One of our other artist of the month is Yue Minjun who is a contemporary Chinese artist. He is best known for oil paintings depicting himself in various settings, frozen in laughter . He has also reproduced this signature image in sculpture, watercolour and prints. After looking at images of his artwork and exhibitions we invited the children to create their own Yue Minjun Exhibition with wooden peg dolls and loose parts. Most of us know that art is important for children. But beyond why it is important for them to create art it is just vital to expose children to famous artists. Art connects us all. It can take us through history, introduce us to other cultures, the world around us, and to ourselves. Therefore the more a child is exposed to the arts, the more techniques they are aware of, the more they can problem solve to think critically, the more they can creatively express themselves, the more accepting they are, and the more beauty they can see in the world around them. Art is one of the fundamental components of what makes us ALL uniquely human.

Nature View Tree BookShelf #gifted by @discountschoolsupply helped us enhance and create an immersive nature-inspired comfy corner that nurtures a connection with the natural world. Typically in our comfy corners the goal is to provide a seating nook ( sofa & chair ) with soft materials, calming colors, books , plush items , sensory bottles, rugs, and plants to instantly make a child feel at "home" in order to relax. We really believe in the importance of our indoor classrooms having comfy corners . When emotions are big and in full effect, a child needs time and space or simply needs a break from hard moments in order to adjust. This kind of safe space empowers the child to be able to process/regulate their emotions, focus, and wind down, while teaching them to deal and work through their feelings, appreciate relaxation, honor the time they need, and give them a skill of a lifetime of self-awareness + regulation.  Books are the biggest staple in our comfy corners as it serves a double duty to encourage exposure to literacy, topics of interest, relatability to what they are experiencing, enhance imagination, and continue to provide wonder of how the world works. Whether you have a bookshelf such as this, a display bookshelf, or a basket of books that expose certain themes/celebrations/concepts, you have a variety of ways to make the greatest tools accessible to your child or children in your classroom or home. The children were instantly drawn by the engaging design of the shel where they were able to easily select a book, sit and read under the beautiful tree. Truly, what better place to set and get cozy with than a dreamy tree filled with books?

Do Ho Suh  is one of our artists that we are exploring this month. He is a Korean artist who works primarily in sculpture, installation, and drawing. He is best known for his intricate sculptures that defy conventional notions of scale and site-specificity, which draws attention to the ways viewers occupy and inhabit public space. Do Ho Suh's work reveals a highly developed awareness of the different ways architecture mediates our experience of space. Architecture has been a key reference for the artist so his work pays attention to the site-specificity and sensorial experience of the viewer engaging with his pieces while moving in the exhibition space.  We invited the children to gain a different perspective of his art through resist painting. On construction paper we drew similar architecture with white @crayola oil pastels. We provided @colorations.artoflearning liquid watercolors and paint brushes. To enhance the painting experience we placed a clear tray on our @discountschoolsupply Excellerations® Small Sleek Light Panel to let them see the magic unfold as they created. This type of art is a great way to show children how different things react with water and what resist means, that some coloring tools will repel the water color away from it, and some may intensify the colors. When children experiment with materials, they dabble in science. Children who feel able to experiment and to make mistakes feel free to invent new ways of thinking, which extends well beyond the art. Every time we provide the children with the opportunity to create art we are reminded of how engaging and important process art is. Art has a beautiful way of transforming and has many facets to it and exploring artists and interpreting their creativity in different ways is so much fun!

Do Ho Suh is one of our artists that we are exploring this month. He is a Korean artist who works primarily in sculpture, installation, and drawing. He is best known for his intricate sculptures that defy conventional notions of scale and site-specificity, which draws attention to the ways viewers occupy and inhabit public space. Do Ho Suh's work reveals a highly developed awareness of the different ways architecture mediates our experience of space. Architecture has been a key reference for the artist so his work pays attention to the site-specificity and sensorial experience of the viewer engaging with his pieces while moving in the exhibition space.  We invited the children to create something like Do Ho Suh. After looking at images of art, the children were provided Picasso Tiles , Translucent Pebbles , Gem Cubes ,  Excellerations® earlySTEM™ Translucent Light Table Shapes , and  Colored Plastic Potion Bottles  #Gifted. Since his exhibitions play with light, we also provided the  Excellerations® Small Sleek Light Panel ,  Light Up Circular Infinity Mirror  #Gifted, and Acrylic Mirror to build with or on. Light and color continuously fascinates and deeply engages the interplay of the shapes, patterns, shadows, effects, spacing, imagery, light, sizes, and colors. Since light and colors magic is ever evolving, this invitation truly ignited the children's curiosity and provided the magic of light and color continue to enamor the child by honoring their ability to explore the materials through the power of illumination and inspiration from Do Ho Suh. From infancy light and color fascinate any child and it carries throughout their childhood. They are always enamored with the wondrous world of illumination and color as it is something that they are naturally drawn to because they are able to explore a whole range of theories and enhance so much of their development.

There are many reasons why young children are fascinated by the world of construction  and the equipment. The loud noises, flashing lights, and size of the machinery in construction sites creates a sense of wonder and curiosity of how it all works. So since it is winter, we invited the children to engage in a snow construction site small world play!  This Small world play was set up with loose parts (wood cookies, rocks, pine cones,  bottle brush trees ),  sensory ( insta snow) , way to play roads, & construction vehicles big & small. Exploring these materials through open-ended play is great way for extending literacy, language, imaginary play, and tactile play. Through this play they can reenact what they see/hear in stories, movies, shows, experiences, and environments around them to deepen their understanding of the world. This type of play can be defined as where children accept and assign roles, then act them out.  When children engage in this type of play they break through the walls of reality, use their imagination, pretend to be someone or something different from themselves, explore different worlds, and have actions to go along with the roles they have chosen to play.   Play is an integral part of the developmental learning process by allowing children to develop skills in such areas as abstract thinking, literacy, math, & social studies, in a timely natural manner. They are able to play and manipulate a variety of materials and textures that stimulate their mind and body while deepening their connection and understanding of the world.

Before inviting the children to create snowflakes we asked them questions about what they knew about them? After discussing that they come from the sky when it is winter time we introduced them to Wilson Bentley who was the first known photographer of snowflakes over 100 years ago. We read the books Snowflake Bentley and Curious about Snow in order to integrate the literacy experience with a hands-on experience. We passed around the images of the pictures he took while explaining details about snowflakes and learned while no two snowflakes are exactly the same, they are all six-sided hexagonal shapes due to the molecular structure of ice. The initial symmetry can occur but snowflakes are not all completely symmetric. With that framework provided we set up a provocation with loose parts to let the children create a variety of snowflakes. We set out our loose parts (flat marbles and gems in different shapes) in our inspire me play tray. The children were invited to create their own unique snowflakes on different bases (light tables, mirrors, wooden cut outs, stencils, etc.) When a child uses loose parts to create on drawn out images, shapes, or designs invitations, it gives opportunities to work on spatial awareness, exposes them to different forms of art, paying attention to detail, and enhancing their language skills as they communicate what they see or what they are doing. As they manipulate the loose parts to fit inside, outside, or around the designs they are enhancing their fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, and shape recognition. Loose parts also provide unique inspiration, endless possibilities, challenge them to think, & encourage them to be creative with unusual things. This is not only a creative way to create from an artistic point of view, it is a way that encourages brain development, scientific experimenting, mathematical thought, risk taking, & trial/error learning. Through this kind of creating, children are really creating: using what they have and what they already know, and combining that to create a whole that’s greater than the parts.

We have been exploring arctic animals and all things winter so we wanted to invite the children to explore how arctic animals can go tobogganing/skating all through this STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, & math)/ Small World Play invitation!   First, we froze some arctic animals in Colorations liquid watercolors, metallic/fluorescent Biocolor paint, and tempera paint. We covered our Discount School Supply  tuff trays in aluminum foil to mimic an ice rink. The children were invited to explore the materials and have the animals go Tobogganing or Ice Skating!  STEAM activities are designed to engage and stretch a child's creative thinking. Through this STEAM invitation the children were able to discover force and motion, cause and effect, formulate their own theories, observe the ice going from a solid to liquid state, enhance their color recognition, and learn about different habitats/environments. When children engage in small world play they break through the walls of reality, use their imagination, pretend to be someone or something different from themselves, explore different worlds, & have actions to go along with the roles they have chosen to play. Play is an integral part of the developmental learning process and by allowing children to develop skills in a timely natural manner they are able deepen their connection and understanding of how the world works.

This STEM invitation lets children build and balance materials through open ended exploration with snowballs! With plastic cups, cds, recycled paper tubes, hair rollers, spools, and snowballs the children were invited to stretch their thinking by exploring the engineering and design process. In the early years a child's work is to constantly problem solve through play. This invitation is a perfect opportunity to challenge a building experience to think and create in new ways with out of the norm materials. Since there is no wrong or right way to do this invitation, the possibilities are endless. From castles, smoothies, igloos, and towers galore the children created so many amazing things. When a child is left to create and explore, it stretches their problem-solving skills by all the ways they have to figure out how to build with all the materials. Through all these trials, the children are able to analyze the situation more critically and come up with the most creative solutions through the power of their imagination in their own very unique way.

To explore winter through process art, setting out an invitation to paint a mixed media collage with recycled materials and regular art materials is an innovative way to explore the season through creating. Experimenting with different surfaces and varying textures always brings a special spark of interest and engagement because of the open-ended unique process for children. To set this invitation you can place butcher paper, recycled bubble wrap/paper tubes/boxes, coffee filters, paper plates/bowls, and any other unique materials as the canvas. Provide wintry tempera paint colors and invite the child to paint.  Process art such as this lets a child experiment and 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, and open-ended. Creating art boosts children's ability to analyze and 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 and expression. When children create, they are proud to be unique and take risks, while honoring their innate creative artistic style.  Art provides for limitless creativity while instilling curiosity and wonder in the process. ”The basic law of children's creativity is that its value lies not in its results, not in the product of creation, but in the process itself. It is not important what children create, but that they do create, that they exercise and implement their creative imagination.” Vygotsky Here is another mix media winter collage.

Winter is here and learning about igloos through small world play is a great way to learn about the snow houses.  An igloo, also known as a snow house or snow hut, is a type of shelter built of suitable snow. The structure is built from blocks of compressed snow which are carefully shaved and placed to fit in optimal positions. The igloo works by the thermal conductivity being low by stopping heat from being transferred into the surroundings which makes for highly effective insulators. Small world play accompanied with loose parts (flat marbles, snowflakes , bottle brush trees ),  sensory ( insta snow) + STEM ( mini ice blocks ) materials, figurines ( igloo play set , wooden snowmen , arctic animals , polar animals , ) are a great way for extending literacy, language, imaginary play, and tactile play. Through this play they can reenact what they see/hear in stories, movies, shows, experiences, and environments around them to deepen their understanding of the world. This type of play can be defined as where children accept and assign roles, then act them out.  When children engage in this type of play they break through the walls of reality, use their imagination, pretend to be someone or something different from themselves, explore different worlds, and have actions to go along with the roles they have chosen to play.   Play is an integral part of the developmental learning process by allowing children to develop skills in such areas as abstract thinking, literacy, math, & social studies, in a timely natural manner. They are able to play and manipulate a variety of materials and textures that stimulate their mind and body while deepening their connection and understanding of the world.   Here is another invitation to explore more about igloos , and some more wintry small world plays here: Winter Sleep Hibernation STEM Building ,   Baby Beluga Sensory Tuff Tray Play ,  Small World Play: Little Penguins ,   Forest Small World Play , Arctic Small World Play .

This science experiment is to recreate the New Years tradition of glitter/confetti and fireworks. Since children are fueled by curiosity, science is always a wonderful way to encourage exploring, discovering, and observing. Science is all about making inquiry based observations and figuring out how things work. Simple, hands-on experiments such as these are great ways to honor a child's curiosity while ringing in the New Year. This invitation is your traditional baking soda and vinegar science activity with a creative New Year twist. You will need baking soda, dish soap, glitter/confetti, liquid watercolors, vinegar, Learning Resources jumbo plastic droppers , Colored Plastic Potion Bottles 6 pcs , Clear Plastic Potion Bottles 6 pcs , all placed in a tuff tray /sensory bin.  Place a base of baking soda, dish soap, glitter/confetti into the containers. Place liquid watercolors and vinegar into cups and provide droppers. Invite the child to explore and create fizzing sparkly potions. Through this process they learn about color recognition, cause and effect, chemical reactions, and scientific theory all through open-ended inquiry based learning.  Here are more ways to explore NYE: Two New Year’s Science Experiments NYE Fine Motor Ball Drop

Celebrate ringing in the New Year with this fine motor ball drop invitation! Place different sized containers, these are  learning resources graduated beakers ,  cylinders ,  handy scoopers , Colorations® Rainbow Striped Pom-Poms, and disco balls all on a tuff tray or in a sensory bin.  Invite the child(ren) to scoop/pick up the pom poms/disco balls & transfer them into the different sized containers.  As they transfer the pom poms/disco balls with the handy scoopers, it provides opportunities for the refinement of hand-eye coordination and fine motor control. It allows a subtle and indirect preparation for writing by gently encouraging the hand to curl into the 'pincer grip' used for writing. Working with fine motor tools provides an engaging exercise which captures a child's attention and promotes attention to detail and sustained concentration. Transferring the pom poms/disco balls requires precise movement and helps in hand-eye coordination. Through hands-on learning they are developing and enhancing multiple layers of skill sets that will provide the stimulus children need to confidently continue to ignite their curiosity through their learning journey. Here are more ways to explore NYE: Two New Year’s Science Experiments