Outdoor Adventures!

Monday, July 25,2016

Today we brainstormed what we need to go camping. Below is the list our students came up with!

Camping and outdoor adventures
Making a campfire
Wood
lighter
Matches
Earn badges
Telling scary stories
Fishing
Making a tent
Sleeping bags
Marshmallows
Swim
Go on a bug hunt
Nature hunt
Safety

 We made a tent using a tarp

 We created our own bonfire!

 We found poles and sticks to use as fishing poles!






Tuesday , July 26,2016

Today we earned the safety and map reading badge! We discussed camp safety and using a map and compass to navigate unknown places!

 Lea is creating her compass

 We made our very own compasses!

We finished setting up camp with 1 large tent, 1 small tent, a homemade tarp tent, and a bonfire

 We even made camping binoculars using recycled materials and art supplies! We discussed binoculars are very common camp necessities.

Reading a map is very important for camping. Especially when you are in a unknown wooded area. Today we took a hike outside and created homemade maps of where we went and landmarks we saw. Many students even added a compass onto their map to show the different directions.


Wednesday, July 27, 2017

Today was an exciting day at camp! We had a special visitor, a boy scout! One of our very own professors at U of M Dearborn invited her son, who is almost an eagle scout! Mr. Jarron taught us lots of fun things about being a boy scout and camping! He showed us how to set up a camping cot and a tent. He was nice enough to let the children test out the cot! He also showed us all of his badges he has earned, as well as his large backpack full of camp gear. Mr. Jarron explained camp safety and what he keeps in his first aid kit! Finally, he worked with children in small groups to learn different types of knots!

 Jarron is teaching us how to set up a sleeping cot to put inside a tent

 Jarron passed around different examples of knots!

 The students were very excited!

 Mia testing out the sleeping bag and cot!

Elias testing out the sleeping bag and cot!

 Stephen testing out the sleeping bag and cot!

 Mr, Brent and Mr. Jarron set up another tent for us to see!

Inside we explored star gazing! This was so much fun! We darkened the block area and projected "stars" on the ceiling and wall. The children were able to lay down, gaze, look for stars, and tell stories!

 Here Mr. Jarron is teaching knots with Farrah and Nora

 Elias and Farah working hard on knot tying!

 Hassan is tying knots!

 Some students explored building with waffle blocks!

Other students explored making roads and cities in the block area!



Thursday, July 28, 2016

Today we earned our knot tying badge! Each child got to explore with their very own rope and different types of knots. Some knots the children practiced were the square knot and the overhand knot!

Elias said  "I learned the cow hitch knot."

 Finished products!

This afternoon we made s'mores! We used pizza boxes and aluminum foil to make homemade solar ovens! This was really exciting! Students discovered that the chocolate and marshmallows would heat up from the foil reflecting off of the sun. After putting together s'mores we let them cook for about an hour. Once the s'mores were nice and toasty we got to enjoy them outside!

*** Please note we used Kosher Parve Marshmallows and used separate ovens for those children with chocolate/ nut/ dairy allergies***

Students were very interested in the star gazing again today! Some even came up with the idea to make telescopes to look at the stars!

The Alphabet of Art

Monday, July 18, 2016

To introduce this week's theme we began a conversation regarding students knowledge of artist's. What is an artist? What does an artist do? Here is what they had to say...

Genevieve: Someone really good at art

Mia: Someone who prints a picture

Sophia: Painting faces

Nora: An artist is a job. Artists break rules

Leo: An artist paints lots of pictures

David: An artist builds with legos

Sarah: I don't know any artists

Aubrey: An artist is when you get your face painted

Farah: Artists build castles

Stephen: Somebody who paints something

Students exploring ceiling drawing outside

Exploring clay and how to flatten, roll and use clay

Watercolor paintings

Exploring wire! What can you do with it? How does it bend?
How can you twist it?

More wire exploring!

Tuesday, July 19,2016

Students continued to build and explore in the block area. Today,a castle was built!

We also explored Joan Miro and art using lines and shapes to complete a picture.We discussed shapes, lines, and color within artwork.  Later in the afternoon , we used water colors to complete the pictures. 

We then explored with clay and clay tiles! Students used different lines within their tiles, as well as imprints and 3D attachments.  Students explored different clay tools to help form their tiles. After our tiles are dry, we will then finish the process by painting the tiles!

Yesterday our students were very interested in ceiling painting. So, today we painted with long brushes outside by taping brushes to long dowel rods. We then attached the large hanging paper to metal beams and students got to free paint!


Wednesday, July 20,2016

Farrah said " I'm going to make lightening ".

Leo said " this is my eagle. Now I need to turn it over for more room for water and mountains"

Joey stated " this is my eagle"

Today we used Matisse as an inspiration for children to explore the technique of " drawing with scissors".

Leo and Carriag building The Tower of Pisa

Nora building The Colosseum

Stephen , Joey, and David working together to build the Taj Mahal

We also explored art within architecture. Some of the students chose to use pictures of famous buildings and structures as an inspiration for block building.

Stephen painted an angel fish and decided to fill up all the while space on the paper

Here Nora is painting the flower shown for inspiration 

Lea also created a flower painting

Children explored using the easel to paint, as well as paint standing up. How is painting standing up different then sitting at a table? Some used the flowers as in inspiration for their artwork!

Lea had " Two different patterns using the different beads" 

 Lastly, we used wire and beads to explore some properties of wire and inspire the children's creativity!

Thursday, July 21,2016

 Mia stated" look at my planet circle".

Today we continued art week with exploring concentric circle art! Students used chalk pastel's to represent shapes within simple art!

Hamzeh said " I'm painting the face. Here is the eye, here is the face, here is the nose. And that is the eye patch".

Students continued to explore clay and sculptures . Today they got to paint their clay tiles from Tuesday using acrylic paint!

Sarah adding pieces onto her mobile!

Students have been exploring wire all week. Today we learned  about Alexander Calder and how he was known  for sculptures, specifically mobiles. This inspired children to use wire, hangers, shapes, beads, paper, and other random materials to create a Calder mobile of their own!

While exploring mosaic tiles David said  " I'm building a treasure house"

Stephen pointed to his "cave" while using rocks and stones to build art!

Friday, July 22,2016

 Farrah said " I made purple"

 Hamzeh painted a rainbow

Stephen painted " a creeper from Minecraft"

Today we got to free paint on canvas'.

We introduced music as a form of art. Students got to explore different types of music along with dancing with scarves! 

 Leo said " yellow and green make a bright green"

 Farrah said " when painting you should put the light color first"

We explored Mondrian inspired paintings, by using white paper, black masking tape, and creating defined spaces. The children had the option to use primary colors , however  mixed and created many more colors!

Children exploring kinetic sand