Search results matching tags 'art', 'kindergarten', and 'preschool'

Sounds of The Birds and the Bees!

Anonymous — Wed, 01 May 2013 10:00:00 GMT

THE MONTH OF MAY! WELCOME!!!

It's time to turn another page on your calendar. Debbie Clement of RainbowsWithinReach here. Queen of this collaborative effort. Happy monarch of sharing: rainbows, polka dots and learning new things. I'm so excited about today's article. It's FILLED with sights and sounds and inspiration and joy and color and ideas and giggles and fun and snippets and projects and spring!

I've learned about SoundCloud in the last 24 hours. For the first time in my seventeen career as the 'music lady' and five years as a blogger, I can now share a little taste test of my ditties. I have also learned how to link a photo to another article! This is a LOT! I'm learning! I'm growing!
Oh happy spring-time!!!

This is the official beginning of the genuine, no-kidding race down the homestretch. The finish line is in sight for traditional classroom teachers. Have you begun your countdown? How many more Mondays do you have on your calendar?

Let's get started with some of those May flowers that we've anticipated from all of the April showers!

The clever spring bulletin board photos above are from Amber Osterman's "Kindergarten Rocks" hallway. I was able to make a serendipitous visit to her elementary in Osseo, WI on Monday. We met over the weekend at the 35th Annual ECE conference at UW-Stout. The blooms below were created in their art room.

Last week I was in Dixon, IL with our very own Carie Ramirez and photographed these next beauties! They are part of my Art History 101 article published over the weekend. The concentric circles are reminiscent of the work of Kandinsky.

BIRDIES. BABY BIRDIES. LITTLE BABY BIRDIES.

Spring is the season of new life. What greater delight is there than watching a nest being built, eggs being laid, and baby birdies emerging. Look at this project. Primary colors! Media in three dimensions. Bingo!

Now. Look what I have learned!

Embed a sound-clip of my own "Little Birdie" sing-a-long.

Listen along to a snippet.

You'll hear just how simple it is.

I use it with finger puppets.

"Busy, Buzzy Bumblebees"

YES! I also have a very simple little dittie all about bumblebees. It's called "Busy Bumblebee." You can take this one on a test drive, too. There are a total of four verses with a whole lot of alliteration!

"LADYBUG, LADYBUG"

Since the theme this month is 'Songs-of-Flight' take a look at all of these little red ladybug projects! Do you think that that ladybugs bring luck? They always make me smile. There are all sorts of possibilities when it comes to ladybugs!

Preschool Ladybugs on the Bulletin Board for Spring

Now for the final snippet of the month, my "Ladybug" dittie.

You'll notice the simplicity of my songs.

These three all have predictability in the lyrics.

Plenty of repetition.

Oodles of rhyme.

Perfect for Prek+K!

BIG NEWS!! All three of my little winged 'songs-in-flight' have now been converted into Mp3s and then placed into a happy bundle of togetherness and inserted into a zipped file.

The zipped file has then been uploaded under our very own cyber shopping, umbrella-of-excellence, at the EARLY EDUCATION EMPORIUM. Look for this image for your purchase and instant download. There is a simple lyric sheet included. Whooohoooo! Progress!

***Now let me see how else I can be a resource for you during this merry month of May! This is the part of the article where I practice embedding a photograph that links directly to another article from 'my' blog. So if you see something that looks interesting, just click on the picture and enjoy! Amy Ahola taught me just yesterday!

-- Debbie --

I'm now at 119,542 followers!

Click this link to go there directly!

As 'queen' of "PreK+K Sharing" Debbie Clement writes the first article here every month. She writes from her perspective of inter- disciplinary interest: quilting together ALL of the arts of music, movement, story-telling and the visual Arts as well.

Debbie has written and recorded over 100 original songs for children onto 6 CDs that she has under her RainbowsWithinReach banner. An additional 3 CDs have been designed for Zaner-Bloser and Redleaf Publishing.

She travels the country sharing her original zest. The photo at left was taken a couple of weeks ago in Dixon, IL. The quilt was created under the direction of Carie-the-kindergarten teacher (who contributes articles here on the 17th of the month) in response to Debbie's first picture book "You're Wonderful." Click on the photo to see another 14 quilts created in her building!!

Debbie is a Pinterest Princess and invites you to join 119,500+ followers of her curated boards. She has also been deemed at 'expert' in the Early Childhood channel at Sulia. Never been there? Give it a try!

Spring is Here! Spring Art Projects!!

Anonymous — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 11:57:00 GMT

WELCOME TO APRIL!!!

"April showers bring.............."
How do you finish that sentence?
Here's one possibility.

"April Showers bring...... mud!"

Spring-time Umbrellas with Painted Dots

Spring Rain Writing in Kindergarten

BRING ON THE SUNSHINE!
This idea always brings a smile. You can't go wrong with footprints and a paper plate!

Let's break out some blossom-inspiration in plenty of time to fill those spring bulletin boards. Let's get started with these painted handprint beauties. Handprints are another all-time easy-peasy project for the bulletin board.

Looking for a fine-motor scissor skill strengthening idea? How's this for your classroom? Snip those edges on a circle. Totally developmentally appropriate. LUV the details of the seeds, don't you?

I LUV LUV LUV this 'open-ended' process-work for spring. Look at all of the variations in this one class. Lots of different color choices for petals and then let the children create their own masterpieces!

I'm also a very big fan of the collaborative Art process. This one was a major big installation up in the hallways of a MI school that I visited. Making school visits and sharing the sights along the way is so much fun!

"Friendship Flower" Collaboration of Preschool Painted Handprints

Butterflies are a 'staple' when it comes to children's art. The folded paper 'blottos' above are a no-fail idea and yet completely unique. These next 'Eric Carle-like' creations were breath-taking in their simplicity. They were on display in Indiana and created under the loving eye of the school's art teacher.

Spring time fun: "The Birds and the Bees"
Let's get started with birdie eggs in a nest. Any open-ended art project that features a paper plate as a base, is one that can easily be replicated by others. These bases were painted first. Shredded bits were glued in place for the 'nesting' materials. Then everyone's favorite media material was added for the subject representation: eggs = PomPOMS!

Eggs-in-a-Nest Project: Bulletin Board for Spring

Spring-time bulletin board in Preschool

This next one is one of my all-time favorite ideas! I created this exercise in a VPK classroom in FL last year..... just in time for Earth Day. If you want to see just exactly how we put it together, you can go over to my blog to see the whole experience unfold. I'm still wild about the final picture, that evolved completely naturally. Once the kiddos were all moving in to inspect the final project, I made a point to get every student's hand in the final photo.

Pool Noodle
Tissue paper and scissors
Glue sticks
Camera + Hands = Priceless!

As you wind down your school year here in this hemisphere and wind-up your year on the other side of the globe, I have two thoughts on adding to your classroom experience from my 'catalog' of work. The first is my digital product for a fun reinforcement of the lifecycle of frogs using my song, "Pollywog" as the 4 verse vehicle to study metamorphosis.

"Pollywog" in Mp3 Format with Fine Motor Support Work

And finally..... so many classrooms in Preschool and Kindergarten alike will conclude their school year with some sort of PROGRAM -- either a Mother's Day presentation, an end of the year event, or a School 'graduation' ceremony-of-sorts. One of my songs, "You're Wonderful" is the perfect choice for such an event. The digital zipped file includes a chart for the sign language -- which makes a performance just that much more memorable. Here's a glimpse at just such an event.

Our Early Education Emporium -- the collaborative store of all of our authors and our friends just concluded our first 'quarter' yesterday!!! There are payments being calculated for our contributors as I type! Thank you readers for trusting us and adding to your resources from our cohorts! We gain additional momentum there every week. By all means, if you have 'product' to share with the early childhood world, please join us..... if you like shopping in your jammies with the authors you've come to know here -- we welcome you to visit our cyber store!
We've spent the weekend with family, friends and our Rockie-Mountain grand-wonders. I've been chasing my wonders -- thru sand and surf. I need some time to add a little more and get this 'article' wrapped up.

-- Debbie --

That's the Mr-Hubby-Clement-brains behind the EEE and our wonders!

Being Thankful + First Anniversary of our Collaboration

Anonymous — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 09:00:00 GMT

TURKEY TIME!!!

NOVEMBER!?! How is that possible?

You haven't even packed away the pumpkins and I'm ready to herald in the turkeys!

In addition to this being the first of the month......

today is the first anniversary of our collaborative blog!

So much to celebrate. So much to be thankful for.....

I thought in honor of our first trip around the sun together, I'd gather up a gaggle of turkeys to help inspire some creative energy on your part.

Take a look at this WONDERFUL example of some open-ended 'process' type art gathered into a clever Thanksgiving bulletin board in preschool.

Preschool Thanksgiving Turkey Feather Art on the Bulletin Board

Many thanks to our 'regular' contributors who are writing an article for your benefit here every month. Without their hard work and dedication there would be no collaboration. Cyber hugs all around. I'm so grateful for your extending your busy lives to include your sharing with us every month!

Many thanks to our on-going 'guest' authors who have added to the width and breadth of our gathering by contributing once or some others who write every now and again -- or a few who write even more frequently.

You know who you are! We're so happy to have you aboard.

Paper Plate Turkeys in Preschool

We have our "TOP TEN" articles as calculated by Google over there in our left sidebar for your easy reference, but that is just a minimal sprinkling of all that has been offered here over the past 12 months.

I invite you to dig around here at your leisure.

There are so many brilliant offerings tucked into every month!

Open-Ended Art Work on Turkey Feathers for the Thanksgiving Bulletin Board in Preschool

We've really grown in our first year and we have exciting plans on the launching pad for our continued expansion in the year ahead.

If its November, that means that NAEYC can't be too far away.

Are you planning on being in Atlanta?

Any number of our contributors have workshops and presentations for your support..... and we are so eager to meet you!

Connie Dow and I will be presenting on Friday afternoon at 3:00:

on "Moving is Learning."

Our Mimi will have her annual Friday evening presentation at 6:30 -- always a crowd pleaser! I will join her on stage for a presentation of my classic song in sign language, "You're Wonderful."

Kindergarten Turkey Art Project for Thanksgiving

The big news on the horizon is the launch of our very own EEE!!!!

I'm not at liberty to tell you what that stands for just yet, but I promise that it's exciting and just around the corner!

Stay tuned and come get the details at my NAEYC booth #1910.

We hope to have it all polished and ready to share this month.

I hope that you have time this month to take a deep breath and count your blessings.

Each and every follower, regular reader and comment writer brightens this place, building an ever stronger collaboration in the process.

Kindergarten Turkey MATH Project for Thanksgiving

Find a quiet moment this month and make a list of all that you have to be grateful for and spell it out for the world to see.

Count your blessings. Number them.

Appreciate and be filled with gratitude.

Preschool Thanksgiving Bulletin Board of Blessings and Gratitude

I just had a whole RoundUP of Gratitude, Kindness and Emotional Intelligence ideas over at my blog. Many of the ideas I've gathered would lend themselves to a thanksgiving exploration. Click over to my blog to see those images.

Kindness in the Classroom: Gratitude and Emotional Intelligence at RainbowsWithinReach

OK. I just had to put those two of my favorite open-ended projects together for you to compare and contrast. So here comes that reminder for your viewing and pinning pleasure!

BTW: ALL of these photos are from my various Author/Illustrator, Music-Lady school visits. I work extra hard these days to capture as many 'sights' from my own observations as I can to share with you -- the wider world.

Now that it's officially November, I want to make you aware that my nationally award winning picture book "Red, White and Blue" would be the perfect addition to your observance of Veteran's Day.

I have just put the traditional hardback children's picture book with CD insert on sale over at Teachers pay Teachers thru the coming weekend. If you hurry it could still be delivered in time for your use in the classroom.

Illustrations from "Red, White and Blue" by Debbie Clement: made from fabric as small quilts

I have also put the digital zipped file version on sale -- which includes two Mp3 versions of the song: one a sung version and the second is an instrumental for your karaoke Kindergarten performances. You have more time at your disposal for that instant-download.

-- Debbie --

I would be so excited to meet you in person next week in Atlanta. Come introduce yourself and give me a hug!

Come find us at NAEYC: I'll be in booth #1910 in the Exhibit Hall

Debbie Clement, Editor-in-Residence here is usually blogging over at RainbowsWithinReach sharing of her various travels and projects. She's the composer of over 100 original songs for children housed on nine albums. She also is the nationally award winning author/illustrator of three picture books based on her songs which are included in the back of each book as a CD inset.

Her newest effort is the launching of a little cyber-shop over at Teachers pay Teachers where her songs are becoming available in digital download Mp3 zip files.

Her favorite social network is Pinterest. Where she has catalogued nearly 20,000 pins in categories for the PreK+K Crowd. Come join her over 77,000 followers to keep up to date on all things visual!

SUNSHINE ART!

Anonymous — Wed, 05 Sep 2012 08:00:00 GMT

It's Enrique here and thanks for stopping by to check out my blog. I have the most wonderful relationships with so many great preschool and kinder classrooms. I'm so fortunate to have the opportunity to work with so many lovely teachers, children and parents and the thanks they show fuels in such an authentic way!

If you're been reading my blogs, you'll notice that I have been spending a lot of time with the Sunnyside Head Start preschool classrooms. It's a truly magical place, as are many of the centers in Tucson, Arizona.

Welcome to one of those classrooms...

THE SUNSHINE CLASSROOM!

As you can read below, back during the 2005 - 2006 school year, the children of this room chose their inspiration, their interest, there POV, if you will. Their perspective and how they saw things is what the teachers so cleverly allowed to be the motivational aspect for the entire year. The children chose...

THE SUN!

One of the really exciting things about this approach is that the:

TEACHERS ENGAGED THE CHILDREN using QUESTIONS.
TEACHERS VALIDATED ALL THE CHILD RESPONSES.
TEACHERS POSTED THE CHILD RESPONSES.

This approach says to the child, "your ideas matter." When we feel we matter, we all bring such wonderful energy to whatever situation we are involved with. Below you can read some of those responses. Enjoy!!!

Additionally, teachers engaged the children with the opportunity to

"represent what they knew about the sun" in artistic ways.

The children's knowledge of the sun grew over time from their prior knowledge and then building on that through discovery and dialogue. Below is one example of a child's perspective on:

WHAT THE SUN LOOKS LIKE
WHAT THE SUN FEELS LIKE
WHAT THE SUN DOES
HOW THE SUN MAKES THEM FEEL

Enjoy this lovely piece of process-based Art!

What could YOU do with YOUR CHILDREN? Perhaps you could try some of the following ideas which all build on critical thinking skills in loving ways by engaging the interest of the children.

TAKE THE CHILDREN OUTSIDE AND ASK THEM WHAT THEY SEE?
ASK THE CHILDREN WHY CERTAIN THINGS GROW?
ASK WHAT DO PLANTS NEED TO GROW?

Once you discover the interest of a group of children or an individual child, expand on that interest by:

ASKING THE CHILD WHAT THEY KNOW ABOUT THEIR INTEREST
ASK CHILDREN AND PARENTS TO SHARE WHAT THEY KNOW WITH EACH OTHER
AFTER CHILDREN HAVE SHARED WITH PARENTS, REVISIT WHAT THEY KNOW
FIND WAYS FOR CHILDREN TO REPRESENT WHAT THEY KNOW WITH ART

If you wanted to, you would carry a like this on over a period of time, which can lead to very meaningful learning. This also builds community by creating a sense of "who the class is." Here is a photo of the garden at Sunnyside Head Start. What a fantastic place for discovery to begin and continue!

I hope you've enjoyed this quick blog and that it's inspired you to look around at all you see and look for opportunities to connect your young ones to learning in ways which interest them deeply. When you see a young child entranced with something, remember that you have found their "magnet!" Once you've found this connection, it's up to all of us to find ways to use that in numerous ways to make learning a joyful experience! TEACH and GUIDE ON!!!

Many of these concepts and techniques can be found in my book "Living Like a Child."

Enrique

Red, White and Blue, Patriotic Art Projects!

Anonymous — Sun, 01 Jul 2012 09:00:00 GMT

HAPPY JULY!! HAPPY SUMMER!!!
HAPPY almost FOURTH OF JULY!!

Old Glory Against a Blue Sky

Last month for America's flag day, our very own Carolyn Wilhelm selected my newest picture book for the focus of all her loving attention. She did her usual brilliant work at creating an amazing FREE resource with patriotic images for all things numeric. I was so very surprised and delighted. Immediately as I saw her hard work and kindness I was given the 'focus' for my entry this month. Again, timely!

I realize that we have readers from around the globe, for whom the 4th is not a national holiday, so please excuse this second Ameri-centric article in quick rotation -- as I share classroom and student response to my book, "Red, White and Blue." The text of my picture book is the lyric of my original song by the same name. I wrote the simple repetitive 'dittie' immediately after 9-11. Today I have images to share from my Author-Illustrator School Visits, where teachers have directed their students to respond to the quilted graphics in my project.

It's so exciting to make my way into the classroom and find my own book amid other patriotic choices. Here's a recent kindergarten bookshelf upon my arrival.

Let's start with the amazing response from a kindergarten team of teachers at St. Paul Catholic School in Westerville, OH. We think that I have come for an end-of-the-year visit with their students every year for the past nine years. It's kinda like ol' home day with LOTS of hugs upon my arrival each May. The teachers both have bulletin boards of the children's art in response to each of my books. Today lets look at their patriotic efforts.

I Pledge Alligience to the Flag

Bulletin Board of Patriotic Images from Kindergarten

Kindergarten Bulletin Board -- an ENTIRE WALL of Americana

Kindergarten Flags Created for Author Illustrator School Visit

As you've probably imagined, these fireworks are create with 'marble rolling' through paint. I LUV the way they frame each individual student's photo. Trust me. Together the entire bulletin board is A.MAZ.ING!

Preschool Banner of Welcome: Flag created from Handprint Paintings

Amazing "All School" Flag created from Students and Staff Individual Photos

I had a recent 'Tutorial Tuesday' where I focused on the simple steps of building a peace drum. You can jump over to my blog if you need more of a description beyond the photos. Drumming provides so many opportunities for young children. You could use the same 'wrapping-with-tape' concept around a shadow box/deep picture frame to simplify your life.

DIY Patriotic Peace Drum: Wood Frame wrapped in Wide Packing Tape

-- Debbie --

Debbie Clement writes her over at RainbowsWithinReach.

Fun Friday! Winter Crafts

Anonymous — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 07:03:00 GMT

Torn paper snowmen

Today is fun Friday! This week I decided to post some of our winter crafts and art projects. I didn't post these before and they are so cute I didn't want them to get forgotten in my dusty picture files ;)

Our art display line

Our hand print tree and snowmen glyphs from (Deanna Jump)

snowmen glyphs

The kids do the entire project by themselves. I don't do any prep work. I love doing art projects this way because they all turn out completely different and they are working on cutting, spacing, gluing and creativity skills.

syllable snowmen (Kai-son) 2 syllables equals two parts to the snowman

Penguins with hand print feet

March of the penguins. The kids chose a emperor penguin or a macaroni penguin. They wrote the name or beginning sound of the name on the belly of the penguin.

Rainbow, rice, red "R"

We do a sensory art for every letter.

soft fluffy penguins

Macaroni penguin

This penguin was created during "free art", the child went to the art center and created this penguin completely on her own. This is creative learning at it's best!!!

I hope you all had a great week and have a fun filled super bowl Sunday!! I will post some more fun science activities tomorrow for "Science Saturday"!!