Creating Our First Reggio Chandelier

I love, love, love the look of the "Reggio" chandeliers.  

It was one of the must-do projects with my new class.

I wanted to start with a "natural" base.  Well . . . it just so happened that my son had a big pile of dead bushes in his backyard.  Viola!  A chandelier base!

Materials Used:

• assorted beads
• jewelry wire
• a bush branch

 A couple children in my class helped to select our bead palette - silver, clear, and white.

 I found the best times to work on the chandelier with the children was during arrival and after nap.  It is a perfect activity for soft and gentle moments.  Stringing beads is a lovely way to sit and talk.  

I put down black construction paper "work" mats to help the children "see" their beads and constructions. I prepared the wire strands by putting a bead at the end and wrapping it. I would lay these on the black mats - ready for little hands!

 I let the children build and create their own strings of beads.

 They loved deciding where to put their strand.  

After we completed the chandelier, I let the children decide where it would be hung.  They voted to have it above the block center.   Beautiful!

A Reggio Inspired Classroom

I recently had the pleasure of meeting a wonderful Reggio inspired teacher, Mrs. Foshee.  Her room was fab!  Here is a sneak peek:

 Here is her number line.  Love, love it!

 The number is constructed out of tacks and yarn.

 Love the nature items.

 The letters were created from twine.

 Isn't this a grand calendar?!  Love it.

 Painted leaves displayed in wooden frames.

 These would be easy to pick up at thrift stores and garage sales.

 A wonderful tray of nature finds.

Good stuff!

Our Fairy Tree

A few weeks ago I was walking around the neighborhood with my husband when I spotted this wonderful dead tree sitting on the curb -- it still had the roots!!  "Honey, pick up that tree for me."  My husband grimaced.  He knew all too well - another art project!

Trees are one of my favorite art forms!  Here is how I took a dead tree and had the children transform it into a Fairy Tree.  (It was a part of my recycling unit - we recycled a dead tree!! LOL!)

 I put our Fairy Tree into our Living Dollhouse.  It is so sweet. . .

The roots made a wonderful place for the fairies to set-up their home!

HOW TO MAKE THE FAIRY TREE:

 First, I put out three or four colors of paint and let the children paint the tree.  We let some of the wood remain bare.

 I love the gentle strokes of color.

 Second, I gave the children squares of tissue paper and tracers to cut out leaves.

Attach the leaves with a touch of a glue stick and pinch it to a limb.

Let the magic begin!

Collaborative Scientific Drawings

Me oh my!  I saw the coolest idea ever!  Lacy Williams, an intern in the classroom next me, had the children in her class doing a collaborative scientific art piece.  I was so blown away by the wisdom of how she lead the up to the collaborative piece.  The topic was pond life.  Here's what she did:

1.  She showed the children actual photographs of pond life through a power point she developed.

 2.  She taught the children, step by step, how to draw the different creatures in the pond.

 3.  She had each color family in this kindergarten create their own "pond."  Just take a look!

I am so doing this process.  The missing step that I have never done is the collaborative piece done in this way.  I love it!  I watched her students - they were so engaged and in rich conversations.

Another example of the arts bringing learning alive!

Pine Cone Elves

I saw this idea all over Pinterest and had to give it a try with my kinders!

What you will need:

• assorted pine cones (mine came from a friend's yard)
• popsicle sticks
• wooden beads for head
• little red caps (I found mine at Hobby Lobby)
• pipe cleaners cut into fourths
• little pom-poms, glitter pens, and other items to decorate pine cones
• artist's gel medium -- as the glue agent.

 PREPARATION:
I had my assistant prepare the elves by gluing on the wooden bead heads and the popsicle ski's.  

 First, the hat is glued on.

 Next, glue on the pipe cleaner arms.

Add a face and decorate!

Crack! Yum!

I have an old nutcracker - I think it came from my grandmother.  Every fall I put it out as a center choice.  I first check to be sure there are no nut allergies and make all the necessary precautions.  (With some children - it is not possible to even have the nutcracker out.)  If all is a go, I buy a variety of nuts in bulk and put them with the cracker.  The children adore it!

It provides several opportunities:

• The child has to "twist" the end that holds the nut tightly in the holder.  This exercises important fine motor muscles.
• To crack the nut, it takes a strong and intentional push down of the handle.  This takes strength and focus - both important skills.  This is a great activity for children with lots of energy!
• Finally, it provides a delicious morsel of nutmeat.  This helps the children to understand where nut meat comes from!  And, oh, how yummy!

It is nice to store the nuts in a lovely basket.  The children line up to crack nuts -so I have not made it to the basket!

Seedy Necklaces

My current intern, Katie Downing, brought the neatest idea to the classroom.

 Each student was given two beans, a cotton ball, a small plastic bag (I hole punch it for string the yarn) and a length of yarn. 

 The cotton balls where soaked in water.

 The children put their two beans and the wet cotton ball into the little bag.

 The children then string the yarn through the hole in the plastic bag to make the necklace.

The children wear the seed necklaces INSIDE their shirts so the seeds stay warm.  It is amazing -- within 48 hours you can see the beginning sprouts!  Little baby seeds!

Nature Creatures

Making little creatures out of found nature items and basic art supplies is a wonderful fall craft.  It exercises the child's capacity to imagine.  A wonderful extension is to have the children write a story about the creature they created.

What you will need:  nature items such as pine cones, pods and small sticks, pipe cleaners, googly eyes, tissue paper, construction paper (I printed leaves on my paper as our fall did not produce much in colored leaves), artist's heavy gel medium.

 Box of nature items and pipe cleaners

 Box of paper leaves

Oh So Lovely!

I have found the most amazing needle felted artist, Daria, on Etsy.   I ordered Mother Earth for my nature table.  It is more beautiful than it is in these photos.  Her talent is extraordinary!  If you are looking for nature table dolls - I recommend checking out her Etsy store!  (And I am getting nothing for this promotion!  It is pure admiration of a talented artist and sharing it with the world!!!)