For the past few weeks, we have been working with our kinders to develop a sense of creative expression and imagination. Through these activities we have also been able to work on teamwork, fine motor skills and even documentation. Although it's easier for some students than others... they are all starting to make some progress!
Too Much Glue
One of our favorite stories to start off creativity is Too Much Glue. It's a great book about a little boy who gets into some sticky trouble at school by using too much glue. Each of the kids used "beautiful stuff" to decorate t-shirts.
Not a Stick
Another story we read is Not a Stick. In this story, the little pig uses his imagination to pretend his stick is many different things. Our students then used a stick to make their own creation. They practiced fine motor skills by wrapping and knotting yarn and string with beads onto the sticks. We then hung them from our big tree branch and suspended some from the ceiling in the hallway.
Writer's Workshop
For writer's workshop we worked on using imagination while drawing. We did two different stories... Harold and the Purple Crayon and Not a Box.
This story is similar to Not a Stick except it's about a rabbit who uses his imagination with a box. Students shared ideas about what their box could be and then "wrote/drew" during writing time.
For Harold and the Purple Crayon, Ms. West worked with the students on using their imagination to draw with one color Crayon. It was difficult at first because they wanted to use more colors but after a few days they got it!
The Most Magnificent Thing
This book is about a little girl who makes a plan to build something but it just doesn't turn out the way she wants. After she gets frustrated because she's having a hard time she realizes she can use parts from her creations to make one magnificent thing. To work on fine motor skills and to introduce clay... we made magnificent thing sculptures. We talked about how clay can be really hard to manipulate at first but once you keep working with it- it gets easier and softer. The students made a clay base and then used pipe cleaners and beads to make something magnificent!
Documentation
As we are preparing to begin our play based learning centers... we are teaching the students to document what they created. The first day we had students work together and then draw a picture of what they made.
The second day we had the students work independently and then document and they got the concept so much better.
Hallway Display
Here are some of our creative pieces on display in our hallway.
Next week we will see how we can use our creativity as we work in our centers with our teams!
