Well, well, well. Just when you think you have thought of it all and have utilized all of the different painting manipulatives one can use, Mother Goose Time, gives ya more! Now, anything involving paint is always a hit over here so I knew that todays activities would be great fun. I had no idea that this would end up being an all day event! I love when they get so involved in an activity, they lose all sense of time!
This is what I simply admire about using Mother Goose Time. It, not only inspires the children and makes learning fun, it challenges me to become a better educator. Sometimes, I am at a loss with how to segue to the next activity, or what books I should read to tie the themes together, or even which discussion questions to ask to keep their growing minds going. However, the Teacher Guide solves all of this. It literally outlines every little detail of the entire teaching session so that it flows well, gives me ideas to follow and branch off of as the children guide me into another direction and keeps us all inspired to continue with our home school education.
We started out connecting the first activity to the theme of the month: nature. Thanks to the beautifully compiled Teacher Guide, I began with the first discussion question: What colors could you find in a tree? Both girls rattled off every color they could imagine and for some reason this made everyone giggle. I have no idea why, but hey, a giggle fit with the girls, I'll take it!
It happened to be a rainy day, so we couldn't go on to the "Explore" prompt but we took it inside. The prompt said to invite the children to search the outdoor area and name all of the colors that they see. Which colors do they see the most? Least? We did our exploration by looking out the window and by searching the house. This was one of the activities that surprised me. They didn't just want to explore the playroom, we went into EVERY room. We learned we saw a lot of pink and brown and not a lot of green and white inside of our home. And that there was a lot of green and brown and not a lot of pink and purple outside of our home. I ended up forgetting to take the camera with me because we all got so involved, so unfortunately, no pictures for this.
We sat down at our table and I took out our color spinner and put the paint and paper on the table. It has been a few months since we began Mother Goose Time and we are finally able to have both girls at the same time, without distracting each other,listen to the directions. Following through isn't always great but it is progress not perfection!
This activity worked on color recognition, visual arts, following direction as well as self direction. I started out by asking both girls to paint a brown trunk.
Then I let them take turns, on their own, spinning the wheel and painting the leaves. They actually did it!
How beautiful!
Next up was Stamping Trees. Again, I began with the discussion question, "What color is your favorite kind of tree or plant?" Sonia's was red and Daniella's was green. I followed the plan outlined in the guide and encouraged the children to choose their favorite paint colors to make a tree design.
I gave them each a piece of paper and some tape and let them place the tape on the paper wherever they wanted. I explained that after the paint dries, we would take the paint off and the design would be there.
Now, the fun part, painting with pom poms!
We did let the paint dry and we did peel it off, but I never took a picture. I'm sorry!
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Mother Goose Time allows me to follow two of my biggest passions. Educating my children and writing! I am honored to work with Mother Goose Time. I do receive the curriculum in exchange for my blog posts but every word in here is honest and a true example of this curriculum in a multi age home practice.
