Week two of our creative table adventures was a real success! Last week we did some activities with a Valentine's Day theme; however, this week we were free to do anything that looked like fun! Take a peek!
MONDAY INVITATION - DRAWING or WRITING PROMPT
I've had my eye on these books by Ed Emberley for a long while. By chance I spotted them at our local library, so I snatched them up for this week's drawing prompt! Here is the invitation (books for inspiration, assorted colors of fingerprint ink pads, pencils, half sheets of printer paper and WIPES):
We opened up to a random page to begin with, and I was so surprised at how even Little M&M became so involved. Honey Pot has always been a drawer, but this guy usually loses interest quickly. He chose a bunny to begin with, and copied the picture in the book so well!
The two of them started off copying images, and then used their fingerprints to create more elaborate pictures on their own!
Here are the finished drawings. I think we'll need to return to this activity in the future. The book has various themes within it including holidays, seasons, animals, garden, etc. So perhaps I can prop open a particular page to get them started, and see what evolves from there! So fun!
WEDNESDAY INVITATION - ART or CRAFT
For today's art project we used assorted items and did some printmaking! I grabbed some wooden blocks, bristle blocks, Squigz and other shapes, and left them out beside three colors of paint.
They approached the table saying that it looked like it would be fun, which is always a good sign! I had left out a sample that I had made the night before, so they could understand the difference between painting and printmaking. They got right to work!
Here are their first pieces. This is process art at its finest: tons of fun to create, without worry of the finished product. I do love how those bristle block prints look though!
I gave them each a second sheet of cardstock to extend their play, and although it began with the usual printmaking technique...they ended up painting with their whole hands. Each of their pages became completely filled. I was happy to see that they had mixed the pink and blue to create purple! And just when I thought the printmaking portion of their messy play was over, Honey Pot grabbed a bristle block and made this great design on her page!
Super cool! And I imagine they'd have even more fun if we use dinosaurs or other character toys for printmaking in the future!
FRIDAY INVITATION - SENSORY or STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math)
I discovered a super fun invitation idea from Teach Beside Me, that I knew I wanted to try right away. For Little M&M, I created this page of circles in various sizes. I laminated it, so that he may use the droppers to fill the circles with water.
I tested it out to make sure that it worked well. It really did! What a sweet and relaxing activity, where the water doesn't get absorbed or flow outward. And I was able to create green, which helped assure me that Honey Pot's invitation would be a success as well!
For Honey Pot I created a color wheel template. I know she has discussed this in her art class at school, and I thought she may enjoy mixing the colors herself to recreate one.
In addition, other items at the table included paper towels, extra cups and a large measuring cup full of clear water. From start to finish, the kids enjoyed this activity for an hour and a half. That is no exaggeration!
Little M&M began by filling in his circles carefully, even mixing colors right away like his big sister.
Honey Pot mixed all her colors, and kept the water pretty well in their circles!
Next, Little M&M made one giant puddle of green, which he then collected back into his pipette, so he could fill extra cups with his new color.
Honey Pot meanwhile had abandoned her laminated sheet, to "make art" on her empty tray!
Little M&M soon followed suit, and by the end of their playtime, only brown water remained. In addition to piping, there was also a lot of scooping and pouring.
Honey Pot even used the cups as characters...creating an elaborate story about pirates on a boat and mermaids. She cracked herself up as they started losing their hair and their bathing suits somewhere along the way.
I loved this activity. The setup was quick and simple, yet the play that followed was long and inventive! And, I was able to enjoy an entire cup of tea while supervising. Now I am already thinking of new ways to set out this activity, for expanded play in the future!
*updated* Little M&M requested this activity again the following week, so I pulled it out for him while big sister was at school. He used all of the cups, and did a whole lot of color mixing! First filling the trays, then using the laminated sheets and filling up the circles. Great fine motor practice! And I love having these activities at the ready, and in my arsenal for when Sweet E arrives!
And cleaning up the color wheel with a paper towel was really pretty!
