Creating a Literate, Artistic Environment in the home or in the classroom:
It's so exciting to create a happy learning environment for young children. You just need to look at ordinary objects and activities with the fresh, new eyes of kids! Time to go back, back...back...and see like a child, but think like a teacher!
Supplies to keep on hand home or classroom:
(It's good to have supplies that the children can learn how to get and care for by themselves. Teaching kids HOW to use their own supplies and tools builds confidence.)
- A rolling cart with 4-6 drawers.
- Masking Tape: Kids love it, it is cheap, won't harm most surfaces.
Get a BIG roll of the 2" size good beige masking tape..
Have two kinds of chalk. One to keep in their drawer (sidewalk or blackboard chalk) and one you keep for special activities (artists' chalk). You can buy a chalkboard or make one using a masonite board and chalkboard paint, green or black. Buy a chalk eraser or use a rag! Actually a rag is more hygienic; you can wash it.
- Crayons:A whole drawer of them! Take them out of the boxes and please don't tell the kids not to break them! Teach them how to use them, whole or broken, peeled or not peeled. Show them how to use the sides of crayons and how to press hard and soft and how to blend colors.
- Markers:They are available everywhere. Have a whole drawer full of the washable kinds. When the kids are using them, keep a damp washcloth nearby on a paper plate and teach them to use it when their hands get unbearable dirty. :)
- Glue: Have several glue sticks available, both the smaller and larger sizes. Sometimes the larger ones are easier for little hands. Kids can use these with little direct supervision once you have taught them how. School glue works well too. With supervision, you can use white glue with them; put a little in a bowl and let them use a finger...keep the washcloth handy!
- Paper and Pictures: Unending supply from so many sources. Save pictures from catalogs (cut them out) pieces of wrapping paper, paper from printers and copy places (they often have scrap paper) computer printer paper you've goofed on, calendars, posters, greeting cards, advertisements
- Tiny Tins: Around Christmas you can find many of these available. Often, Celestial Seasonings Teas have little tins inside their tea boxes. Candy tins, promotional tin crayon boxes, French candy boxes...keep your eyes out. Store these in on of the drawers.
- Rubber stamps and stamp pads.Teach the kids how to use them; this is one which will need supervision. Buy several of the large, plain images for kids to combine, those with shapes, spirals, triangles, boxes, circles, etc. Stamps with the alphabet and numbers on them are good. Use the stamp pads which dry quickly.
- Jeans Pocket: Save your Jeans, all sizes. Cut out two matching pockets, leaving a good half-inch seam allowance around the actual pocket. Sew the two pockets right-sides together, as close as you can get to the pocket itself. Turn the pockets inside out and then hand stitch down any remaining material. Kids love these pockets to keep their "Word for the Day", spelling words, etc. The pocket can be marked for identity or purpose or both (or just decorated) with fabric paint...the kind with thin tips. Pin the pocket on a bulletin board for handy access!
- Jeans Pocket Quilt: Save all your jeans, cut out a square of denim about 8" with the pocket in the middle. Stitch them all together into a quilt, pockets all going in the same direction. You can make it any size, put tab hangers on the top and then hang the "pocket chart" to contain anything you want. Ideas: One for each child, for homework, etc.
- Paint Trays: Wash and save those little plastic sushi trays from the supermarkets. They make wonderful paint tray palettes for acrylics- and when they are finally covered with paint, let them dry and use them for a painting surface!! Let them dry, tack them on the bulletin board and make a beautiful collage.
- Painting Surfaces: Save the tops and bottoms of frozen orange juice cans. They make perfect little painting surfaces for acrylics (supervised) and have no sharp edges. When painted, they can be sprayed to last. Hook a ribbon to the back and hang the painting.
- Balls of twine and yarn. Kids love to glue on paper, hang thrie creations, frame their pictures, etc
HIGH TECH BONES
- Design your own mouse! (the computer kind.) Discuss the "mouse" functions in the computer world, and why it is called a mouse (obvious, right?) Look at this mouse, entitled "Old Mouse" to get some ides. Construct a mouse of your own, or draw one. Could this mouse really work? Who would like a "mouse" like this if it could? An Archaeologist? X-ray technician? Radiologist? A Halloween enthusiast? Paleontologist?
- RAINBOWS FOR BREAKFAST: Get several cut lead-crystal spheres or prisms (the 1 or 2 inch size) and hang in a south or east window to catch the morning sun. When they reflect the rainbows all over the walls, let the children "eat them for breakfast". They'll make everyone so happy! Who doesn't love a rainbow? Scoop them up and put them in your pockets so you can have them anytime you want! Hold a little piece of white material on the wall where the reflections of colors can fall on it, and then wrap it up and put it in a box. Decorate the box with rainbows.
- WORD TREASURE BOXES: by Amber Kaye (more coming soon)
This is a very effective, fun system for increasing reading vocabulary in the home and classroom. Think boxes and containers of every sort. Think LISTS of words.
- FACES: study faces of people and animals. Take pictures with a camera of objects in your environment that resemble faces. Assemble them into a booklet. Give them names.
APRONS
- Central Oregon Apron enthusiast Bobbe Schafer collects vintage American apron patterns and then uses the patterns to make aprons. She sews with colorful modern fabrics and sometimes with vintage (old, authentic) fabrics to match the era of the pattern. Sometimes aprons are worn by men; for example, a leatherworker often wears an apron, as does a farrier. Cobblers wore aprons! Do you know anyone who wears an apron? Aprons are used to protect clothing or decorate costumes. Find pictures of men and women wearing aprons in Folk and Fairy Tales. Many cultures make beautiful aprons to wear on special holidays. Make an apron for your next classroom party, design it with a theme in mind. You can use paper sacks (to look like leather), white kitchen garbage bags, fabric from home, an old pillowcase. Use string or shoelaces for the ties.
FLAGS
- Become a vexillologist! Study the designs of international, national, regional and local flags, then try your hand at making one which has meaningful symbols to the person making the flag, and colors also chosen for their symbolic meaning. Here's the messy but delightful part: you can only do about 4 kids at a time, so have a smooth-topped table devoted to the experience for about a week. Tear up some old white sheets, in about 14x20 inch rectangular shapes, then put concentrated starch (non-toxic) all over the material. Wipe up the excess around the flag and use your hands to smooth out the material. Then use good oil-based chalk (NOT chalkboard or sidewalk chalk) to design your flag, color ALL the fabric. When each flag is done, pick up the material while wet and "place" it on an inside window to dry. (You'll have some windows to wash when you get done, but it's worth it.) When it's dry, you can make a display of all the flags, perhaps creating fictitious names of "states" or "countries." These are really beautiful. A good resource for flags: http://www.fotw.ca/flags/
MAGIC CARPET
- Study the history of carpets and rugs, and also the controversy surrounding the manufacture of carpets using the labor of children. Look into the design of rugs and carpets, and design a MAGIC CARPET. Describe how it is magic, and then...how do you clean it?
LEARNING DIFFERENCES & DISABILITIES, NEW STUDIES (PBS SPECIAL)
COOL ART ACTIVITIES
PALINDROMES
- Once in an Eternity: Perfect Symmetry
As the clock ticked over from 8:01PM on Wednesday, February 20th, 2002, time
will (for sixty seconds only) read in perfect symmetry. To be more precise: 20:02, 20/02, 2002.
It is an event which has only ever happened once before, and is something which will never be repeated.
The last occasion that time read in such a symmetrical pattern was long before the days of the digital watch (or the
24-hour clock): 10:01AM, on January 10, 1001. And because the clock only goes up to 23.59, it is something that will never happen again. And, it's a Palindrome...so check out the fun of Palindromes by clicking here:
WORDS CAN HEAL!!
- Words Can Heal is a national campaign to eliminate verbal violence, curb gossip and promote the healing power of words to enhance relationships at every level. If your staff room is full of gossip and "choosing up sides", how can you expect your students to act differently?
WANT TO HELP KIDS DEVELOP COMPASSION??
- Sparrow Foundation is a youth-based charity organization of kids helping kids.
"Service-learning with Compassion" is a program for schools and which has successfully operated nationwide since 1995 as a 501 c 3 (EID#91-1672700). www.sparrow-fdn.org
Mission: Promoting youth compassion by establishing and supporting Sparrow Clubs to help local children in medical crises.
GARDENS FOR SCHOOLS
- The SLOW FOOD MOVEMENT has announced that the first of the SLOW FOOD SCHOOL GARDENS has been established in Denver, Colorado at Bromwell Elementary School. It will be a Spring Salad Garden. Prairieland SF in Champaign, IL just broke ground for its school garden, too. And, there are more!! Interested? SLOW FOOD wants to improve the diets of kids across the country. Let's help them out! Contact peoplelink@bendnet.com
SIGNALS/CODES/FLAGS
- Semaphore Flag Signaling System
International Marine Signal Flags
Morse Code Translator (You can hear it!!!)
TIME
- All about GLOBAL TIME, CALENDARS, etc. Do you know what ZULU time is?
STATES, VEHICLE LICENSE PLATES
- Make a car license plate, all states, all issues. This is really fun!! VERY REALISTIC!
OREGON LIGHTHOUSES
- US LIGHTHOUSE SOCIETY, PO Box 1200, Port Orford, OR 97465
1-541-332-9002
- U.S. Coastguard re: lighthouses
- Good links for teachers in studying lighthouses.
- National Lighthouse Museum
FFFBI (Fin, Fur, Feather Bureau of Investigation)
- This is a great resource for kids online, featured on National Public Radio. Uses
kid-friendly format to teach research and problem solving skills using animal facts and information. Check it out at http://www.fffbi.com/hq.html
EGYPTIAN ART, ALSO TEACHER RESOURCES FOR USING ART IN CLASSROOM
- EMORY UNIVERSITY, Carlos Museum, Atlanta GA
- You might be interested to know that this museum has the mummy of RAMSES I in its collection and will be returning it to Egypt next year. The museum has had the mummy for 3 years, but identification was finally established in 2002.
INCREDIBLY STUPID MOVIE PHYSICS
- For teachers and older kids; a fascinating web site.
Check out the Incredibly Stupid Movie Physics Rating System. Are there really "flashing bullets"? Can bugs really grow to gigantic sizes? Find out here!
50 STATE FLOWER PAPER QUILT
Design a "quilt" from paper squares. Each child will research the flower of that state. Some flowers have multiple states. That's OK, no two pictures are alike! Some children might do two pictures if needed. This list is from the New York Times Travel section, but you can research your own. The USPO made state flower stamp sheet a few years ago.
- 1. Magnolia (Louisiana and Mississippi)
- 3. Violet (New Jersey and Rhode Island; wood violet, Wisconsin; native violet, Illinois)
- 4. Scarlet carnation (Ohio)
- 6. Orange blossom (Florida)
- 7. Rhododendron (Western rhododendron, Washington; big rhododendron, West Virginia)
- 9. Rose (New York; wild rose, Iowa; Cherokee rose, Georgia; wild prairie rose, North Dakota)
- 10. Rocky Mountain columbine (Colorado)
- 11. Dogwood (North Carolina and Virginia)
- 16. Black-eyed Susan (Maryland)
- 18. Indian paintbrush (Wyoming)
- 19. Goldenrod (Kentucky and Nebraska)
- 20. Pasque flower (South Dakota)
- 22. Mayflower (Massachusetts)
- 24. Yellow jessamine (South Carolina)
- 25. Mountain laurel (Connecticut and Pennsylvania)
- 28. Pink-and-white lady's slipper (Minnesota)
- 31. Apple blossom (Arkansas and Michigan)
- 32. Peach blossom (Delaware)
- 33. Forget-me-not (Alaska)
- 34. Golden poppy (California)
- 35. Saguaro cactus blossom (Arizona)
- 36. Yellow hibiscus (Hawaii)
- 37. Purple lilac (New Hampshire)
- 38. White pine cone and tassel (Maine)
You can actually "sew" this quilt together with fine felt pen (black) drawing stitches around the edges.
FINGERNAIL ART:
- Supervised fun for 7-9 year olds. Open pistachio nuts to reveal two intact shells. Paint the shells with acrylic paint (tiny brush, little dabs of paint on an old plate) When dry, coat with clear acrylic nail polish. Tape them on fingers with double stick tape.
MOVIES FOR KIDS:
- If your child is between 8-12, this is a perfect reference book for films the whole family will enjoy.
