Yayoi Kusama  is a female Japanese contemporary artist. She is one of the world’s most iconic & celebrated artists working today. Her work primarily consisted in sculpture & installation, but she also has been active in painting, performance, film, fashion, poetry, fiction, & other arts. Since #WomensHistory  Month is March, reading books about influential women & integrating them with an invitation is truly a powerful way to connect the two. We read the books Yayoi Kusama Covered Everything in Dots and Wasn't Sorry by Fuasto Gilberti  and Yayoi Kusama From Here to Infinity by Sarah Suzuki and Ellen Weinstein.   We invited the children to recreate art inspired by Yayoi Kusama through a collaborative invitation to create. First we placed cut out poster paper of circles, mushrooms, butterflies, flowers, & pumpkins. Then we provided spray bottles filled with Colorations Liquid Watercolors. The children were invited first to spray the poster paper with the spray bottles. Once it dried they were given dot stickers and were invited to freely create all over poster paper. Collaborative art in early childhood education fosters a sense of community, promotes SED, & enhances problem solving skills as children learn to work together, share ideas, & appreciate diverse perspectives. Together the children create freely, explore different techniques, & discover art in their own way in their own time. This builds their confidence, fosters their cognitive skills, & when they become aware of all the different ways they can do art, make predictions, plan it out/problem solve, everything comes full circle in believing they can create anything just like  Yayoi Kusama! Here are 3 other ways to explore Yayoi Kusama: Four Yayoi Kusama Invitations Collaborative Invitation to Create Yayoi Kusama Invitation to Create Just like Yayoi Kusama

After reading the book Have you Ever Seen a Flower written and illustrated by Shawn Harris  &  being inspired but the vibrant colors in the story it was a no brainer to extend the literacy experience through the arts with Colorations fluorescent  BioColor® Paint  from Discount School Supply & painting a 3-D Assemblage of flowers made out of recycled materials just in time for spring. In the enchanting story you see a child experience the beauty of a flower with all five senses which reminds us of how a child sees the beauty & wonder in everything around them. The vibrant imagery & simple story reveals how a single flower can ignite so much curiosity. To integrate & extend the story, setting up an invitation to paint flowers inspired by the book is a great way to deepen the connection +  comprehension through the arts. When children are able to paint on an assemblage of different art materials together they explore the concepts of: comparing items (shapes, textures, lines, height/width, size), negative space, spatial awareness, cognitive thinking, communication/collaboration, gravity + viscosity, fine + gross motor skills, hand eye coordination, all while empowering their creativity throughout the whole process. Art invitations such as this opens a child's mind to the many ways of creating art. When children are exposed to diverse types of art the more well rounded and creative they become. Art is a fundamental component of childhood, therefore continuous exposure leads to seeing the world in different ways, learning about all the beautiful forms of art, all while seeing that love will make a brighter world.

One of the biggest reasons I am passionate about exposing children to culture & celebrating diversity is for every child to feel seen, heard, and acknowledged in their community. Growing up, my Persian culture was never spoken about or acknowledged throughout my education. With so many amazing resources as educators now, exposing children to other cultures from a young age lays a foundation of appreciation and acceptance along with validating those within their community. Culture is a strong part of people's lives. It influences their views, their values, their humor, their hopes, their loyalties, and their worries and fears. Exposing children to cultural diversity is important because our world consists of various cultural, racial, and ethnic groups. When different cultures are introduced to children, they gain a level of understanding & perspective of others, which is needed in order to build relationships, facilitate collaboration, encourage cooperation, respect, appreciation in the future. Nowruz (New Year) which means New Day in Persian culture has bee celebrated for over 3,000 years. It is marking the first day of spring and the renewal of nature. It promotes values of peace and solidarity between generations and within families as well as reconciliation and neighbourliness, thus contributing to cultural diversity and friendship among peoples and different communities. With spring approaching it means that Nowruz is just around the corner, so here are invitations inspired by the Persian culture, that you can do in the classroom our at home! 1. Hands-On Haft-Sin™ by Little Persian Here is an updated post! 2. Invitation to Create Saffron Ice Cream Sensory Play 3. Invitation to Create Hyacinth Flowers with Loose Parts 4. Invitation to Explore Your Senses Through Team Time 5. Invitation to Explore Nowruz Goldfish 6. Invitation to Create Persian Sweets & Treats with Play-dough + Loose Parts 7. STEM & Gross Motor Jumping Over Fire 8. Invitation to Create a Persian Rug with Loose Parts 9. Invitation to Grow Sabzeh 10. Persian New Year Cuisine Sensory Bin 11. Invitation to Paint a Quilt 12. Hormuz Rainbow Island 13. Invitation to Explore Shapes Like Maryam 14. Invitation to Create Saffron Flower Cuisine 15. Invitation to Create Golestan Palace 17. Yalda Paly-dough & Loose Parts Play Invitation & Yalda Night Loose Parts Play & Invitation to Explore Yalda 18. Invitation to Frame Reza Abbasi Art with Loose Parts Rumi–Poet of Joy and Love Small World Play 20. Egg Decorating Four Ways 21. Invitation to Create a Nowruz Goldfish

Nowruz (New Year) which means New Day in Persian culture has been celebrated for over 3,000 years. It is marking the 1st day of spring & the renewal of nature. It promotes values of peace & solidarity between generations & within families as well as reconciliation & neighbourliness, thus contributing to cultural diversity & friendship among peoples & different communities. With spring approaching it means that Nowruz is just around the corner, so today we created a collaborative Nowruz Goldfish. During Nowruz families will set a table with items that represent the 7 important symbols of life. Life-rebirth, health, happiness, prosperity, joy, patience, & beauty. Apple: beauty/health, garlic: health, vinegar: age/patience, coins: prosperity, sabzeh: rebirth/growth, hyacinth: spring, mirror: self-reflection, senjed: love, egg: life, sumac: sunrise, samanu: affluence, candle: enlightenment, & goldfish: represent life. The goldfish & bowl of water represents movement + life. The goldfish is also the sign of the last month in the Persian calendar (Esfand) & turning around the bowl is a sign of the & changing of the year. There are so many beautiful components of the Haftsin & each one of these elements symbolizes a lovely concept +  brings the newness of fresh life, just like the Earth which starts a new life by the arrival of spring. During circle time we read the book  "The New Year's Goldfish"  written by Solmaz Parveen & illustrated by Tata Bobokhidze. In the story a family is busy preparing for the celebrations, the son Keyan could barely contain his excitement of getting the goldfish for his haftsin. After reading the story, we invited children to decorate a goldfish made out of recycled cardboard. We provided tinker trays full of yarn, glitter, cellophane, pipe cleaners, stickers, post its, tissue paper, construction paper, felt, pom poms & more.

@LittlePerisanLearning created the perfect Hands-On Haft-Sin™ for children that enriches Persian cultural traditions that you can bring to your classroom or home. We are so lucky to have had one as such an amazing resource for years now. The Hands-On Haft-Sin™ is for #Nowruz (New Year) which means New Day. It has  all the seven "S" items you need including a a f ramed guide including name & significance of each item in Farsi with translations and pronunciations in English.  The authentic items represent the seven important symbols of life. Life-rebirth, health, happiness, prosperity, joy, patience, and beauty. Apple: beauty/health, garlic: health, vinegar: age/patience, coins: prosperity, sabzeh: rebirth/growth, hyacinth: spring, mirror: self-reflection, senjed: love, egg: life, sumac: sunrise, samanu: affluence, candle: enlightenment, and goldfish: represent life. In order to give any child a strong connection to their own culture or ones different from their own, from a young age experiencing & being exposed lays a deep foundation of appreciation along with acceptance. To see a Persian resource such as this year after year is extra special. We are so honored that  we share this special haftsin with our own children as well as the ones that are in our classrooms.   Check out https://littlepersian.com for more amazing resources.

Holi, widely known as the Hindu festival of colors, is a joyful annual celebration @ the advent of spring. Typically Holi is observed in March in India, Nepal, other South Asian countries & across the diaspora. The festival celebrates love & signifies a time of rebirth & rejuvenation — a time to embrace the positive & let go of negative energy.  One of Holi’s most well-known traditions, people dress in all white, come out to the street & throw colored powder known as Gulal of Holi powder  @  each other. The pigments & colors of joy all symbolize different things. Blue represents the color of Lord Krishna’s skin, green: spring & rebirth,  red: marriage or fertility, & yellow: commonly used in ritual and ceremony & symbolize auspiciousness. One of our favorite books about Holi is  the Indian Festival of Colors by Surishtha Sehgal & Kabir Sehgal. In the story siblings Mintoo & Chintoo are busy gathering flowers to make into colorful powders to toss during the festival. When @  last the big day comes, they gather with their friends, family, & neighbors for a vibrant celebration of fresh starts, friendship, forgiveness, &, of course, fun! After reading this story we invited the children to create a festival of colors just like the story by pressing flowers. We provided an array of colorful flowers,  wooden mallets, rollers, & poster paper. We laid some safety guidelines & told the children they were going to use the tools in order to create the pigments from the flowers just like Minitoo & Chintoo on to the paper. We also had our annual Festival of Colors Party. All the children were asked to wear white shirts, we placed holi powder, & invited the children to throw the powder. Here are other ways to explore Holi!

Here are two more invitations inspired by exhibits at the Chabot Space & Science Museum.  1. Moon Scaping: Inside the museum they had a huge table filled with kinetic sand where the children were invited to recreate the moon's surface using their hands or shaping tools. Moon-scraping @ the simulated lunar operations lab @ NASA Glenn Research center uses curved wooden shaping paddles, where they scoop out pits, in simulated moon soil, to prepare for testing robotic wheels & drive systems in an imagined lunar landscape. After reading Moon Earth's Best Friend by Stacy McAnulty & Steve Lewis in our tuff tray we placed kinetic sand, wooden tools, clear tubes, space figurines, & a moon to invite the children to recreate the moon's surface while pretending to be scientists.  2. Lunar Crystal Scavenger Hunt: In the outdoor area of the museum, they had an interactive exhibit where the children were invited to imagine & play by searching for precious lunar ice crystals on the moon. They use rovers to help explore the lunar terrain & carry the crystals they find. To set a tuff tray scale of this  experience we hid Discount School Supply acrylic rocks as ice crystals underneath aquarium rocks in a bed of black sand. The children were invited to search for lunar crystals on the moon with the help of the rovers.

A while back visiting the Chabot Space & Science we saw spherical glass containers filled with a special fluid that when supn visually demonstrates the concept of turbulent flows on planets. These exhibits illustrate how fluids behave under different movement conditions similar to weather patterns on planets. Essentially it's a spinning globe that shows chaotic fluid movements. Since we will be learning & exploring more about science  this month, it was the perfect time to finally create an invitation where they can learn & explore more about space.  To create our very own Turbulent Orbs & Jovian Cloud Tops sensory bottles we took recycled water bottles filled them with water + Colorations Metallic & Fluorescent Bio Color paint then we added star confetti/glitter/ribbons/flatmarbles/acrylic gems to the mixture. Before inviting the children to come we had a discussion about what they are, where they are, how they are formed, took guesses at what planets had them, along with looking at pictures. Next we invited the children to come explore the sensory bottles on the light table. Light Tables are wonderful for exploring the play of light, shadow, color, & transparency. Their unique nature can add a magical engaging element to child's play & further encourage curiosity, exploration, & problem-solving. Providing young children with materials & situations that encourage them to actively investigate & discover scientific concepts, by asking questions, observing, & experimenting, fosters curiosity about the world & beyond all while establishing a love for learning through hands-on exploration that continuously fills them with wonder.

My littlest Lightening McQueen enthusiast is T H R E E.  Early this month I surprised my youngest with a @pixarcars themed tablescape. With our favorite @waytoplayroads, collection of @disney cars + play sets we already had, + mini party hats on the cars made a fun filled race track. Cupcakes from @susiecakesbakery, balloons by @partygirlcompany, & special @etsy touches with a happy birthday banner by @MagicalKraftsbyMK + @ghosthostdesigns signage. Crown by @HedsThreads.

Tyree Guyton is an African American Neo-Expressionist artist who is a proponent of Graffti Art and Urban Environmental art. Through the Heidelberg Project he has waged a transformation on urban blight on Detroit's East Side, transforming his childhood neighborhood into a living indoor/outdoor art museum. His art shows that when working together, the healing power of art, active environmentalism,  and the importance of inspiring community can turn everyday trash into magic while rebuilding a neighborhood. After reading this story for #blackistory month, we set out an invitation to paint a mixed media art wall with recycled materials and Colorations Tempera & Bio Color Paint. Experimenting with different surfaces & varying textures always brings a special spark of interest and engagement because of the open-ended unique process for children. #Processart  such as this lets a child experiment & interact with art materials through an enhanced #sensory  exploration. With a variety of textures, heights, materials, children began to discover that by using different techniques with the paint on top of the textured surface will produce varying outcomes and a different perspective of art. This is definitely a process-not-product invitation, it is very exploratory, creative, messy, & open-ended. Creating art boosts children’s ability to analyze & problem-solve in many ways. By creating freely children gain confidence while acquiring so many skills. It gives them a foundation to look at the world with the confidence that they can accomplish any goal. Visual art deeply affects children, for it is one of the most important forms of communication & expression. When children create, they are proud to be unique & take risks, while honoring their innate creative artistic style. Art provides for limitless creativity while instilling curiosity & wonder in the process.

Howardena Pindell is an American painter, filmmaker, and mixed media artist. Her work explores texture, color, structures, and is often political. The recurring circles in her art goes back to connecting her childhood memories. From hole punched paper, watercolor, gouache, crayon, ink, spray adhesive, and thread, the circles appeared in many of her pieces. After looking at images of her art, to honor her work for #BlackHistoryMonth  we invited the children to create her recurring motif of the circle art. To set this invitation we placed a large piece of poster board as the canvas and provided a variety of circular materials (dot stickers, tissue paper, recycled bottle caps), washi tape, & glue. We Invited the children to create just like Howardena Pindell. The beauty about collaborative colleges is that they build community, foster cooperation, eliminate competition, & it is social! When children engage in #Processart  such as this it allows children to explore freely, be in control of the outcomes creatively, & lets them discover art in their own way. This builds their confidence, fosters their cognitive skills & when they become aware of all the different ways they can do art, make predictions, plan it out/problem solve, everything comes full circle in believing they can create anything! Black History Month presents a wonderful opportunity to discuss & expose race, civil rights, artists, musicians, authors, food, public figures, & so on to celebrate the groundbreaking impact that Black History paved for so many. Educating children from a young age about the many achievements of Black History & how it has shaped cultures worldwide, provides for concrete learning experiences that permit children to build an understanding that will impact their learning, attitudes, & beliefs about diversity +  multicultural education.

Alma Woodsey Thomas was an American artist and educator whose exuberant colorful paintings used the techniques of pointillism and abstract expressionism. She became the first African-American woman at the age of 80 to have a solo show at the Whitney Museum of American Art. After reading the books A Blaze with Color: A Story of Painter Alma Thomas and Alma's Art we also looked at printed out images of her creations. To honor her influential work for #blackhistorymonth  we set out an invitation to recreate her art work on our Guide craft light table with Colorations Tissue Squares in order to inspire children to become creative just like Alma. The beauty of light tables is that it encourages exploration of reflection, perception, and appearance which in turn provides visual feedback. Through this set up, the children were able to create with no boundaries or rules and express themselves freely. Creative exploration like this encourages brain development, scientific experimenting, mathematical thought, risk taking, and trial & error learning.