During this Wonderlab, we as a group wanted to try out creative stations with kindergarten, by having them exploring different materials in their table groups. In the past we have tried to give the Kinder students prompts for our lessons and found that they preferred to play and explore with given materials. These creation stations cater to the students' needs to create without the goal of creating a finished product. This group of students is still in a stage where they're trying to understand the materials put in front of them.
The four stations were masking tape resist with marker, oil based clay, oil pastels, and a 3D creation station that utilized cotton balls and q-tips. Each station had an assigned instructor that introduced the possibilities of each medium to the students. This also allowed for more one on one time watching the students explore materials, while also being able to ask more questions about how they saw the materials. The students took well to exploring freely without prompts with the materials at the station, with us teachers only intervening during times of peer conflicts and or misuse of materials. We saw a number of students going beyond just the paper we gave them to create on, at one table a student was creating a tape bridge utilizing the masking tape at the station with the masking tape and markers.
The four stations were masking tape resist with marker, oil based clay, oil pastels, and a 3D creation station that utilized cotton balls and q-tips. Each station had an assigned instructor that introduced the possibilities of each medium to the students. This also allowed for more one on one time watching the students explore materials, while also being able to ask more questions about how they saw the materials. The students took well to exploring freely without prompts with the materials at the station, with us teachers only intervening during times of peer conflicts and or misuse of materials. We saw a number of students going beyond just the paper we gave them to create on, at one table a student was creating a tape bridge utilizing the masking tape at the station with the masking tape and markers.
Inquiry/Learning Target:
Essential Understandings:
Skills:
- How does playing with new materials allow one to better understand them?
- New mediums and tools lead to new ideas
- Different experimentations lead to different discoveries.
- Artists and designers test different ideas to discover new potentials.
Essential Understandings:
- Artists and designers play, discover, and create with new materials to understand mediums, tools, and creative potential of each.
Skills:
- Listening to instructions
- Sharing materials
- Creative problem solving
- Respecting others
- Cleaning materials
- Taking care of materials
- Seeking challenges and growth
- Keeping items separate from each other
- Keeping area clean
- Taking risks
- Explaining ideas
- Sharing discoveries with others
"Look! I made a ring!"
"Oh! Can you show me how you did that?? :0" "You wrap it around a marker..." *Proceeds video* This student showed innovation with materials by utilizing familiar materials in novel ways. They problem solved the ring fitting around their finger by shaping it around a finger-sized object and re-wrapping the clay around their finger, comparing the circumference of the marker to their finger width. |
This student "Made a cookie," referring to how the different texture created dark splotches reminiscent of chocolate chips. They connected the effect of the pencil to making the different color, and when they attempt to use their thumb, they revert to the pencil as the color change wasn't as abrupt. They considered how the pencil was inserted affected the mark, slowly drilling it and sometimes tossing it off the pencil, showing the intention and reintending as they work.
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This student at the tape resist station discovered that instead of adding marker to his piece, he could use the tape to draw out an image on the paper. "It's a red house and a flower" he said as he balled up a little piece of green tape to make his flower. This connection of using the line of the tape instead of a drawn line also gave his work a sculptural effect which the student noted, "My flowers are 3D".
At the tape resist station, this kindergartner discovered how he could create one layer of images and then add another layer on top. "I'm making squares". After making his squares he pulled off his first layer of tape and I asked him what he could possibly add next. When I came back to him he was adding, "An X with red this time".
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