so excited to plant some seeds in the upcoming weeks!

Painting with Partners!

The Tel Aviv class LOVES to paint and more recently we have seen children wanting to paint with a friend. Today Rachel and ax painted on one side of the easel while Dylan and Jacob painted on the other. Max and Rachel enjoyed maxing all three colors together and watching the colors blend into one. Dylan and Jacob shared their paper well. Jacob painted a train while Dylan made handprints below. Jacob got so excited about Dylans hand prints that he started to paint Dylan’s hand’s too! It was a group effort. We love having so many creative kids in our class!

What, no paintbrushes?

The Rainbows created a whirwind of color today as they experimented with finger paints. Some of the children were a bit puzzled - were they really being invited to put their hands into the paint? No brushes? Some enjoyed using an individual finger and eventually tried putting a palm right onto their creation. Others marveled at the feel of paint between their hands. There were many requests for more colors, and mixing them was good fun. The kids worked on their feet, rather than seated. This gives them a chance to put their weight into their activity, and to use broader motions with their arms.

When it came time to clean up, the collection of colors on the spoons we had used made us smile - it was as if we had created our very own rainbow!