Art group gets going

Our babysitter Carrie is a crafty creature. In the best of senses, of course. She made the most exquisite cards depicting farm landscapes from layers of delicately cut paper. They were for Sophie -who is THREE. (I might have to steal one but don't tell Carrie).

She and I have dreamt up an art group for three year olds; just for Sophie and her pals. It's at our house for the next 5 Wednesdays. Seb would dearly love to be a co-teacher but it is from 2-3 so it has wrapped by the time he gets in from school. But if it goes well, we are thinking of an older child version too.





Here's the first session "plan":


AN ART GROUP FOR 3 YEAR OLDS
A wonderful opportunity to create an art group for young children has fallen into our lap. Our babysitter, Carrie Matheson, has been involved in the visual arts for decades. That expertise, combined with a long affiliation with one of Toronto’s Waldorf schools and a love of children, makes her a terrific arts educator, and she has offered to put together a 6 week session for Sophie and her friends. It would be her first effort but sounds like it could be really fun (and knowing her, very hands on and messy!).

Here are the proposed details:
Who? 3 year olds; please feel free to invite a friend. We are hoping for 5 or 6 children
What? A 6 week session exploring the plastic arts. Each week will have a different colour and theme, structured in a regular way. For example:
Week 1 – colour yellow & theme food
10 mins – looking at the colour yellow –what do we know has the colour yellow?, finding yellow items in Sophie’s house, arranging shades of yellow across the colour spectrum
5 mins – looking at images of food in (famous) art – compare it with the real thing!
15 -20 mins – main activity: making a 2d or 3d fruit salad out of felt
10 mins – looking at a picture book that one of the children was asked to bring in. Read it and look at the pictures. Why do you like this illustrator? Can you tell the story without the words? How does/he she use colour? Can you find the colour yellow or images of food?
5 mins – surface session: looking and feeling a particular texture; today it’s sticky (molasses, sugar, oranges, glue)
Clean up and play time!

It might have been a bit ambitious, so Carrie toned it down a notch. M had the day off so he helped out. It was only Sophie, Maeve and Rowan this week since one mum forgot and another will hopefully join next time. But it seems like it was a real hit.