Recently I received a Peg Loom with Wool Yarn (item #V54) from Montessori Services (also known as For Small Hands) for review. My 7-year-old daughter loves crafts, so we eagerly opened it up and started weaving!

Some of the loom features I really like are:

1) The loom is made of wood and the yarn provided is 100% wool
2) The directions are clear and easy to understand
3) The loom is easy to use

After weaving the included string on the loom to make the warp, we threaded the needle and started weaving. My daughter has done projects like this before (making potholders on plastic looms) so she had a good idea of how to do it.

It does take time to weave the yarn all the way across the loom. In about an hour, my daughter had woven yarn halfway across the loom. We did use double yarn in the needle as recommended for faster weaving.

Here are my daughter’s thoughts about the loom (as she weaves on it, see picture):

“I think that you should be careful when going over and under with the yarn because it’s easy to do it wrong. I think that kids ages 5-10 would probably really like it. It comes with lots of yarn in nice colors, and you can make many things with it.”

The instructions include suggestions for several projects, including wallhangings, purses, carpets, and pillows.

I think this craft is a great way to bring practical life activities into any home or classroom. As it says on the box:

“Boys and girls love to weave! Designed to help develop fine motor control, dexterity, concentration, and basic mathematical skills.”

Thank you to Montessori Services for letting us try this great item!

But it gets even better…

Montessori Services is providing one peg loom set as a giveaway right here on our blog!

PLEASE NOTE: The prize ships to the US/Canada only. International readers, if you have a relative or friend that lives in the US or Canada who could accept the package for you, please feel free to enter!

The details:

• PRIZE: A Peg Loom with Wool Yarn set from Montessori Services (a $24.95 value)
• TO ENTER: Leave a comment on this post (not on Facebook); ONE comment per person
• BONUS QUESTION FOR COMMENT: What is your favorite practical life activity?
• GIVEAWAY CLOSES: Monday, December 12 at midnight CST
• NUMBER OF WINNERS: One
• PRIZE SHIPS: US/Canada only

Winner will be chosen by random.org and posted Tuesday morning, December 13th.

Good luck and happy weaving!

Picture of Peg Loom used by permission of Montessori Services.

One area that’s always scared me, though, is that of drawing or sketching. It’s not my strong suit, yet it’s something that I want my children to know how to do. That’s why I was so excited when I picked up a copy of Drawing with Children by Mona Brookes.

First written almost 25 years ago, it’s available in a revised and expanded 10th anniversary edition, which is the one I am using. Drawing with Children takes a systematic look at teaching children to draw. When developing this method, Brookes had to face conventional wisdom that says drawing is something children should just “do”; they shouldn’t receive lessons on the subject.

Brookes took a look at all the other curricular areas and realized that we give children lessons in math, reading, geography, music, and dance without a second thought. There’s no reason why we can’t approach drawing in the same way. After ten years of use in schools, homes, and art studios, her method has been shown to empower children to produce amazing artwork.

I decided to use this book with my own children, giving them a drawing lesson once a week. We began this past week, so I’ll outline how we got started and how we used the book as the basis for our lesson. Her book is subtitled “A Creative Method for Adult Beginners, Too” so I am joining my children in the exercises so I can improve my drawing skills as well.

Setting the Stage

The first thing I did was read the book from cover to cover. Since this is an area where I feel weak, I wanted to understand her method (called “Monart”) completely. It’s highly readable and contains a wealth of information in addition to the actual drawing lessons.

I appreciated how she addressed common myths: “There is a right and wrong way to draw”, Art lessons should only be given to children who show talent in that area”, etc. She talks about each myth and why they take hold in our minds, and brings to light the truth about art: “There is no right or wrong way to draw”, “Art lessons can be given to anyone” with a full explanation of each idea.

She turned some of my ideas upside down; for instance, she has children use markers rather than colored pencils so that they have to plan carefully before they draw and deal with their mistakes rather than erase them. (I thought erasing was good!) She has an entire section on what to do when you don’t like something you’ve drawn. The suggestions were extremely helpful.

Assembling the Supplies

I went out and bought a set of thin-line and thick-line markers for each of my children. She recommends having both: the thin-line to draw outlines and the thick for filling in shapes and figures. I didn’t want to spend a lot so I bought a mid-price brand. She recommends using 8 ½ x 11 printer paper to draw on – I have plenty of that on hand. So purchases were minimal.

Our First Art Lesson

When I sat down with my children I had already planned what I was going to tell them. I explained the reason behind the markers and showed them the suggestions she gave for dealing with a mistake. I explained that we weren’t going to even use the word “mistake” anymore; Brookes suggests saying “I like this” or “I don’t like this” about your own work, rather than using words with negative connotations.

After we covered this introductory information, we started our first exercise. It involved experimenting with the markers (not trying to draw anything specific) to see what you can do with them.

Then we moved into an introduction of the Five Basic Elements of drawing as developed by Brookes. Rather than being specific shapes, they include dots, circles, straight lines, curved lines, and angles so that by combining them, you can make every kind of shape imaginable.

The idea behind these elements is that they make up everything we see (a door is a series of straight lines, filled in; the doorknob is a dot). If you can master these elements and begin to notice them everywhere, you can draw.

My children (ages 6 and 9) understood these concepts immediately and were able to point out many examples of them around the room. They also created their own charts with multiple examples of each element. A chart of the Five Basic Elements is shown in the book and we used that as a jumping off point.

After that, we each took a sheet of paper and created freeform pictures using different combinations of the Five Basic Elements of drawing. (Picture: My daughter’s drawing combining the five basic elements).

Success!

Overall, our first lesson was a great success and my children enjoyed it immensely. It was fun and not tedious. We found the book to be very helpful, as it contains many pictures of drawings by children, usually showing something they drew before they had a Monart lesson and something after – the improvement is amazing.

If I have one criticism of the book, it’s that I wish the lessons were laid out a little more clearly – each lesson has several parts and can be adapted for three different levels, so it’s not always clear what comes next. I was very glad I had read the book beforehand and taken notes on which page(s) to turn to for each step of our lesson.

Still, I would recommend this book for any classroom or home in need of a structured approach to drawing. We’re definitely going to continue our weekly art lessons and I’ll check back in from time to time to share our progress. I’d love to hear any of your experiences with this approach, or perhaps another approach to drawing with children.

One thing we were looking for was a basement that could be a combination classroom/playroom for the children. The house we chose not only had a spacious basement, but it was a walkout with sliding glass doors leading to our backyard and a large picture window (lots of natural light!)

In our last house, our learning area was in our family room, and it was a bit cramped; here’s a picture as a refresher:

At the time that picture was taken, my son was 7 and my daughter was 4, so much of her work was in our kitchen (pouring and other practical life activities). Since I couldn’t be in two places at the same time, it was hard to work with both of them or even be in a place where I could observe both at the same time.

Our new basement was unfinished when we moved in (which basically means cement walls and floor) so we’ve spent the past three months waiting and watching as construction crews put in walls, lights, outlets, carpeting, and all the other things that go into finishing a basement. They finished right before Christmas and we were thrilled with the result!

I’m going to be blogging about each area of our classroom, although I’m still working on it (arranging shelves, cutting out materials), but here’s a picture of our main work area to hold you until I can do more with it:

The sliding doors at the end are a storage closet for me, giving me plenty of room to store the materials we’re not using (something I never had before!) I’ll be blogging more about that too in the near future.

In the meantime, I wanted to talk about our art area. I’ve blogged about art areas before, specifically on setting up your primary art area and bringing art to the elementary classroom. In the past, I usually put out trays of art activities already put together (as shown in the two art posts).

This time, however, I decided to do things a little differently. Now that my children are older (9 and 6), I decided to simply put out lots of different art materials and let them create their own art projects.

When we designed our basement, we put in a tiled area, some cabinets, a counter top, and a sink. This seemed like a natural place to put our art supplies:

From time to time, I will still give them specific projects (for instance, we painted a Styrofoam set of planets last week to make a Solar System model) but mostly they are on their own. We do have at least one time period set aside each week for art, but they choose their own projects and complete them with minimal help from me.

I am using Jennifer Mackintosh’s unbelievably beautiful art area (scroll down a bit to see her Art Center) as an inspiration, but at this point I’ve only put out a few art supplies and some paper:

We have some additional supplies on a shelf nearby:

…including things like stamps and stamp pads, beads, craft paper, origami paper, and collage materials like craft sticks and pompoms.

So far, our art area has been a huge hit, especially with my daughter, who often goes down there first thing in the morning after waking up and has completed a few projects by the time I make my way downstairs!

One such area is that of celebrating holidays. I’ve seen some schools go to extreme lengths to avoid holidays; for instance, on Halloween, kids don’t wear costumes (even for a short time), no Valentines are exchanged on Valentine’s Day, and no crafts are made as presents for Mother’s and Father’s Day.

I have to take issue with this kind of avoidance. Holidays are important for many reasons, and children should be able to celebrate them in some way during school time. I’m not saying that holiday decorations need to be plastered around the classroom, or that whole weeks or months should be devoted to them (as is sometimes done in traditional education), but there is a place for remembering them.

Here’s a sampling of what holiday celebrations add to our lives:

1. Help us mark the passage of time and seasons

2. Winter holidays bring a sense of light and joyfulness to the long, dark winter months

3. Create a sense of community and a shared bond among groups of people

4. Provide an opportunity to study history, geography, and culture

5. Give us chances to experiment with different kinds of artwork and art projects

6. Help us honor special events and people in our lives

7. Encourage us to spend time with friends and family

A Few Ideas for Holidays

As the saying goes, “Everything in moderation”. So it is with our holiday celebrations. What I like to do is decide which holidays we’re going to celebrate (not all of them need to be mentioned every year) and then choose one book or project (or both) that best fits the holiday.

The ages of the children determine how much you will study. A young child might be interested in a simple story about leprechauns on St. Patrick’s Day; an older child may want to research the origins of the holiday and study a bit about Ireland.

With Valentine’s Day coming up, please consider having the children exchange simple valentines with each other. You can ask that they be homemade instead of store bought (to avoid “character” merchandise), and that each child bring one for every other child to avoid popularity contents. They can be as simple as a square of construction paper or cardstock with a hand-drawn heart.

Sugary snacks are never a requirement for holiday celebrations; the focus should be on special rituals (songs, stories, poems, and crafts) and a shared sense of excitement and celebration. If you’d like to involve food in your celebrations, choose a dish that is related to the cultural origins of the holiday. Have the children help you prepare it rather than buying treats from the store.

Birthdays are Holidays Too

In Montessori, birthdays are always special. They are a chance for even the youngest child to begin to understand the concept of the passage of time and what “a year” means. Often, a lamp or light will be placed in the middle of a circle (you can use a yellow ball for this too). The children will form a circle around the lamp or ball and the birthday child will hold a globe. The number of times the children circle around the lamp is determined by the age of the child.

While you’re circling, you can say (or sing), “The earth goes around the sun” once for each time the children circle the lamp. This is a wonderful example of our solar year, which was created thousands of years ago when humans began keeping track of how long it took for the earth to revolve around the sun.

A Great Resource

My friend Michelle Irinyi, who blogs for the North American Montessori Training Center, has assembled an impressive set of posts about celebrations in the Montessori classroom. Here are a few of her helpful posts:

Valentine’s Day in the Montessori Classroom

Celebrating Earth Day in the Montessori Community

Celebrating Mother’s Day in the Montessori Classroom

Celebrating Father’s Day in the Montessori Classroom
So, do you think that Montessori classrooms should celebrate holidays? And if so, what is the best way to do that?

In Montessori, blackline masters are black and white outlines of our nomenclature cards (see the Parts of the Reptile master, below right). Traditionally, kids color in the blackline masters after matching the nomenclature cards (pictures, names, and definitions) together. They color one picture for each “part” of the plant or animal, then staple the pictures into a booklet.

Many people feel that having children color in prescribed lines stifles creativity. I don’t think it’s that simple; not all outlines are created equal. There’s a difference between a child coloring in the lines of a picture of a house and tree (when they could easily draw their own version), and a child who carefully colors in a continent map or detailed drawing of an animal’s anatomy.

Precision in Montessori

We’re not against staying within the lines when it comes to materials like the metal insets; on the contrary, we present them to the children with precision and expect them to stay “in the lines” when they use them. Many children have created stunning patterns and designs by manipulating the metal insets. Another longstanding Montessori tradition is having children copy famous works of art on their own papers.

When questioned, we offer explanations. In the case of the metal insets, the child is making the decision about how and when to draw a shape, which shape to draw, and how to fill it in. Copying famous paintings is a centuries-old practice that teaches techniques like shading, use of color, shadow, and perspective. Sounds reasonable, doesn’t it?

I Don’t Actually Use Blackline Masters (shh!)

I offer blackline masters with most of my nomenclature cards, but I’ll confess it right now: I don’t use them. In my training, we were taught to have the child either trace the drawing themselves, right on their paper, and then color it in, or draw their own representation of it, using the pictures on the cards as a guide. They then might fill in only one part and label it. For example, they might draw their own picture of a bird, color in only the wing, and then write “wing” underneath the drawing.

I find blackline masters to be fiddly: there’s a lot of copying and a lot of paper usage involved. However, I have seen examples of carefully made “parts of” booklets using blackline masters, and the child put an enormous amount of hard work into it. I don’t believe their work is diminished because they used an outline rather than drawing the picture themselves.

Keeping a Broad Definition of “Art”

Let me offer this example: when I was a 3-6 assistant, one of the older boys in the classroom took it upon himself to make a map of the United States. What he did was this: he took construction paper, traced each state on it (from the wooden map), cut each state out, and glued it on a very large piece of paper. The effect was stunning and his effort was extremely apparent.

Then, another girl in class got excited by the United States map and decided to make her own version. She asked for an outline map of the United States, gathered various colored pencils, and began to carefully shade in the states. It took her a long time to finish it, and the end result was lovely.

How could I have the artistic hubris to say that one of their maps was “better” than the other? More “artistic” than the other? There is no way I would do that. Each was a work of art in its own way.

What Is the Goal?

Anytime children use anything as a guide – be it a metal inset, the movable alphabet, the small bead frame, or a blackline master, the intent is that the material becomes a springboard to abstract work. We do not think that a child who uses the small bead frame for multiplication will never be able to do multiplication abstractly; neither does that mean a child who colors blackline masters will never be able to draw or color on their own.

I won’t be the one to say that blackline masters are good or bad. The question is too complex and has too many variables; I can’t dictate to my customers how they use the materials, and enough of you have requested blackline masters for me to know that many of you use them.

I can say this: as with anything, moderation and balance is the key. If you use the blackline masters, do so with intent. Have a purpose behind it. Perhaps a child will use the blackline masters the first time they complete the work, to make their own booklet. Maybe the next time, they will draw their own plant or animal instead. In any case, the child should be given ample opportunity to draw and paint without guidelines. In this way, the best of each method can be utilized.

The Purpose of Art

The earliest art – cave drawings and the like – certainly fulfilled some important purposes. This type of art was a record of events, a means of sharing stories, and a way to pass on information. People created primitive art to show the world around them – pictures were usually of animals, birds, plants, and humans in scenes of daily life (especially hunting).

In recent centuries, the visual arts have become more sophisticated. The spoken and written word has become our primary means of communication, so art can be more than just a chronicle of historic events or a way to share stories, although it still can definitely be those things as well.

Through art, artists share their feelings in a way that evokes something from the viewer. The emotions one feels when viewing art may be pleasing or not; you may find a piece of art thought-provoking, challenging, or even distressing. The artist is trying to convey something; it’s up to you to figure out what that is. Art is a conversation between you and the artist; they put themselves into their work, and you bring yourself to your interpretation of it.

Because of the feelings that art can evoke – feelings that usually cannot be brought on by other means – art is indispensable to human existence. Art meets our needs for self-expression, communication, and our desire for connection with other humans across centuries and cultures. It’s important that children know art is important.

What Can Young Children Learn from Art?

Even at a very early age, children can appreciate works of art. They enjoy looking at pictures (photos and paintings) of fruit, flowers, animals, and other popular artistic subjects. Bright colors and sharp contrasts are stimulating visually and aid in brain development.

Older kids begin to notice that art has meaning beyond the images themselves. As they observe the feelings and emotions that works of art evoke, they will see how art can be a way of expression for themselves, too. Studies show that exposure to great art increases a child’s verbal ability, expressiveness, reasoning and logical thinking, and leads to philosophical questioning as a child seeks interpretation and understanding.

Aside from strengthening their verbal and analytical skills, studying art can teach children about design, color, shading, perspective, shadows, lighting, composition, and various artistic techniques. In addition, I find that children begin to view the world around them from an artists’ perspective; everything they see is a potential subject. They are more attuned to details and characteristics of objects, animals, and people.

Finding Art All Around Us

Every year, my son and I visit the Art Institute in Chicago for a day (we’ll take my daughter too once she’s old enough). This past spring, as we wandered the cavernous halls, we came across an exhibit of furniture from the past 50 years that exemplifies modern design principles. I watched my son’s eyes grow wide as we walked through; afterwards, he looked at me and said, “Mom, I get it now. A couch can be a work of art! A chair can be a work of art!”

It was a really neat moment because he came to that realization completely on his own. So rather than confining our study of art appreciation to painters (which is easy to do), I encourage you to expose children to all kinds of art. They can appreciate a book of calligraphy; a lovely building; an artfully composed photograph; an intricately woven rug; a handpainted vase; or even a beautifully designed website. Once they start looking, they will find art everywhere.

Studying the Visual Arts

Paintings are definitely the largest category of visual art and I think it’s appropriate to spend quite a bit of time on this particular type of art. Additionally, many painters were also skilled in other areas (sculpture, architecture) so studying their paintings leads to studies of other kinds of art as well.

Naturally, the very best way to study a painting is to see it in person. However, that’s not always possible. I do highly recommend taking young children to local art museums and galleries (making sure beforehand that subject matter is age-appropriate). If you don’t live near any, you can work them into your travel or vacation schedule.

One of the most popular ways to learn about art in recent years has been the Child-size Masterpieces Series by Aline Wolf (formerly known as Mommy, It’s a Renoir!) These books consist of great works of art, postcard size, printed on thick paper. On the backs of the paintings you’ll find the name of the artist, date and place of birth, and some information about them and about the specific painting.

The paintings are arranged in order of difficulty and by school of art (Impressionist, Cubist, etc.) Also, the fact that they all contain information about the artist and paintings is extremely helpful. In some cases, the child will want more info than the cards provide, but at least you will have some basic info on hand as a starting point. The first few sets contain two of each painting so that the child can use them as matching cards.

If you’re unsure about making the investment in the entire Child-size Masterpieces series, I would suggest purchasing the first book and trying it out. If the children enjoy it, you can get another and slowly build your artwork library. This series also comes with an instruction book, but I don’t think it’s absolutely necessary. There’s not much more to presenting the paintings than laying them out on a rug and talking about each, one at a time.

Some people may want to make their own sets of art cards using museum postcards; this is certainly an option and kids will have fun collecting and choosing postcards of artwork to study. Actually, Aline Wolf suggests doing that even if you are using the Masterpieces series, to increase the amount of paintings and artists that you can study. You may also want to add more pictures of art from around the world; the masterpieces set does tend towards European and American artists (although not exclusively).

My son and I worked our way through the entire Child-size Series this past year (his second grade year). He was eager to work with the cards and seemed to be the right age to really understand and absorb the information about each artist. We concentrated specifically on artists and paintings that are found at the Art Institute; by preparing this way, he had a great idea of what to expect on our field trip.

In addition to the art cards, we read quite a few books from the Getting to Know the World’s Great Artists series by Mike Venezia. Each of these delightful (and often hilarious) books tell the story of a great artist, and not only show reproductions of their own artwork but contain Mr. Venezia’s entertaining cartoons illustrating the artist’s life. This makes the books extremely fun to read; indeed, my son literally begged me to read them. There’s also another series by the same author called Getting to Know the World’s Greatest Composers that I highly recommend.

Early on in my teaching career, someone told me that a Montessori teacher should be a renaissance person; that is, skilled in many different areas. That’s a tall order! As with any of the curricular areas, you might feel that you are not equipped to teach art if it’s not something you studied in school. Don’t be afraid! There are so many resources out there – books, websites – and you’ll be learning right alongside the children. If they see that you appreciate art, they will too.

For a little bit of online fun, visit this website: Jackson Pollock. It’s self-explanatory

Some possible elementary art activities:

Painting of every kind: watercolor, tempera, acrylics on canvas
Drawing and sketching: still life (flowers, fruit), portraits, landscapes
Varied art media: colored pencils, oil pastels, crayons, clay, and charcoal

Here’s an example of an elementary art area; I set this up in my home but it’s very similar to the one I had in the classroom:

I’m going to take this shelf by shelf, and talk about each material.

Shelf 1:

This shelf contains a color mixing work similar to the one you’d find in preschool, only now an additional component – the color chart – has been added. I was delighted to discover that a plastic paint tray (found at any craft or art store) has almost the same amount of circles as the color chart (I think it’s got one less). Kids have a great time putting primary-colored water into three of the circles, and then using those colors to make all the other ones on the chart.

The picture is a postcard of a painting by Miro in the abstract style. It’s long been a tradition to put out real paintings in the Montessori classroom for children to copy. Set one near an easel, with the appropriate colors of paint, and kids do a surprisingly good job of copying the paintings. This can be done in preschool, too, I just didn’t have enough room on the preschool shelf to show one.

Some people feel that copying paintings stifles a child’s own creativity. I haven’t found that to be true; copying paintings is a great way to learn about technique, shading, color, and light. If the child has other opportunities to express their own creativity, they will in no way be stifled. Actually, copying paintings of the masters has long been a part of artistic studies for adults as well.

Shelf 2:

On the left, there’s a tray with stamp pads and stamps. This is a fun activity that can be done by preschoolers too. I like to give preschoolers simpler stamps, and elementary kids more elaborate designs that can be colored in with colored pencils after stamping.

On the right is an assortment of rulers and stencils. These were all found (including the bendable ruler) at an office supply store. Kids can use them to experiment with shapes, and draw all sorts of creative pictures with overlapping shapes. You could actually put a tray like this in the geometry area for use with the geometry folders and wooden materials.

Shelf 3:

On the left, you’ll find a still life drawing work. I like to put out simple objects – in this case, a vase and bowl of fruit – and let kids draw them. The drawings can be done in black and white or with colored pencils. You can show the child how to look at the object and follow its shape on the paper. I find that to be a very good way to get started with sketching.

On the right is a tray with different colors of non-hardening modeling clay, along with some clay tools. Not only is this a fun art activity, but there are many places to use the clay throughout the classroom. Animals can be molded after doing zoology nomenclature cards or animal research.

Land and water forms can be created after doing basic or advanced land and water forms cards. Biomes can be made with clay as well. If the child desires to preserve their clay sculptures, it’s best to use a hardening clay like Sculpey, or other type of craft clay that can be baked.

Shelf 4:

This shelf contains oil pastels with art paper on the left. Oil pastels (sometimes called cray-pas) are a fantastic art medium. Colors can be blended with a fingertip or brush; water can be added to blend and soften. Colors are easy to layer, especially for that time-honored favorite: first, color all over a piece of paper with different colors, then color over that layer with black. Unbend a paper clip and use the point to trace colorful pictures through the black layer.

On the right are some textured plates for rubbing. I found these in the scrapbook aisle at Target. They have a variety of textures (one on each side), and work well with Stockmar Beeswax crayons, which are flat and rectangular and perfect for rubbings. All manner of things work well for rubbings, including leaves, coins, and paper clips.

My philosophy was to treat the art shelf like any other area of the classroom – children were free to choose the work throughout the day, working alone or in pairs. If you put out something really exciting, be prepared to limit them to using it one time a day so everyone gets a turn.

As far as instructional books for elementary, I would still recommend the two books I mentioned at the end of the preschool art post, especially the second book. Again, most craft stores have a variety of arts and crafts books that can easily be adapted to Montessori.

Sometimes art instruction can be intimidating for adults, especially if they’ve never thought of themselves as particularly artistic. I’ve found that the best approach is to dive right in and learn alongside the students. When I wanted to do acrylic painting on canvas with my son, for instance, I bought a book about it and bought two canvases – one for him and one for me. We learned together – and had a great time.

As you may remember from our study of the Tendencies of Humans, one thing that sets humans apart is our ability to envision something that doesn’t yet exist. Bringing it into existence makes you feel powerful and in control. It’s no wonder that little kids love art!

How can we best help kids to create art? I think it’s like any other skill: begin with the basics. Once basic skills art established, kids can move on to more complicated activities. But if you start with the complicated activities, frustration can ensue. Keeping it simple at first is best.

In many preschool classrooms, art has its own separate area. Often, it’s near Practical Life – since Practical Life is often by a sink, this makes sense as far as clean up goes. If there isn’t a separate art area (although I think there should be), there are usually some art activities integrated into Practical Life.

What can go in your preschool art area?

Here are some suggestions:

• A tray with clay or play-doh and wooden clay tools
• An easel with tempera paints, brushes, and large paper
• A cutting activity with strips of paper and beginner scissors; many classrooms charmingly provide the kids with small envelopes so they can take home their cuttings
• A gluing activity with glue in an easy-to-use bottle, or in a cup with a toothpick or paintbrush; provide cut or torn pieces of paper for kids to glue on to larger paper
• A punching activity with a hole punch or other fun shaped punch
• A color mixing activity with the three primary colors (water and food coloring), droppers, and a mixing tray

All of the above activities can be shown to children just like any other presentation would be. You can sit with the child (or a few children) at a table and go through the work, step by step. Some kids will need more help or instruction than others.

As you can see, most of these activities are meant to teach basic art skills like how to hold a paintbrush, gluing, and cutting. I think it’s important that these are available throughout the year, but you’ll want to provide the kids with more challenging activities as the year progresses.

Here’s an example of a possible preschool art area at the beginning of the year; this is my daughter’s art shelf and she works here almost every day:

Besides the art activities that should be integrated in the classroom, time should be taken to provide the kids with art materials for doing specific projects. I enjoy using Friday afternoons as a designated “art time”. It’s a nice time to do projects like tissue paper art, papier maché, crayon resists, clay projects, and more.

Some Montessorians frown on the idea of giving kids a specific art project (like making a paper plate ladybug, for instance). They only want to provide kids with the raw materials and not tell them what to make. I like to do both; kids learn the valuable skill of following directions when they do pre-planned crafts. Also, pre-planned crafts can be more complex and tie in with seasons or other themes.

I know of two art instruction books specifically for use in Montessori environments. I’m acquainted with both of the authors and would recommend either book; the second one is a little more in-depth than the first (please visit each site to compare):

Let Out the Sunshine: A handbook featuring a Montessori approach to creative activities, this book contains simple projects that highlight the five basic skills of cutting, gluing, modeling, crayoning, and painting.

Art for the Montessori Classroom: A guide from New Child Montessori, this more complex book has 240 pages of information for setting up the art area and integrating art into the classroom or homeschool curriculum.

In addition, there are many books available at teacher stores and even traditional bookstores that are filled with arts and crafts ideas. I think most of these can be worked into Montessori with no trouble at all. In this earlier post on art and children, I include lots of links for art websites, instructional books, and other resources.

1. Construct a Miniature Biome
These are one of my favorite projects. I start with an inexpensive glass bowl (less than $1 at craft or hobby stores) and provide the kids with materials to make a biome. Here are a few ideas:

Desert Biome: a layer of dirt, then a layer of sand. Add some real miniature cacti and small plastic desert animals (spiders, scorpions, lizards). Water occasionally. Here’s our version:

Ocean Biome: Start with a layer of sand, then add colorful shells, dried sand dollars, and dried starfish. Add some plastic ocean animals, or have the children make some out of clay and then paint when dry.

Forest Biome: When I comb through the local garden center, I can usually find some plants that look like miniature trees and shrubs. After putting in a layer of gravel (for drainage) and then a layer of dirt, plant the mini-trees and add some animal figurines: deer, squirrels, chipmunks, bears, etc.

You can make mini biomes for just about every climate, including the rain forest, tundra, and savanna. They’re a nice project to do with Biome Research Guides 1 & Biome Research Guides 2.

2. Hatch Some Butterflies or Ladybugs

Every year, we buy ladybug and butterfly larvae and have a great time watching them metamorphose and then hatch. I get all my supplies from Insect Lore; they have a ton of bug- and nature-related items, from books and videos to gardening supplies and habitats.

3. Make Some Nature Trays

Nature trays are a great way for kids to get their hands on a variety of nature objects. You can put the trays together yourself and set them in the classroom for kids to explore (don’t forget the magnifying glass!) or you can have kids gather their own items and add them to the nature trays over time. Here’s one we made with a tree/forest theme:

4. Carve Out Some Animal Tracks

You might remember the free Animal Tracks file I made awhile back. My son and I decided to get some white Sculpey (clay) and make all the tracks. We divided the clay into even amounts, then flattened it into oval discs.

Using a variety of clay tools and kitchen implements, we did our best to make all the tracks. We also “wrote” the name of the animal on the clay. After baking, we had a beautiful set of animal track imprints. Besides the six animals in the Animal Tracks work, my son added a human footprint using the side of his fist and fingertips for toes:

Have any other great ideas for bringing the outdoors inside? Please share!

Children are likely even more keenly aware than adults of the many changes going on around us in the fresh quality of the air and the colors of nature. Why not celebrate springtime with one of these activities?

Go Fly A Kite

Springtime tends to have some wonderfully windy days. Holding the string of a kite and feeling the wind’s pull on it lets children experience the power of natural elements. This activity opens up the possibility of talking with children about wind power and how many nations are considering harnessing this to provide electricity for people.

If a windy day comes up and you don’t have a ready-made kit on hand, a simple paper lunch bag with a hole punched in (use tape to reinforce the hole) and a string tied on makes a pretty good makeshift kite that is sure to delight a small child.

A Busy Time For Birds

Every February, a pair of scrub jays builds its nest in the same spot in my hedge. Standing at my kitchen window, I can watch them grabbing grass, breaking twigs off trees and collecting other weaving materials from the neighborhood. If you discover a nest-building site near your classroom, this is a fabulous thing to share with children. To appropriately watch a nest, please take the following precautions:

Never touch the nest.
Stand back at least 5-6 feet from it.
Approach the nest and leave it by different paths to avoid drawing the attention of predator animals with a scent trail.
Be quiet while watching the nest.
If the parent birds begin expressing distress with shrill cries, it is time to walk quietly away.

If you have the opportunity of watching an active nest, soon the eggs will hatch and with careful, safe observation, you will be able to see and hear the pink baby birds. Within a few weeks, they’ll have feathers and start flying about with their parents in search of food.

Put out some feeders and the birds will come to you and may start viewing your property as good prospective real estate! Set out a pair of binoculars (or several) near the windows of your classroom, and add a book or two about bird watching. If you’re really serious about increasing your bird knowledge, this gorgeous book from Dorling Kindersley might be worth your while. It catches my eye every time I’m at the bookstore, and sometime soon I’m sure I’ll give in and buy it.

If you haven’t managed to discover a nest near the school or home, a field trip to a local park may be the answer. Remember, different birds build nests at different heights – some on the ground, some in hedges, some in trees, some on the tops of telephone poles! The trick is to look for a solid clump of matter. In suburban and metropolitan areas, some birds build nests on ledges or in the eaves of buildings.

Birds are everywhere and are among the chief players in the health of the planet. Bird watching lends itself naturally to discussions about migration, habitat and conservation.

Start A Nature Journal

A nature journal is a wonderful way for kids to record their outdoor adventures. Lots of things can go into a journal, including sketches of birds, trees, and animals; pressed and dried flowers and leaves; little notes and thoughts about things observed in the wild; and photos of nature.

Any small notebook can become a nature journal, but I personally prefer an art notebook with a spiral binding (for ease of use) and thick pages. Children will probably enjoy using quality art pencils to draw and write in their notebooks. Bring them with on field trips so they’ll have a place to record the things they see.

Upon a friend’s recent recommendation, I purchased Keeping a Nature Journal by Clare Walker Leslie. This lovely book contains all sorts of ideas for what to include in a journal, as well as the author’s sketches of animals and plants. I also bought these incredible take-along nature guides on topics like birds, eggs, and nests and berries, nuts, and seeds. I’ve had a chance to browse through them, and they’re filled with all sorts of useful, easy-to-use facts about nature.

Come Into The Garden, Kids

Those new to gardening may get the mistaken impression that all bulbs get planted in the fall. Not so! Gladiolus, ixias, sparaxis, dahlias, amaryllis and calla lilies are just a few of the beautiful summer-blooming, spring-planted bulbs children can grow.

Annual and perennial flowers of all kinds can be planted in the spring for months of gorgeous color. Even if you’ve only got a small outdoor space, a pot of velvety pansies, pretty primroses or shade-loving impatiens will wow a child with vibrant hues and interesting forms.

Best of all, spring is the time to grow food. Children who are allowed to farm alongside their parents or teachers learn invaluable lessons in self-sustainability, and even if your garden is no more than a zucchini in the corner or a tomato plant in a barrel, the fruits of self-grown produce beat anything you can buy for money when it comes to flavor and nutrition.

Decorate the Learning Environment For Spring

Tissue paper flowers, dyed eggs, watercolor paintings of springtime scenes, construction paper butterflies that open and close their wings, fresh bouquets and a trove of other found treasures and traditional symbols will beautify the environment for both kids and adults and make an important statement about our appreciation for the coming of spring.

Craft ideas can come to us from many cultures, as nearly all civilizations have heralded spring with ceremonies and festivities for thousands of years. Write a poem, sing a song, dance around a maypole!