Fall meets Winter

In the midst of our fall inspired art and our pumpkin bar snack, it starts to snow.  Winter is trying to break through.

Lately, the kids have been asking to draw, at some point, during free play time.  Today we went with markers.

Snack: Pears, Cheddar cheese, purple cabbage, and homemade [gluten free] pumpkin bars

It snowed during outside play time!

Making Fall leaves.  Printing with smashed toilet paper rolls

Trying out a scraping technique.

...and, or course, preschoolers keep me humble with my amazing art ideas, by reminding me that all they really want to do is go wild.  Their ideal art project would probably be rolling their entire body in paint and then trashing around on a room-sized canvas.  :)  Simplicity.  Freedom.  Play.  I think that is what is important with children making art at this age.

Adding in some oil pastels and markers for a mixed media experience.
They are in the zone.

Quite a prolific art session today for just 2 youngsters.

An Artful Day

The kids were really into creating today.  During free play time they asked if they could draw, so I brought out some oil pastels.  During outside time they did some chalk drawing.  Our pumpkin painting project went quicker than I thought, so we came up with an improptu "painting with cars" project.

Starting our day off with some play time.

Special request for drawing.  Oil pastels to the rescue!

Snack and story.  Cheese, Rice crackers, Apples, and Cucumbers.

They made and decorated a mountain together.

Someone said they drew a butterfly, and I wrote out the word.  Art collaboration. ;)

Painting tiny pumpkins with tiny brushes.

Paint + Hot Wheels cars

Sensory Project:  Gelatin, dye, shells, rocks, and tools.

Some relaxing Lego play to end our day.

Nature Sculptures and Play Noodles!

Here's is a bit of what we did today at Dandelion Playschool.  

I have space for a couple more little ones, so please get in touch if you're interested!

Snack:  English cucumbers, honeycrisp apples, Tillamook cheddar, and brown rice crackers.

Our materials

Using plaster to create a nature sculpture.

Play noodles!  Spaghetti noodles, dyed with food coloring, during the boiling process.  You know they're really loving it when the room is totally silent.  ...well with a little quiet jazz music in the background.

Winding down the day with some train track construction.

Charcoal, Chalk, and Dirt!

Here's a peek at what we did today.

Free Play Time!

Blocks

Snack:  Roasted cashews, grapes, red bell pepper, and homemade carrot apple spice muffins.  (gf/df)

We have a nice flat cement area, perfect for chalk drawing, in the back yard.

Dirt!

Charcoal drawing.

Seeing what happens when we paint over the charcoal, with water.

The kids had a nice little chill time before lunch.  After we play outside and do our art project, they're always so peaceful and content....for a few minutes.  ;)  After this, we head to the big table to listen to a story while the kids eat their lunch.

Our Day

Here's a look at our day.  It's includes almost everything we did, besides a few stories read, a bunch of hand washing, lunch, several potty parties, and hugs goodbye.  

Indoor free play time!

Snack Attack!  Homemade banana muffins (gf/df), apples, carrots, cheese.

Outdoor play time!  

Potato Printing

I love using magenta, lemon yellow, and cyan to let the kids mix their colors.  It makes much more brilliant purples, greens, and oranges compared to starting with red, blue, & yellow.  I heard lots of "IT'S MAKING GREEN!!!!"  and "IT'S MAKING PURPLE!!!!!!!!!!!!"  So fun.  :)

Science/Sensory Play.
What happens when you add vinegar to baking soda!?  A solid 15 minutes of pure silence while the kids are completely enthralled.  

Winding down and block building.  Indoor free play time, until parents arrive.