We want to welcome all of our friends back to school and wish all of our families a Happy New Year! Room 8 had a fabulously busy first week of the new decade. We began by hearing about everyone’s holiday break. From vacations to Mexico to spending time with special family members to playing with our new Hanukkah toys, we loved listening to the detailed stories of your Winter Break adventures.
We decided to set out a new activity for the first day back after break. The Art Table, a regular station each morning, looked a little different this Monday. Rather than coloring tools or cutting materials, the center was set up with five identical stations. Each setting contained a paint pod strip filled with three colors, a cup of water, three paint brushes, a pencil, and a piece of white construction paper. The three colors of paint filling the pods were red, yellow and blue. The children were encouraged to visit this new center on Monday morning and could create or do whatever they wanted with this new set-up. As the children inquired about what to do at this station, the only guideline we gave was to not mix the colors in the pods. If they wanted to mix two colors, they just had to do it on the paper. We sat and observed quietly and noticed that most of the children kept each color separate. They painted areas of the paper only with red and returned the red brush to the red paint. Then, they would use the blue brush and paint other areas of the paper that were not painted yet. The children took this one guideline and applied it to the entire project. Rather than trying to mix on the paper or even have two colors touch, each child made sure that the red, blue and yellow each had their own place on the page. We realized that our guideline to not mix the colors within the pods was restrictive to the children. The following day we wanted to encourage the children to try to mix the primary colors on their paper. We explained and showed them an example, which gave them the courage to try it on their own. Dylan realized he could make green from yellow and blue, and Lennon was so excited to learn that blue and red make purple. After the children had a chance to experiment on their own, we sat as a large group to dive deeper into the world of colors. We placed a large piece of white butcher paper on the rug and sat in a circle around it. As a class, we mixed each of the primary colors together, two by two, to create secondary colors. Then, what happens when you add black or white? Ask your child if they can tell you what white or black will do to the color. The children were amazed that we could make so many different shades of colors. The children then matched paint swatch cards to the colors that we had made. Each had a creative name like eucalyptus green, winter surf, and chili pepper. This activity helped the children strengthen their vocabulary and their ability to make connections. The children had to think on a deeper level to come up with unique words to describe each color. Instead of just calling it purple, the children described it as violet and lavender. They were able to also compare the colors to things they had seen in the real world. For instance, Lilah compared the orange color we created to a peach, while Rian said it could be a skin color. When we added black to that same color, Lorne said it could be coral. Alexandra compared a grayish blue that we had created to blueberries, and Isabella said that same color was navy, which is her mom’s favorite color. The ability to describe objects and things we see is essential to our learning and academic success. The children are learning to categorize and organize the world as they see it. Learning colors and shades also encourages creative expression at a young age. After our large group discussion, the children were begging us to try it on their own, which we will spend time on next week! We also have a few great books on the subject of color that will help tie in the next holiday of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the importance of ethics. We hope you all have a wonderful weekend, and we can’t wait to get our color on next week! Shabbat Shalom, Mari and Aaliyah REMINDERS:
Shabbat Family Schedule January 17- Lorne January 31- Bella February 7- Chloe March 20- Alexandra
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Pre-K Room 8Mari Greifer Archives
March 2020
Categories |