Weekly Activities

Wendy's activity of edible decorations made me think of the Witch's gingerbread house in the story Hansel and Gretel. We looked at the story and wondered what it would be like to live in a house we could eat. The children thought it would be fun but not a good place to be when it rains. We undertook the task of decorating a gingerbread house. It was a very collaborative effort. Before we began, the children made a plan deciding on the colours and the placement of the candy decorations. The children were very patient waiting for their turns.  Upon completion of the house, the children decided that their house is not for a witch but for them to eat. Our house is on display for all the children to enjoy.....for now!

Today the children each did an assessment in the form of a booklet. The booklet was to help me see what the children's understanding of the line of inquiry is and to assess what they have learned thus far. Please have a look at your child's book, each are eager to share his/her knowledge with you.

We finished our clay decorations today.  Each child chose four colours to paint with. It was wonderful to watch each child taking the time to choose the colours and carefully paint their decorations.  The children showed commitment and enthusiasm during this project. The final products provided wonderful conversations at the table as each child was eager to proudly present their decorations. Grace: I have a special place on my shelf to put it on. Byron: I want to give my decorations as a present. Jayla: I am going to hang them on a wall in my room. Sophie: My mom will put it on a wall in my room so I can see it. Alan: I made a mountain. Tyreese: I'm going to put mine in my keeping box. Esme: I'm putting my decoration on a high shelf because Remi can climb now.

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.