What Do Children Learn from Art?

Through experimenting with different art media and creating a variety of art works, children learn:

To express their ideas in new and creative ways.

Concepts of shape, size, and location.

To distinguish shapes and to purposefully create shapes.

The names of colors and how to make new colors.

To control a variety of tools.

To make plans and implement them.

That their ideas have value.

That they are capable.

Art experiences for young children should focus on the process of creating rather than the way the final project looks. We always encourage children to experiment with different media and make their own creative decisions rather than reproduce a teacher's example or follow directions for a predetermined model.

Beetles and Centipedes Play Together in the Classroom

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Classifying and Sorting

Today during classroom time, we gave the kids an option to sort different colored plastic tiles into muffin tins. The plastic tiles were all the same shape, but were all different colors - giving the kids an opportunity to learn different colors. Learning how to classify and sort the colors not only shows the kids different colors, but it can teach basic math.


Austin sorting the tiles by color - "Austin, do you see the different colors?"

A parent or teacher assisting a child while he or she sorts the colors can ask all sorts of questions. The child can learn things about what different color tiles are in their own bucket, they can learn how many different colors there are, and how many individual tiles all share the same color. It was so much fun for both us, and the kids!


Lena sorting the different colored tiles.


Luka was surprised, "Wow! I have so many orange tiles!"

This activity not only can be done with tiles, but with different items around the home. For instance, a child can help sort out the different types of fruits and vegetables after a big grocery shop!

Beetles Classroom Time, Outside Play

Today, we got some photographic gems during the Beetles's classroom time, as well as when all of the kids came together to play outside. Here's the Smilebox!

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Recycled Art

Today for Centipede's class time, we used paper towl rolls for a creative art project. We put out feathers, glitter, stickers, and cut outs of magazines. We let the kids pick and choose what they wanted to decorate with. By the end of class-time, we had a room full of swords, kaleidoscopes, and magic wands. Even simple household objects can offer a fun and creative art project. It just takes a little imagination.

John-"I'm making a butterfly with a doggy on it. When I'm done, my moms going to
look through it. I need to put glitter on it for my mommy. She likes it pretty."

Reid-"Something for my momma. It's a pig. It's going to be her magic wand. I'm going to put a kangaroo on there too."

Finn-"I'm making a sword for my mom."

Austin-"Feather and glitter and stickers. I want stickers to put on it. More feathers, for my mom and dad."



Jackson-"I'm making a sword. I'm making the sword for my dad. He has to fight the bad guys. He's going to fight me. My dad's a bad guy, I'm a good guy."

Space Stories- A Trip to the Moon

Preschoolers have a natural curiosity about their world, science, and nature. Today we introduced the topic of the solar system during circle time. Our preschoolers today, Reid, Finn, and Jackson, were very interested in learning more about this topic. We decided to write a collaborative story about space and draw some images to illustrate it. We hope you enjoy it.

Jackson- I was in a rocket ship flying to space and I landed on the moon. The moon was black and I saw one alien. The alien was eating slime and he put Jena in it. I saved her. I pulled her out with my grabby arms.

Reid- I was in a truck that could fly to the moon. There was also one monster there. Some of the aliens were playing video games and basketball. As soon as I got there the monster ate me.

Finn- I was riding in a space ship and I also landed on the moon. I drove in a truck. I left my rocket ship at the moon and got in my truck with wings. I pulled out my sword and fired lasers at all of the aliens and monsters. I walked up and said, "Can I please play?" They said no and they threw me off the moon.

The Beetles Get Animated

The Beetles love to get their bodies involved in their songs and stories. Adding the physical elements to the stories and songs help them relate to the story more and make those cognitive connections as they use their whole body to engage in their learning.



They became the sun and dried up all the rain during "The Itsy Bitsy Spider."



They loved becoming sea creatures with their hands and doing the anticipated "uh-oh" during "Slipper Fish."



Austin shows us how he can become an elephant and make its sound as we act out "Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear?"

Beetles - Fun with Markers

During Class Time today, the Beetles colored with markers. What a simple way to let them explore ideas and make creative choices.



Austin got down low and watched as he used his marker to make the green lines and dots on his paper.



Myla liked trying out several colors but said she liked purple the best.



They wanted their hands traced on the paper. Jennifer started with Austin and Lena decided not to wait and figured out how to trace her own hand.



When they were finished they helped match up all the markers with the same color cap and put them away.

Learning About Outerspace

Today during circle time the Centipedes looked at some space cards and talked about different things we would find in outer space. We talked about planets, astronauts, rocket ships, and the sun. The preschoolers had lots of great questions and many of their own thoughts to share.

Jackson- I'm taking this to the moon. It can fly. Space shuttles go to space stations.

Finn- Its hot and red - the sun is yellow. its a star.

Reid- A astronaut drives this truck on the moon. He's in a truck and he goes super fast. He's on mars.

Oobleck! Cornstarch & Water

Today both the Centipede and the Beetle classes explored the properties of Oobleck! Corn starch, like vinegar and baking soda, is a product that can be easily found in most kitchens.

By adding a little water to the corn starch powder, we created a fun sensory experience. First we explored this new medium with our hands and talked about how the mixture felt and what it did when we manipulated it.
Hey, it's soft AND hard!
Look what happens when we pick it up? It runs through our fingers.
This is kind of what hot lava would feel like if it was cool enough to touch.
I can make a rock. See?
I am making a big mess.
This is fun.

We also used small cups to try scooping and dumping the oobleck. It wasn't easy to put the oobleck into the cup because it was hard and clumpy. It poured out slowly when we tipped our cups over.
Is this a solid or a liquid?

It was fun to get messy.

Really, really messy!

When we were all done we watched it all wash away with the water. Science with toddlers and preschoolers doesn't need to be complicated, just interesting, fun, and usually messy too.

The Vegetables in Our Garden are Growing

Some of the plants in our garden, like our zucchinis, yellow squash, and cucumbers, we started in the early Spring when we planted our seeds indoors. When they were ready, we transplanted them to the garden and have been watering and weeding them every day since then.

Our tomato plants have lots of green tomatoes growing on them now. We are waiting and watching for them to turn red so we know they are ready to pick.

John and Eli held up two of the huge zucchinis we picked today.

They were really heavy but the boys were strong, too. :)
We are excited to eat them for lunch on Wednesday.

Releasing Butterflies

Many more of our butterflies emerged from their cocoons over the weekend. John got to check one out up close before it flew away.

One stayed on Layla's hand for a minute. Her beautiful orange wings were shaking a little a first. The kids told her not to be scared. "It's okay, you can fly away.", said Layla.

Grace reassured her friends, "This one will fly away to find his family."

Lena wasn't quite sure about letting a butterfly sit on her own hand but she enjoyed watching this one as it opened and closed it's wings before taking flight.

Ella thought this butterfly was "so beautiful".

Eli held this butterfly very carefully so he wouldn't disturb it's delicate orange wings.

Saige said goodbye before watching this one fly up, up, up and over the fence.

Playdough Conversations

Today, playing with playdough was an option at the table during classroom time. We left out cookie cutters and rollers for them to use to imagine the different things that they could build. One of the cookie cutters was shaped like an ice cream cone, which Ella, Grace and Finn used while having this imaginative conversation. Playdough allows the kids to work on their fine motor skills by squishing and molding into different shapes.

Grace - "I made an ice cream cone."
Ella - "I made a cake."
Grace - "Did you make it for me?"
Ella - "Yeah, for Eli too."


Grace - "My ice cream cone has an elephant on it."


Finn - "I'm going to make an ice cream cone. It's for my mom and dad. It's vanilla. Vanilla is my favorite. I eat ice cream cones at the cabin. I eat little ones and big ones."

Summer Lovin...

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