Preschool Picasso

Hi! I'm Leslie- a homeschooling momma to a 5 year old girl and 19 month old boy.  The 2 are as different as night and day.  I share our adventures here to both inspire learning at home and chronicle our lives, because honestly, I never started the baby books and my kids will just have to look back on their childhood through this blog... ha! #keepinitreal

Pablo Picasso has always been one of my favorite artists to study.

His work is unlike any others before him.  Exposing my preschooler to his work and creating artwork in his style on her level was so much fun.  

Not going to lie though.... she did it completely different than what I thought she should do. 

I guess she truly emulated Picasso, because I am sure he created his artwork completely different than what most thought he should do.  

Our Art Studio box from Mother Goose Time has been so much fun!

For this particular Invitation to Create, they supplied us with a variety of shapes in multiple colors along with a beautiful print of a woman's portrait by Picasso.

I asked my girl what she saw, and she pointed and named all the parts including the lady's shirt.

We talked about what shape each facial feature reminded her of, and she compared them 

(pictured below.)

I told her she would create a face from the shapes I provided (along with glue and markers).

I expected her to glue the shapes and draw in them (because that is what I would have done);

instead she used the shapes as stencils.

She carefully placed them, compared how she wanted them turned, traced around them, and then filled in her shape if needed.  She chose not to use a drop of glue.

Oval eyes.  Semicircle ears and nose.  A triangle for a mouth.  Rainbows shape for hair.

Her picasso was completely different than what I would have done when given this Invitation to Create.  But that's what makes these provocations so amazing!

She does as she sees fit!  She is the artist!  Not me.  And she truly created something amazing.

Math with Mixed Ages

Hi! I'm Leslie- a homeschooling momma to an almost 5 year old girl and 19 month old boy.  The 2 are as different as night and day.  I share our adventures here to both inspire learning at home and chronicle our lives, because honestly, I never started the baby books and my kids will just have to look back on their childhood through this blog... ha! #keepinitreal

Homeschooling is tough with toddlers.
They're into all the things.  All of them.
I've tried to do our schooling when he naps, but it's hard when that is the time to get dinner, chores, and a few moments to reheat the morning cup of coffee...again.

I have loved how active our Mother Goose Time games are and how easy it is to incorporate my 19 month old rambunctious son with my cautious and studious little girl.  Flexibility. 
Teaching is always about flexibility.

As we observed Monet's Haystacks, we did an animal search and match math game.

I layed out 6 animal cards face down, and folded their matches placing them in a basket filled with "hay."  My son's task was to pull a card from the hay, and my preschooler had the task to find its' match from the upside down cards.  It challenged her memory and built up his sensory experiences. 

Our Pointillism day was inspired by A Sunday on La Grande Jatte by Georges Seurat.

While observing the painting, I asked my girl:

"What stands out to you?' "How did the artist make this painting?" 

"What kind of weather are they experiencing?"

She pointed out the umbrellas as something that stood out to her.  Our math game suggested a parachute or sheet to hide button on, but with just the 3 of us, I used an actual umbrella to make this game work.

My son threw the foam die with pictures of our monthly manipulatives, buttons, on them.  He loves to throw all the things, so he threw the die, and my preschooler would climb under the umbrella to find the corresponding buttons.

We counted all the buttons she gathered (21) and then I let her create pictures with her buttons, just like Seurat used dots to make his masterpiece.

So thankful for Mother Goose Time and the ease I have to play and learn with my kiddos.
Hoping next school year will be just as easy as we venture more towards Kindergarten


Happy Learning!

Inspired by Monet

 Hi! I'm Leslie- a homeschooling momma to an almost 5 year old girl and 19 month old boy.  The 2 are as different as night and day.  I share our adventures here to both inspire learning at home and chronicle our lives, because honestly, I never started the baby books and my kids will just have to look back on their childhood through this blog... ha! #keepinitreal

Bon Jour! Today we traveled to France, made the French flag, learned a few new words in French, toured a bridge in our local native plant center, and created our own landscapes inspired by Claude Monet all thanks to our Mother Goose Time preschool curriculum!

Our day started out by finding France on our blow up globe from MGT.

After my daughter found it, we learned the words "Bon Jour!" and "Au Revoir" 

and practiced saying it and waving to imaginary friends out of our window.

We then compared the French flag to the Italian flag (which we learned about last week).  

Using torn paper and glue, my girl created the flag of France and I placed it on our wall.  

We had a beautiful picture provided from MGT of Monet's Garden in Giverny  .

Looking at this bridge inspired me to take my kiddos on a quick field trip to a local bridge that once overlooked a pond.   It's dried up now, but the ground is so fertile it has now transformed into a garden of the native plants of our area.  While we walked along the bridge, the children pointed to flowers, chased butterflies, and inspected plants.  

Although we didn't see any lily pads, we had a wonderful time exploring 

what God has graced us with here. 

When brother went down for his nap, my daughter and I headed to the table to make our own 

Water Lily Pond.  MGT supplied us with everything! Even this amazing bridge cut out.  The only supplies I brought to the table were scissors, glue, and crayons. 

I asked my daughter to study Monet's Garden in Giverny asking her:

-What colors do you see? 

-What things are pink? green? blue?

-How will you use your blue paper? green paper? What about the tissue paper?

-Will you make your own bridge or use the cut out?

Then we got to work.  I say we because I could NOT WAIT to use these materials to make my own artwork! :)   She drew a lily pad on her tissue paper and included a flower on it.  She needed a little help cutting it out which I did, but she also cut out some of it. 

I didn't take tons of pictures of the process since I was working on my artwork alongside her.

We did have great conversation!  She told me about the dead tree she was drawing, but that it could still produce orange apples.  The pond inspired her to make a frog on her green paper because you would find frogs on lily pads.  Using our Ed Emberly How to Draw Animals book, we went through step by step how to draw a frog, which she drew on her green paper.  I cut it out for her, and my girl glued her frog on her lily pad where he belongs. 

He's my favorite.

Our finished work. 

There is so much that I love about this lesson.  I loved making art, the conversation I had with my girl, traveling and learning French, and exploring a bridge and the nature surrounding it.

I am so grateful for the inspiration from our MGT lesson because these moments I treasure,

 and I know they probably won't remember because they are so little.

And that is the reason why I keep this blog.   They can look back and know.

Until then... have fun learning, friends! 

Preschool Art Studio: Printmaking

Hi! I'm Leslie- a homeschooling momma to an almost 5 year old girl and 19 month old boy.  The 2 are as different as night and day.  I share our adventures here to both inspire learning at home and chronicle our lives, because honestly, I never started the baby books and my kids will just have to look back on their childhood through this blog... ha! #keepinitreal

Oh my goodness yall....

This Art Studio box from Mother Goose Time is my dream in a box!  If you want to see what's inside, check out this post.  If you have a little who is into art, I would highly suggest getting it.  You could even get it as a Christmas or Birthday gift.  It's just awesome. 

We have already studied self-portraits, portraits, and today we dived into Printmaking

 (one of my favorite art techniques).

Our day started with this book that came in our box.  It has great rhyme, and shows how trying something new can lead to unexpected and amazing results.  Perfect for little kids.

My girl already knew what colors made what, but this book allowed us to have some great conversations as we read...plus cuddle time. Win Win.

I then told her today we would do study printmaking.

We played "I Spy" as we looked around the room naming prints. 

"I spy with my little eye.... a flower print."  It was on her dress, which led to the inspiration for her printmaking project.

MGT supplied us with the foam shapes, cardboard lid, and paper.

All I had to add was a glue stick and paint.  

I asked my girl what 2 paint colors she would like to use (red, yellow, or blue), 

and she chose blue and red.

She decided she wanted to make a flower.

Starting with a circle for the center, she then made a petal pattern design from the little shapes we had.  We worked on placing her design first before gluing it down so the result would be what she wanted.

Now the fun part!

Using a paintbrush and some of our fingerpaints, she covered her flower design well before turning it over and pressing it onto her paper.

"Momma! It looks like coral!"

Can you see it too?  The line design created by the print, especially in the middle of the circle of her flower, led to this thought. 

She made red flower prints, then decided to try blue.

The result was beautiful purple flowers.

She applied paint to her stamp with both a paintbrush and her fingers, because little kids always have to get their fingers in the paint.  That's also why you see little blue areas on the finished piece below....little blue finger painted flowers. 

I love it.

She decided to gift it to her Daddy when he came home from work.

He loves it too. 

What can you do with this?

Make cards, or do prints all over some big sheets of paper so you can have your own gift wrap!

Art can be made for arts sake, but also to bless others!  This is the perfect summertime activity to do on those rainy afternoons or when the kids say "I'm bored."

If you would love more art ideas, be sure to follow us on Facebook where I attempt to share a few times a week what we are doing.

Hope you have a blast printing with your kiddos!