Weekly Activities

Line of Inquiry: Decorations tell human stories and help us know one another. We began a clay project on Wednesday. The children used clay to make a decoration for themselves or as a gift for someone special. For some, it was the first time using clay. The children loved creating with their hands. We will paint the clay next week so you will have to wait to see what each child made! Today, the children made mobiles as decorations. Each child was given a picture of him or herself to place on the mobile. The rest of the items added were chosen by each of the children. It was fun to hear the conversation as the children shared with one another their likes and dislikes in a decoration. Alan chose blue because that is his favourite colour. Oliver added a heart for his mom and a happy face for his dad. Jayla added a girl because she is a girl. Sophie chose purple because purple is her favourite. Grace chose a different way to hang her mobile because she wanted it flat agai...

Last week, the Wind Group painted their faces.  The Fire Group was very intrigued and expressed interest in face painting.  Following the interests of the children, we looked at pictures of people from countries around the world that used decoration on  their faces and bodies.  Some of the examples we looked at were: Japan and the Geisha, henna painting from India, tribal paint in Kenya, and North American sports fans. For each example, we talked about the meaning and history of the decorations as well as the colours and designs used. The children decorated masks and then were given the opportunity to have their face and hands painted with designs of their choice.

We dramatized canoeing down a river and greeting people along the way.  Every stop we made, the children were asked questions to help us connect with one another better. Some of the questions  asked were: - what colours do you like? - do you have a favourite animal?                                                       -  what do you like to play? At the end of the journey I asked the children what kind of decorations they would like to put on their canoe paddles. Their decorations reflected the answers to these questions. The children took the task to decorating the paddle very seriously and were committed to the project. It was a great activity for the children to learn about how decoration can tell a story.

Today's activity stems from the comments from the children last week that a decoration needs colour. Does a decoration have to be colourful? I brought in a number of Coast Salish carvings for the children to explore.  None of these carvings were painted.  I wanted the children to see the geometric designs that the artists used to transform the wood into decorative pieces of art. We compiled a list of the different shapes we found in the carvings. Byron/Alan: circles Sophie: triangles Esme: squares Jayla: lines Grace: ovals. The children practiced drawing those shapes before decorating a whale to make their own Coast Salish drawing.  Being able to touch the art and not just see it from pictures was helpful for the children to make a connection with the Coast Salish art.  This hands-on experience helped the children see some one else's perspective and that for some people decoration does not require colour.

We have begun our new unit exploring decorations from some First Nations' cultures and how these decorations tell us a story that helps us connect with one another.  Traditionally, totem poles are found in the Pacific Northwest and are used to commemorate an event, represent family lineage and/or history.  If you are interested in  learning more about totem poles, this link has great information.  http://indigenousfoundations.arts.ubc.ca/home/culture/totem-poles.html Before we could begin learning about totem poles, I asked if the children knew what they were. Many have seen the totem poles situated at Stanley Park.  We looked at pictures and  discussed what the totem poles are made of and what they could mean. Most of the children felt the totems were decorations except for the ones that were not very colourful. We read the story "Totem Tales" by Deb Vanasse.  It is an Alaskan story of how a totem pole comes to life and the figures have to rea...