School Age Program

november 2022

Developing Our Creations

This week in the school-age room, we saw lots of creative expressions! We saw many different art forms this week, including drawings, representation, collaging, puzzle making, and cutting! We saw lots of pictures with a winter or holiday theme! "I made a Christmas Demogorgon" -T. C used many real-life materials as models for her drawings as she created representations of different objects. C had a mask from school, and she noticed a design on the mask and carefully duplicated the image onto paper. "I'm going to make it orange and pink because I like it better than the blue," -C. "I copied the mask and put it on the paper" -C. C used a pencil to add the small details on her mask.

A created a puzzle out of popsicle sticks this week! A put a few popsicle sticks together and used a piece of tape to secure the popsicle sticks as she drew her design. "I'm going to tape it so I can draw one big picture. Then I don't have to draw on a tiny popsicle stick" -A. After completing her drawing, she tested her product by removing the tape, mixing up her pieces, and trying to put them back together. "This puzzle is kind of hard," - A. A successfully put her puzzle back together and decided it was perfect. "It's perfect! It can be put together, and it's a little hard, but it makes it fun" -A.

With ongoing collages in the room, R, A, and C found different ways to express their artistic ideas. R used feathers and created a pattern, separating the feathers by a few pieces of ribbon. A used a cluster of beads and tested how much glue would be needed for the beads to stick to the paper, and C put her pieces around the paper, carefully thinking about the placement. C cut up a piece of paper into small shapes, coloured them, and then glued them on a separate piece to create her image. "I'm making little wings, and then I'm going to draw around it," -C.

The children incorporated the blocks into the dramatic play centre and the children created a store! Selling food with a doctor's office hidden in the back, the children used the blocks to section off the different areas. "I'm going to need to find more money so I can give you some back" -E. "I'll order some more lemons so you can have the money" -E. The children focused on their negotiation skills when purchasing from their store and looked at possibilities for exchanging items for other items.

We saw lots of fantastic towers in the room this week as well! W built a structure with small blocks and focused on vertical additions to the tower. "This tower is going to be taller than me" -W. E and A also created an intricate tower to use as a hiding place and focused on the construction requirements. "Let's build it taller here so we can see over the other side" -A.

Many of the children have been bringing their interests indoors and adapting them to the outdoor environment. P and E brought their drawings outdoors to continue, I developed his monster game to be louder and faster outdoors, and C and C took their drawings outside onto the pavement to create a challenging hopscotch game that included spinning, running, hopping, and skipping! The children's innovation in developing games and adapting their previous creations has been amazing to see!


Jen Kesner RECE, Ashlie Johnston RECE