NEWSLETTER
Spring Scene Game and Art Experience
Games are great ways to practice listening skills and gives the children an opportunity to use their knowledge to make connections. This week we added a creative art element to one of our spring games as a way to add more hands-on opportunities to the experience. Each table was given a die with pictures of flowers on it, and each child was given a stack of flower strips. The children took turns rolling the die and identifying the flower on top. They described the flower by color and shape, and then they all searched for that specific flower strip. Once they all had the correct strip, they "snipped" one flower off and glued it onto their chosen colored paper. Snipping is excellent fine motor practice and lends well to a game like this where things move along at a quicker pace.
The only instruction for the placement and gluing of the flowers on the paper was to create a "spring scene." They could arrange the flowers in any way that they wanted to. The children arranged the flowers in different shapes, paths and patterns and were eager to compare and contrast their designs with each other. The process of the game helped the children practice taking turns, waiting for their turn, and clearly communicating information to their friends (the specific description of the flower) so that the correct flower could be located and cut out.
We returned the next day to add "detail" to our spring scenes. We discussed what else the flowers and nature backgrounds needed (leaves, stems, grass, etc...) and then what different materials we could use to add those elements. We started with colored popsicle sticks and gradually added small pom poms and other art materials. We made sure to give the children time to explore each material and decide how to place it. Markers and crayons were incorporated from the beginning to always give opportunities to write and draw.
