#WomensHistory Month is March. Throughout this whole month we have been exploring women’s contributions to history, culture & society. The famous female artist Georgia O'Keeffe was born & raised in Wisconsin. Her clear, bright paintings show the beauty she found in the simple, natural things around her. She loved to paint mountains, seashells, flowers, & even animal bones she found in the desert. Georgia often rearranged the natural things she saw, & simplified them. Exposing children to the arts and different artists at a young age exposes them to various styles & techniques of art.
During her time in New York City she painted buildings & skyscrapers. We set out an invitation to create her paintings that were of buildings/skyscrapers in the block center. As a point of inspiration we printed out images of her paintings & during story time we have been reading these books to deepen their understanding of who painted these images.
STEM activities are designed to engage & stretch a child's thinking especially when they are challenged to create in new ways. The engineering & design process is a natural fit due to the fact that children already like to build & problem solve with everything. This invitation is a perfect opportunity to change a simple building activity/center & challenge them to think, create in new ways, be inspired by other artists, & enhance their awareness of the different types of ways structures are built.
Through all these trials, child(ren) are able to analyze situations more critically & come up with solutions in their own way with anything they put their mind to. STEM subliminally provides awesome real life lessons that are so valuable + enriching to a child, and something they will carry with them throughout the rest of their life.
