Our Four-Year-Old Class recently learnt about printing, during an engaging and interactive visit to the Art Gallery. They also toured and viewed the gallery's Art Showing called 'Transference'. The field trip was led by Melanie, the Gallery's School Program Coordinator, who did a wonderful job engaging the children throughout the visit.




The children created monotype prints using a printing press. Melanie led the children in a discussion about prints and how they are all around us... in books/comics, on signs, labels, and endless more items. As Melanie pointed out, you could even see a print on the T-shirt that Matius was wearing! He had a print of a dinosaur on his T-shirt. That had all the children looking down at the clothes they were wearing, and calling out the prints they could see.














When the children were done, they took turns carrying their creations over to Melanie and the printing press. There, the artwork was put on the press, with a sheet of paper laid over-top the artwork. The next step was to roll, roll, roll the press.






The children collected their artwork and took them back to the tables. There the paper was peeled back, revealing their very own print. This was a very intriguing and enjoyable process. Once on the shelf to dry, the children washed the ink from their hands.




It seemed each child thoroughly enjoyed their morning at the Art Gallery, and the new learning experience they all shared.

We arranged a field trip to meet the Orchestra at the Vancouver symphony and to listen to Carnival of Animals. Prior to the field trip we had talked about instruments. Chuck (Garrett’s dad) who is a professional musician spoke to the class about the various families of instruments as well as playing the guitar.

The children experimented with oil, water, food colouring and pipettes this morning. They squeezed drops of coloured water into a layer of oil and were engaged for a very long while. This is a simple activity with an intriguing effect.


 Irena gently and carefully shook the tray back and forth, blending colours.


Roan watched a small drop rolling up and down the pipette.

 
Daniel said “The circle drop is getting bigger and darker. It's dark green and red and purple.”


Charlie seemed intrigued while watching water move up and down the pipette as he squeezes the bottom.



While Lucas was having snack, Tiffany and Cara decide to take over where he left off. Lucas comes over to check out the progress.







Another enjoyable and cooperative day in our Preschool Four-Year-Old Program.

This week in our class, the children got to explore flowers through different activities that were provided.


Oil pastels and black paper were the materials used for this art.

Thursday

I brought the flowers to a table with some magnifying glasses for the children to use for observation. Some said that they saw a little bit of color but the flowers are still white. Mia suggested that we leave the flowers in the jar to see more color and that’s what we did. We shall check next class for more color on the flowers.

 

 

For art, we used the flowers to paint. Aiden was painting when he noticed that there were petals on his paper. He said, “We should be gentle so they don’t fall". The children enjoyed seeing the prints the flowers made on their paper.

 

 

As an educator, these activities served as a reminder of how learning can be extended as long as the children are still interested. It all started with one bouquet of flowers and we were able to use it in different explorations.

Until next time,

Patricia

 

 

Last week our morning class had their second visit with our big buddies from Gilmore Elementary. This time they hosted us at their school for a fun-filled morning.

Our day began in the library where two students picked a story to read aloud to the group. Our children were so engaged in the story that Deanna and I discussed bringing the students back to Merry King for a daily story telling.
They did an amazing job capturing our children’s attention and drawing them into the magical story.

Next, Mrs. McCarthy planned an activity for the kids to work on together. The big buddies were to trace the little buddy’s bodies on a piece of paper and then draw their outfits on the paper as accurately as possible. This seemed like a daunting task at first however the end result was so special. We hung the finished products up in the hallway outside our classroom if you wanted to have a look for yourself.

We then headed to the gym for a quick snack and then free play. This part of the morning was really fun for Deanna, Brianne and I to sit back and watch. The big buddies really took on a nurturing role with our children to make sure that they were cared for and having a good time.


At the beginning of the day some of our students were a tad shy around the somewhat new faces so it was so amazing to see them come out of their shells and embrace the new friendships that they created.

We can’t wait for our next adventure with our big buddies in April.

Until then
Jordan