Paper Mache Flowers ....

During our Integration meeting last week, we discussed the many areas of interest that we have observed our children moving towards. Nature, flowers, insects, and all outdoor activities  seem to be on the top ten list of favorites! Work in the art studio has also opened up in a really interesting fashion. Children are using a variety of materials in new ways; the work with paper is more 3 dimensional and they have discovered the colored masking tape bin in the studio and are using the tape to create sculptures and art. They are incorporating paper, cardboard, feathers, and markers and are creating mixed media sculptures. Another area of interest that we discussed was our upcoming "museum opening".....

We decided several weeks ago that we would celebrate our study and exploration of art this year with a transformation of our classroom into an art museum! We have visited two museums this spring , Abington Art Museum and Woodmere Museum, which both helped us learn more about art and museums. We learned that museums are places where people can go to experience art and places where people share art with other people. Our children feel proud of their art work and clearly see themselves as wonderful young artists. Celebrating their joy of art and inviting our families to come to our special art exhibit seems like a perfect closure to our incredible journey of art this year. We plan on having our "opening " in the evening , and the children are most excited about planning this very special, fancy event! More info will be coming in the days ahead.

We also decided that we wanted to explore sculptures and three dimensional art more intentionally. Speaking with Samantha, our Lower School art teacher, she suggested a really amazing larger that life paper mache flower project for the children to get involved with. This of course connects so well with our study of flowers and we were all really excited to get involved. We used our Integration time to begin our work on the project. We worked in the Lower School art room and were able to work in small groups with the additional support of our resource team. The first stage of the paper mache process went well and we will continue to build the flowers when the bases dry. This collaborative work was reflective of the maturity that we have observed developing throughout the year. The children enjoyed the experience so much that we asked to get the supplies to make more flowers in the classroom.