Sorry, this is quite a long post as we have been doing lots of experimenting this week with window art! (Only problem with window art, is it proved to be quite tricky to get good photos)
I had managed to get hold of photo mounting frames at the Craft Bank and attached sticky back book covering film to the them and then stuck them to the window with masking tape.
I provided J with an assortment of Christmassy resources and he set about creating his picture.
The great thing about this activity is we could leave it out all day and didn’t have to worry about the little ones getting hold of his picture as they couldn’t reach it! However, the same couldn’t be said about the tray of resources, luckily it came with a lid!
J carefully selected the resources he wanted to use and attached them to the film – easy! He particularly like thereindeers dogs 🙂 Being only 2, he came and went throughout the day…
…. and ended up with this fantastic display (we did have to put it on the table to add the glitter)
Next we thought we would carry on our coloured glue exploration from last week. I’d seen lots of fantastic ideas on blogs for creating window clings using coloured glue, but as J is very young, he wouldn’t understand what he was creating and the activity would require alot of adult direction, so I decided to let him freely explore the glue. This way he could gain as much as possible from the activity.
J set about adding the glue to his sheet.
He experimented with dripping the glue onto the sheet from varying heights and waited patiently for it to fall. Then he used the spreader to merge the colours.
This activity allowed him to practise and develop his ability to distinguish colours. Although he can’t yet name colour, he can correctly match the glue on the spreader to its correct pot.
The sheet looked really pretty as the colours mixed together.
We used food colouring to colour the glue, so it remained almost see-through when dry.
This time as K joined us, we used paint to colour the glue, as he was likely to try to eat it and would have ended up going home with a bright red / blue / yellow mouth!
J noticed the sheet was sticky and repeatedly stuck and removed his hand from the film.
J noticed the sheet was sticky and repeatedly stuck and removed his hand from the film.
K is very young (nearly 1) but this didn’t stop him getting stuck in with the glue spreader and glue.
J continued his exploration. He is totally fascinated by dripping glue! He normally loves racing round, but waits so patiently for the glue to fall.
Although K started with the glue spreader, it didn’t take him long to replace it with his hands.
This is great as little ones get so much more from exploring with their hands. They get to learn what the glue / paint feels like, how it moves between their fingers and how they can move it around the sheet. It’s fascinating to watch the look of concentration on his face as he tries repeatedly to pick up the glue.
Here are their glue / paint masterpieces. Oh we added glitter, I didn’t manage to get pictures as K needed quite a lot of supervision
to avoid eating it!
to avoid eating it!
We thought we could incorporate our glue exploration into some Christmas art. I cut out circle shapes and attached film to the back.
Then the children got to work – they were pros at this now!
Why have one spreader when you can use two!
K decided to develop his coordination and strengthen his finger muscles in both hands simultaneously 🙂
K decided to develop his coordination and strengthen his finger muscles in both hands simultaneously 🙂
The all that was needed was a bit of glitter, what with it being a Christmas Decoration.
And we created Giant Baubles!
(The photos really don’t do the children’s work justice)
