getting to know shapes and colors

• Shapes:  Square, triangle and circle, rectangle, and rhombus. 

• Primary colors:  Red, yellow, and blue.

• Secondary colors:  Orange, violet, and green.

 Cutting

Straight lines as the path to cut.  (This development process and learning experience is based in the discovery of the cut made by the movement of the hands, fingers, wrists and focus of the child, but most of all it is deeply important adult supervision and support for a pleasant experience)

On a piece of paper 10 lines will be drawn parallel and with a slight distance between each other.  Pointing with the finger the path to follow, let the child follow the path with her/his index finger to feel the direction that they will cut through.  Very carefully show the child the holding position and the movement they shall perform in order to have the scissors' blades cutting. Begin cutting from one point toward the other end.  Repeat that with each line.  Notice that if the child presents difficulty accompanied with signs of frustration, nice encouraging words, sutil voice and loving encouraging words that show caring and understanding will be the key emotional support the child needs to reinforce their self confidence on the development of this discovery.

Save this cut paper for next class.  We will continue with the development of cutting, with slightly curved lines, open waved lines so the child begins to notince that cutting direction will vary accompanied by the open vs. close wrist movement done also in a wavy flow.  We will assemble a cutting folio for them to remember how they did it each time they see it. This evidence might be useThen very carefully support the child and encourage their discovery by mentioning how the wrist and the hand also moves in waves as the the lines are drawn.  

Celebrations a very important in activity, accompanied by an exchange of words related to what they discovered on each unit.

assemblage & Clay (3D)

Example:

Observation of tall towers, skyscrapers, high structures. 

How would you build your tower? What objects would you use? 

Using loose parts such as bottle caps, pieces or carton, marbles, pipe cleaners, pieces of branches, lose dry leaves, seeds, parts of plastic bottles or any recycled element you have at home, children will build up by pasting the elements and developing a tower.  In the case of Nursery children, they will receive the assistance of teacher and/or teaching aide. Let them add and add more and more elements until they feel they are done.

What is texture? How do I make texture? How does texture feel like?

Using any color clay, play dough, simple sharpless tools, forks, spoons, branches, dry leaves, twigs, any object that would leave texture in contact with the clay. Children will roll or press the play dough flat, like a pancacke, and with the objects they choose they will press on the cplay dough to discover texture.  Discover that different objects have different textures.  They will feel the finished texturized pancake with their fingers and the palm of their hand to develop tactile discovery and activate sensorial perception.