For art last week, I chose to do an activity which was a throwback to my childhood. I wasn't quite sure what the name was so I decided the best name for it would be "picture sketch." The reason I called it this was that all the children started with an image glued onto a large blank sheet of paper and then had to fill in the rest of the paper with their imaginations.




We began the activity by choosing which image we liked best; there was everything from a hamburger to a purse, even half a person! The kids quite enjoyed getting to choose a silly picture, some even chose two. Before we continued I explained to the kids the difference between sketching lightly and drawing long dark lines. We discussed how sketching is not only easier to erase, but it's also easier to draw hard shapes like circles.















After I did my demonstration, the kids were let loose and the pictures that they came up with were simply amazing. We had a winter scene with a gondola, a child telling stories, a person doing a one-handed handstand and even a delicious dinner platter. Check out the artistic works of the junior kids below.

This week I decided to follow up with the kids about the earthquake that occurred a couple weeks ago. Everyone was given the opportunity to share their experience of the 4.7 magnitude quake. At Jr OSC we make it a priority to run at least one earthquake/fire drill a month, the kids stop what they are doing, line up and wait for leader instruction. During this process the kids are aware there is no time for grabbing coats, bags or favourite toys, which led me to ask the following question:

If you could save 1 thing in an earthquake what would it be?

James- "my leggo"

Jonah- "hand hockey"

George- "pokemon cards, actually beyblades"

Emily- "my TV and my teddy bear"

Lucy- "I don't know"

Savannah- "myself"

Zi Shen- "leggo"

Lukas H- "I'll save the ground from shaking, then nothing will fall"

We hope that everyone was safe that night and for anyone interested I have attached a link below with some helpful tips for what to do before, during and after an earthquake.

http://www.getprepared.gc.ca/cnt/rsrcs/pblctns/rthqks-wtd/index-en.aspx

Thanks,

Jason

“Wow, amazing, and awesome, a million thanks to the Longhouse Community. Aboriginal women and children accessing Sheway, Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre, and Crabtree Corner will be receiving your generous donations in the coming weeks thanks to “Caring for Our Sisters”. Thank you to everyone for your amazing support.” https://www.facebook.com/thelonghouse/



A great and many thanks to all the children and families who participated in making our donations. We hope that the children have taken away an understanding of the hard times that many people face during the winter months, the joy of being able to help out others, and a new skill!

With winter break just around the corner I thought it would a good opportunity to find out what our kids enjoy about their time off from school, so I asked them:

What's the best part about winter break?

Peyton- "snow"

Zev- "mine is Christmas. Christmas and candy"

Nick- "when you get to stay home"

Isaac- "making igloos"

Isabel- "staying home"

Valentina- "skiing"

Lukas- "winter"

Lucy- "I don't know"

Theodora- "playing in the snow"


This is also a perfect time to remind everyone to send jackets, gloves and toques with the kids to battle the cold climates surrounding us!

Thanks,

Jason

With the cold weather upon us, the juniors have been hard at work learning how to make winter toques for charity. Taught by Katie on Thursday afternoons, the kids have learned how to make hats on circular looms and have been practicing their skills throughout the week with all the leaders.

The kids have become natural loomers and have requested to do it almost every chance they can get. With colourful looms and yarns to choose from, it has been a success with the juniors! They have been practicing their patience, fine motor skills, how to share and even how to teach others during this activity. It has become a beautiful sight to see the juniors helping each other finish the hats and understand why we are donating them to other people.

Some of the kids were so excited to loom today that they wanted to have a discussion about where to get the materials we use for this project. So if any of the juniors ask where to get the looms from, they can be found at Michaels and they come with easy to follow instructions to start making beautiful hats and scarfs for the winter time.