Toddler Tuesday 8/27

ChalkFest began this morning and has so far been super exciting. The Marietta Square is packed! More information about it will be posted soon. But we had an exciting Toddler Tuesday this week. Many children practiced wire art for the first time. A lot of fun was had by all! We started off by reading Sandy's Circus by Tanya Lee Stone in the gallery downstairs and then the instructor had the children imitate wire art by Alexander Calder. We used a lot of different mediums that one does not typically recognize as an art technique, such as using stones and buttons to complete a wire sculpture. There were also a few parents and children who joined us for the first time and had a lot of fun. Hope to see you guys next time!

Toddler Tuesday: Over the Rainbow

Today we read the book Over the Rainbow by Eric Puybaret. It told the story of a beautiful dream world existing somewhere over the rainbow.

After we read, we created watercolor rainbow pictures that resembled the ones in the book. 

Here is what one looked like: 

Want to make your own rainbow? Here's how:

You will need…
-Watercolor paper
-Watercolors
-Water/paintbrushes
-Crayons
-Pencil

Step 1. Draw a horizon line on your paper with your pencil. Starting on the line, draw two semi-circle arches above the line making one larger and a smaller one beneath it, creating the rainbow's shell.
Step 2. Using a blue crayon, color the sky above the rainbow and the small part beneath the rainbow.
Step 3. Using a green crayon, color the grass beneath the horizon line.
Step 4. Using the watercolors, create a rainbow with all the colors in your pallette! Don't be afraid to allow the colors to bleed and blend together.
Step 5. Once your rainbow is complete, use your green watercolor paint to fill in the white spaces under the horizon line by painting over your green crayon markings.
Step 6. Repeat the same previous step using the blue over the blue crayon in the sky.

Viola! Enjoy your rainbow creation!

Sensorial Program and Toddler Tuesday!

Tuesdays are made for toddlers at MCMA!

Today was jam-packed with educational art making in our new Sensorial Program for Children and Toddler Tuesday! Here's what we did...

In our Sensorial Program for Children, we made Discovery Bottles!

image via Sense of Wonder

These fun bottles help children build vocabulary and teach about discovery, observation, and predictability, all while sharpening dexterity and allowing children to feel pride in their work.
Parents got to take home a sheet that explains how to recreate the lesson at home, as well as a whole list of ideas of objects to use in their bottles. Even better, we used birdseed as filler so that, when children are done with this toy, you can reuse the contents to feed animals!

Our Sensorial Program for Children is one day a month, beginning at 10 am and going until 10:45 am. If you decide to stay for Toddler Tuesday (which begins at 11), there are 15 minutes for you to browse the art galleries with your child. This provides a break for your child and helps enhance learning in later lessons.



Toddler Tuesday was a lot of fun today as we continued our bird theme and read two books. The first was Birdsong by Ellie Sandall. It was a goofy book about bird calls, the children enjoyed the funny sounds. The second book was Basil's Birds by Lynn Rowe Read, which was even more of a hit! This silly story was about a man who had a bird's nest on his head, the children giggled a lot.

 

After reading, we went down to the MCMA art studios to create... you guessed it! Birds!

image via Treehouse Kid & Craft

This was our sample piece!

Want to make your own bird? Here's how:

You will need...

- Pipe Cleaners

- Sticks

- Construction Paper

- Markers

- Yarn

- A Hot Glue Gun

- Feathers (we used colored acetate)

- Googly Eyes (optional)

Step 1. Cut some construction paper in the shape of a bird.

Step 2. Color that bird using markers. Encourage shapes.

Step 3. Choose a stick, then choose 2 pipe cleaners.

Step 4. Begin twisting the pipe cleaners, then twist it over one end of the stick so it stays in place. Create an arch shape and twist it over the other end of the stick as you get close to the end of the pipe cleaner.

Step 5. Hot glue (adults only!) a feather to the back of the bird. Hot glue a googly eye if you wish.

Step 6. Hot glue the bird to the stick.

Step 7. Add a piece of yarn to the top to make it into an ornament, a popular alternative was to turn it into a necklace with a large piece of yarn!

Step 8. Voila! Enjoy!

We hope to see you at Toddler Tuesday next week!