Open-ended Art (Yellow & Collage)

We followed the theme (Open-ended Art : Yellow & Collage) from Teaching My Little Bookworm today. I was finally brave enough to do the collage work with Sophie after a week of preparation. After our experience with Easter Egg Collage, I was a little apprehensive about doing collage work with her again. However, I am really glad we did it after all. I have seen a lot of improvement in my little girl's focus and skills.

I know Sophie does not really like the feeling of semi-dried glue on her fingers and she gets all frustrated and crazy at trying to get rid of it. Thus, I had to plan ahead and consciously minimize that and help her concentrate on creating the art piece. I even rehearsed the whole procedure mentally and tried to anticipate possible problems (Yes! I am THAT paranoid!). And just before we started on the collage, I let her play a little with the items so that she would not become obsessed with fiddling around with them when we were doing the collage.

As part of the preparation, I did a simple collage with pictures of yellow items just to show her how a collage is done. I intend to use it to teach her “yellow” later on. I planned to let her use PVC glue for the main part of the collage, but stickers and double-sided tape are more manageable for her at this age and stage. Also, I mixed yellow finger paint with the PVC glue so that Sophie could tell where the glue was on the cardboard (and it looks better when it is dried) and stick the items there. I intended to brush the glue onto the cardboard for her and let her do the pasting only.



I thought Sophie would “mechanically” stick whatever I handed to her, but I was wrong. She was very selective with the things she wanted on her cardboard. She did not use ALL the “stars” on the table and she blatantly ignored my cute “pipe cleaner man” (dented my ego a little…). She was clearly very fond of the yellow pom poms though. She kept pasting them onto the cardboard and then removing them a few seconds later. I had to tell her the “once pasted, cannot be removed” rule.



I cleared away whatever she did not want so that the work area would not become cluttered and distract her. After a couple of other items like sponge cubes, fabric and corrugated paper strips, Sophie was thrilled to see five “duck” magnets. She carefully placed the first few onto the cardboard then changed her mind and put them elsewhere. And I was so happy to see that she was actually THINKING of where to put them and not just passively going through their motion.



Next, I gave Sophie some assorted pieces with double-sided tape and turned the cardboard the other way. She was a lot more familiar with these so she was really quick. I love the way she “talked” to herself and the “ducks”… so adorable!



Towards the end, I knew we have hit her threshold (30 mins) and she was slowly losing focus so I ended the craft with something she likes very much – stickers. She struggled to peel them off (usually she is too proficient) yet she got upset when I tried to help her and attempted to rip the paper apart.



All in all, today was a success to me. Although I did not let Sophie have total freedom over the process, she did try to exercise some autonomy over her creation. I did not interfere with her arrangement much, I only helped her secure the items with more glue or tape. I think she has done a good job. Of course, she did also try to rip the pom poms and “ducks” out after we were done… Aiya!

End Product - Open-ended Art : Yellow Collage

Snail

I wanted to make a creature that begins with "s" but not a snake because we already did that for the Letter of the Week "S". I thought about making a paper bag "shark" or maybe a paper plate "spider" or pick up some sticks for a "stick insect" but I wanted something simple (fuss-free too!) for the afternoon. I found a "collage snail" in No Time For Flashcards and a paper plate snail from Sing! Play! Create!: Hands-on Learning for 3- to 7-year-olds by Lisa Boston so I got inspired to make my own version of a snail with Sophie.

I was bold enough not to put Sophie in a highchair since colour pencils and markers are kind of “low-risk” art materials. Ah Gong saw Sophie coloring the paper plates and decided to lend a hand. He was so tickled to see her so candid and possessive with the markers. He thinks Sophie is really a fireball…

Playdoh Vs. Plasticine

Back in the old days, Playdoh was a luxury item. I remembered seeing advertisements on TV about it but we did not know where or how to get it. Instead, we played with the next best thing - plasticine. Of course the ideas "non-toxic", "safe for children" and "3+ only" meant little to our folks. They adopted the "play-at-your-own-risk" approach and we turned out okay (I hope). Although I do not recall ever eating plasticine, it was always a love-hate relationship for me. I love to play with it yet I hated the sticky (could never be washed off!) and yucky feeling.



Anyhow, Sophie loves Playdoh enough to stand by the cupboard and demand for it at least once every week. She seems to know that is her Playdoh time. I found her pressing on the Playdoh with her palm to flatten it today and she also did a little kneading so I was very happy. There are many skills that she has not mastered yet when it comes to Playdoh, but at least she enjoys it enough to learn slowly. So far, I have seen her pinch, poke, press, flatten, cut and knead Playdoh.


I am hoping to see her use the rolling pin, scissors, knife and moulds "correctly" but I think it might actually be better to use her hands instead. I mean, tools are great but they are not entirely helpful in nurturing her creativity, developing her problem-solving skills and improving the dexterity of her fingers. I guess I want her to be a bit like me... After all, I never use moulds on plasticine and definitely not for making the letters with jumping clay.

"S" And "s" (jumping clay)

Mommy, Carry Me Please!

Mommy, Carry Me Please! by Jane Cabrera is one of those Scholastic books (paperback) that we bought through Learning Horizon. It is a simple book about different baby animals asking their mother to carry them in their unique ways - "Mommy Kangaroo, carry me please safe and snug inside your pouch." And in the end, a human baby asked his mother to carry him - "Mommy, Mommy, carry me please... and hug me in your arms." and the illustrations are so adorable. Sophie will always ask me to hug her at the end of the story... more like she would throw herself into my arms! The book has been sitting on Sophie's shelf for a long time collecting dust, but now she easily spots and draws it out for me to read to her. I do not know about other toddlers, but Sophie would only become interested in a particular book if I make reading it an interactive and animated experience for her. So I guess the "hugging" must have worked.

Letter Of The Week - "s" For soup (steam)

Papa gave me the idea when we were brainstorming last Sunday. I was at first a little concerned about making the "s" so small and two of them instead of our usual one. But I guess so long as the letter is clear enough, Sophie can learn to recognise and name it. Before I gave the cardboard to Sophie, I painted it white to cover the prints.

Wow! Sophie was so civilised with the markers! She actually took out one at a time, used and capped it before putting it back again. Was that a sign of maturity and stability at last? Perhaps she could finally follow instructions? Or maybe she has developed some fondness for her art materials and decided to take good care of them? Oh well, none of the above. Probably a couple of seconds after my jaws dropped in amazement, she was back to her usual self and all the markers were thrown all over the floor. She also started demanding for paint and a sponge... Sigh!

Sophie tried to apply some paint with a sponge on the "bowl" but she still preferred the pink marker. Towards the end, I let her use a brush as well... anything to finish up the task. The rest was downhill all the way, I could not really get her to stick the cotton wool onto the "s" or apply glitter glue onto the "letter" and "soup". She needed me to show and guide her along...

In the end, I had to give Sophie some paper and paint to occupy herself while I finish up the craft. I used aluminium foil for the "soup", cotton wool and glitter glue for the "steam" in hope to create more texture for her to touch and feel. I took my eyes off her for a brief moment and this is what happened... the pink marker was fully submerged in the red paint and the orange paint was somewhere around her highchair... I think.

End Product - "s" for soup (steam)

Letter Of The Week - "S" For Snake

I confess... I am really NOT much of a cereal-eater and I am having a tough time finishing one box per week, especially when Papa does not eat breakfast before he goes to work. Can I ask for cereal box donations from anyone who eats cereal regularly?

When I opened the cereal box this week, I was quite upset to see prints on the inner side. It was some sort of lucky draw with closing date 30 June 09... Aiya! So, I had to paint the cardboard with white paint before giving it to Sophie, just to hide the prints. I know sometimes she will not paint on paper with prints on it or too small in size... as if she is demanding for respect in her work.

Today, Sophie was more interested in getting the paint out from the bottle than actual painting. She has seen how I did it for her so many times and now she wants to do it herself. I was happy to see her focusing hard to turn the bottle upside down and squeeze hard although she was still not strong enough to get the paint out. I reckon soon she will succeed.

Sophie took a while to finish painting the "S", so I was worried that she might lose interest in painting the "snake". I was right but it was not too bad because she found it fun to stamp on it with her palms.

I was so glad I bought the "star" puncher some time ago. I used it to punch stars from a sheet of yellow construction paper and let Sophie paste them onto the "snake". Good to know that "stars" also begins with "S" and Sophie loves them, though clearly not as much as squeezing white glue onto the "snake". Unfortunately, she has yet learnt skills like "sprinkle" and "paste" so I had to help her finish up the letter of the week.

I glued the "head" and "tail" to the "body" of the "snake" and let it dry a bit before adding the "tongue" (red pipe cleaner) and plastic eyes.

As usual, I let Sophie do whatever she liked at the end of the session and she decided to fiddle around with the "stars". I really enjoy watching her concentrate on her task... If only she would be like this with Lego or building block...

End Product - "S" For Snake (Sophie and Stars too!)

Open-ended Art (Yellow & Paint)

Click here to check it out!

I saw the suggested art activity "Open-ended Art: Yellow and Paint" from the above blog and quickly did it with Sophie on Friday, but I hesitated about posting it in someone else's blog. Honestly, I would like to learn from these SAHMs and adopt their homeschooling ideas because I feel that Singapore is quite lacking in early childhood education. However, I am worried that they may not like a total stranger posting in their blog. After some internal struggle, I still went ahead with it. After all, I am trying to be a better mum and learn from others. I will encourage my friends to visit some of the blogs featured. It has been a humbling experience for me and I am very inspired to do more for my Sophie.

Although I am not new to the idea, I wanted to make sure I do not interfere with Sophie's artistic process. I took out only yellow paint of various kinds (dot paint, finger paint and poster paint) and laid out all the different brushes, rubber stamps and sponge I have got.

Sophie is still not ready to do art at her table without running all over and smearing paint everywhere, so I put her in her highchair at our dining table. She started with dot painting. I think she has become quite proficient in using the bottled paint. I was glad I could sit back and just take video clips of her doing what she enjoys best.

My moment of bliss ended abruptly as Sophie decided that she had enough of dot painting and demanded for poster paint and her sponge brush. After squeezing some paint on her "palette", I handed it to her thinking that she would start painting with her sponge brush. Who was I kidding? Of course she had to turn the "palette" over and pour the paint onto the paper instead! I had to hold back from stopping her... DO NOT INTERFERE! THE ARTIST IS AT WORK! (lots of self-talk here).

Sophie could identify the shape "star" almost immediately when she got her hands on the sponge next. In fact, I only realised that she was trying to "draw" a circle when I watched the video clip after the session. Maybe she is really learning how to draw, I guess I have to wait and see.

Sophie could play with the paint, sponge, brushes and rubber stamps forever, but I had to end the session. I usually try not to take longer than 30 minutes for each session because I know she would soon become restless and start throwing everything on the floor. In fact, I think she was drifting as she fiddled around with the paint and the rubber stamps. Having said that, she did put up a good fight when she could not play with her paint anymore.

End Product

As usual, I let Sophie play with the remaining paint after we were "done" with the task. I think she enjoyed this part of the session the most. She could do anything she liked with the paint and she was not limited by any sheet of paper. I must admit, I enjoyed watching her too. I do not really know if this helps with developing her creativity. I guess I am trying to strike a balance here. Singapore is a very result-driven society and the process is really not important if the product is not deemed to be good. I am so sorry to say this..

Byebye MIM-Jumpstart And Hello Kindermusik

We would soon be ending Sophie's MIM-Jumpstart lessons with Learning Horizon. Papa still negotiating with the management to end it by this month instead of end August (fingers crossed and twisted). We felt that the programme is not doing much for her, especially when the class attendance is always poor and inconsistent. The only regret is that we will not be able to order books at a special price from Scholastics anymore.

Home Materials

A couple of weeks back, I left our names (waiting list) with Kindermusik at Tanglin Mall to let Sophie join Our Time programme after we have withdrawn from MIM-Jumpstart. Somehow one of the toddlers withdrew from the class on Saturday at 4.30 pm, so we went for a trial lesson (18 July 09) and decided to continue from then. Papa liked it better than MIM-Jumpstart, so he will be the one attending lessons with Sophie. It was not the best timing for Sophie because we had to quickly feed her after class (5.15 pm) and rush home in time for her bedtime at 6.30pm. Also, she tends to be a little more hyperactive and cranky near her bedtime. However, she still enjoyed herself during the last two sessions so I guess it should be okay.

Readers Mania "Hh"

The "H" book of Alphatales was quite an instant hit for Sophie because she loves I-Spy activities nowadays. The baby hippo in each scene is hidden from his mummy's view but quite visible to the reader so Sophie had no problem locating the baby hippo at all. I love the way the author includes "h" words, like "hush", "hey", "hi", "humph" and "help", in the speech bubbles. There are lots of other animals that begin with "h" as well, for example, "hedgehog", "hare", "hen", "horse" and "hyena".

In the "H" book of Sunshine Phonics, we see words like "house", "helicopter" and "hamburger". I like the fact that it uses "hippopotamus" rather than "hippo", somehow I prefer to teach Sophie the full word and not the shorter version.

In Now I'm Reading!: All About the ABCs by Nora Gaydos, "H" is also for "hamsters" and "hill" which adds to the variety of "H" words I can teach Sophie.

Not a "wow" track for me but maybe I was put off by the idea of a hunter hunting hares. I am definitely against hunting (or fishing) as a sport or recreation. It is an unnecessary and cruel way killing despite whatever people say about eating their game at the end of the day.

Dreams Are My Reality

It has always been my dream to see Sophie the Toddler sitting at her desk and working on an activity of some kind. Today feeling bold, I let her do some crayon work at her desk... with Elmo. She was great! Looking really profession and happy... making me believe that my dream has come true...

Well, my moment of triumph and joy lasted for... probably 15 seconds the most. Then reality bit me hard and jolted me from my lovely slumber. One moment Sophie was prim and proper, the next she was up and about, climbing onto her stool, wearing her shoes and drawing on the floor.

Still, the wonderful image of Sophie sitting properly at her desk lingered in my mind.... Sigh...

Playdoh Fun

The weather was simply either too hot or too wet for my mood to improve even just one tiny bit. Sophie was also having a hard time with Mama, choosing these days to test her limits and in a nutshell, "play punk". I had thought that she would appreciate some playdoh time... Maybe she did, a little too much! She started putting playdoh into her mouth the moment my back was turned. She even showed it to me after it was all soggy in her mouth. And when I wiped her mouth with wet wipes, she decided to eat that as well.

I gave up trying to make sense of Sophie's behaviour, so I made an irrational decision instead. I opened up Sophie's birthday present (playdoh kitchen set) and let her have her way at it. Apparently, the oven became her instant fave and now she would leave it out of her sight.

While she was all busy with her "new" toy, I made her "H" and "h" with jumping clay (without taking my eyes off her though).

Letter Of The Week - "h" For house

Papa was the one who came up with "h" for "house" when Mama was pondering on the different possibilities. As it turned out, Sophie could remember "house" from one of her readers so she liked it instantly.

It was a little challenging to design a house to suit the letter "h". Ah Gong said my "house" looked like a factory... Duh?



Everything was going quite smoothly until the curtains started flying and Sophie got very disturbed by it. She can be quite fussy at times... always needs things to be in order.



Once the different parts of the house were dry enough, I attached them to a piece of construction paper. This was a very short and sweet session.

End Product - "h" for house