“It’s a home for seeds. Cover them up with soil and they grow flowers!”

Last week in the Studio, all children in Pre-K learned how to make seed balls!  Friends had so much getting messy while fun rolling air dry clay in soil and wildflower seeds.  Once they dry, you can dig a little hole in the ground, plant and water them, and wildflowers will grow!  Seed balls will be available to purchase at our Pre-K Market this Friday, May 20th,  from 2-3:30!

Alli: It’s a home for seeds.  Cover them up with soil and they grow flowers!

Christian: Seed balls look like Oreo cookie crunch, but don’t eat them because they are dirt balls.

Siena: Making seed balls is fun.  I like getting messy!

Autumn: You can cover all the seeds up with clay.

Isabella: The seeds go in the clay and then you plant them in the ground and then flowers will grow!

Belen: A baby seed ball.  So cute!

Elmys: Seed balls. So hard.  Like rocks.

Jariel: Don’t throw seed balls.  They are too hard.

Waju: Wow, flowers will grow from them?  But they feel like rocks!

“You need a bigger Studio, we can’t all fit!”

Wow— what a fabulous Showcase we had yesterday!  Thanks to all the families that stopped in the Studio.  Friends who helped write the invitation sure were right… there were so many people, we almost did need a line!

In the New Year, we will begin assembling this color study work into an artist book.  I’ve also been thinking about incorporating some of the images into a children’s book (thanks for the idea, dad!)  If anyone has experience writing, publishing or illustrating books and is interested in collaborating, please let me know!  I hope everyone has a wonderful, restful break.

“There are going to be so many people looking at our art work at the Showcase that we need security guards!”

After weeks and weeks of experimentation with color mixing, we started working on our final color study product!  We began by looking at work that shows individual colors side by side an image that uses the colors to make a cohesive piece of work.

Siena: The colors on the side show what colors are in the painting.

Maia: The colors on the side match.

Next, friends closed their eyes and imagined what it would be like if they only had a few colors in the world to paint with.  Children thought about places they had been that evoked vivid memories, animals and food that they loved, and objects they have seen at school or at home.

Amy: I want to make pink princess, dark purple princess and green princess.

Nayeli: I’m going to close my eyes and I see the pool.  I want to make pool blue.

Fatima: How do I make the color of a man sitting on the moon?

Next, friends began creating their unique colors in small plastic cups.  When they made a color that was just right, they painted a small rectangle with their paint.  Children named each color as they were working.  Friends were able to choose how many colors they wanted to make and throughout Pre-K, the numbers ranged from 2-6 unique colors per child.

Waju: This is a perfect color.  Just a little more purple and it’ll be perfect perfect.

Adrian: It’s just the right color that I needed.

Dai’Jah: I thought about when I went to the park with my mommy and there was a purple slide.  I’m trying to make a purple the same as the slide.

The following week, friends were excited to revisit their paint and began to brainstorm how they would like to incorporate every color into a painting.

Elliott: You have to be creative with the painting.  If you don’t have the right color, you have to make it different with your imagination.  It’s beautiful.

Zavier: You help me kind of like you’re my manager.

Jariel: I’m making a people eating a shark.

Mae: The animals are sitting together on a tree and they’re having some fun.  Then they are going for a walk.

Zavier: There are going to be so many people looking at our art work at the Showcase that we need security guards.  And tickets for the parents so that they can come.

We can’t wait to share our color study art work at the Pre-K Showcase on December 16!  Please stop by the Pre-K Studio between 11:30-12:30 on the 16th.

“Is that an octopus in the cage? He a spider? He gonna eat us!”

It was a very busy week and a half, as friends have started coming to the Pre-K Art Studio for art groups!  For children that were Pre-K 3’s last year, they acted as real leaders in showing new children around the Studio.  We spent some time noticing, wondering and asking questions about different spaces and materials that children observed in the new space.  Children that are new to CCPCS this year were very curious about the tarantula, Mister Skinny Legs, that lives in the Studio.  Friends that learned about spiders last year, and were a part of the naming process, helped introduce him (from the safety and comfort of his tank) to other children, and let them know that there wasn’t anything to be scared of!

Greyson: There’s a spider that has hair on him. He’s brown and orange.

Dafnee: I love your board and your lamp!

Claire: Why is there a classroom right next to yours?

Christian: I hear kids next door saying, “I have a block.”  I bet they are building.

Siah: The spider is moving. I think he likes your story!

Siena: It’s a little room… that’s so funny!

Nneka: Wow! Look at this place… it’s so cool!

Amen: The sink makes a noise.  A really loud noise.

Luke: This is the most awesomest room ever!

Esther: I’m scared the spider will get out of the cage and come to us.

Amen: Is that an octopus in the cage? He a spider? He gonna eat us!

Florentina: We get to go back to the back table when were done and the back table is always so fun!