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Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
Friday, May 17th, 2013
Two weekends ago, an exhibition of original art by Robert Zakanitch for his book A Garden of Ordinary Miracles: An Alphabet Book opened in the Museum’s Central Gallery. To celebrate the exhibition and the fact that it was finally spring here in Amherst, MA I made a flower-drawing station in the Studio.
We need a new display in the Studio’s entry window, one that doesn’t block the view into the studio, so I chose permanent markers and clear acetate squares as the drawing tool and drawing surface for this activity. When we have about 50 drawings, I plan to start stringing them into garlands with with fishing line to create a friendly welcome into our space.
Some guests have drawn the flowers we have in the vases realistically, others are drawing flowers from their imagination.
Some guests are more interested in studying (very closely!) the flowers’ textures.
Spring is a great time to draw from nature. Head outside with your kids and look closely at the new leaves and budding flowers. Study them again in a few weeks when they bloom! Read a flower related picture book, such as Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney, and if you’re in our area, come and see this amazing exhibition.
In fact, if you’re in our area why not come tomorrow, May 18th? It happens to be a very special day with Robert Zakanitch.
He’ll be giving a gallery (or should I say garden?) tour at 11 am. At 1 pm he will be here in the studio to inspire guests to create big designs, visual surprises, and pleasing patterns using the shapes of one or more letters in their name. Learn more about these events here.
And then… visit the Studio sometime between May 22 and June 18th for our next public art project: From Found Materials to Flowers!
Tags: A Garden of Ordinary Miracles, Alphabet, flowers, garden, letterforms, Robert Zakanitch, spring, type
Posted in At The Carle, Drawing, Nature, Nurturing Creativity at Home, Special Guests and Artist Visits, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Saturday, April 20th, 2013
Rounding out my series of posts celebrating The Week of the Young Child™ and Brain Building in Progress Week…
The BBIP campaign wants everyone to know that “A knowledgeable community and well-qualified education workforce give children the support they need to succeed in school and life.”
Though nothing can replace the knowledge I’ve gained through hands-on experiences with amazing students, mentors, and colleagues, there are a few resources connected with the approaches and philosophies that shape my approach to teaching and parenting. Here are a few of my favorites that hope might inspire you too:
First, a few books I reference multiple times a year:
The Hundred Languages of Children Edited by Carolyn Edwards, Lella Gandini, and George Forman.
Children, Art, Artists: The Expressive Languages of Children, the Artistic Language of Alberto Burri, Edited by By Vea Vecchi and Claudia Giudici.
It’s Not a Bird Yet by Ursula Kolbe
A Whole New Mind by Daniel H. Pink
These are the books I’ll be looking at next. Have you read any of them?
Being a visual learning in the digital age means I’m quick to turn to the internet for inspiration. There are so many great sites and blogs I could make a long list, but I’ll just share 3 for now:
Visual Thinking Strategies
Tinkerlab
Not Just Cute
We do alot of work at The Carle is in support of teachers, parents and caretakers to foster a love of learning that flows between home, school and community. I hope you’ll continue to see us as a resource for informing and inspiring the ways you live with or teach young children!
What are the resources that inspire and inform you?
Tags: A Whole New Mind, Brain Building in Progress, Children Art and Artists, It's Not a Bird Yet, Not Just Cute, The Hundred Languages of Children, Tinkerlab, VTS, Week of The Young Child
Posted in Infants & Toddlers, Nurturing Creativity at Home, Our Approach, Preschool, Professional Development, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Monday, April 8th, 2013
In my last post, I shared that The Carle is celebrating The Week of the Young Child™ and Brain Building in Progress Week with a series of posts on this blog and hosting a special Brain Building in Progress Storytime in our Reading Library on Friday, April 19, at 10:30 am.
The Brain Building in Progress (BBIP) website clearly spells out how everyone has a stake and plays a role in building a “foundation for a lifetime of learning” in our young citizens. Its list of the Five Ways You Can Be a Brain Builder has inspired me to share few ways you might nurture brain building in the children in your life:
BBIP suggests: “Make Any Moment a Brain Building Moment… through back-and-forth interactions and meaningful conversations with caring adults.” So what could those interactions and conversations look like?
- Share a book with your young child. Picture books open up a space in which you can explore emotions, ideas and theories. Don’t be afraid linger on particular pages and talk about the pictures. Let the questions flow! Need some book suggestions? Our shop has talked about some great selections for 0-3 years and 3-6 years.
- Explore the textures, shapes and colors of materials and objects you encounter together. To open a conversation, you might ask your child: “What do you notice about this paper/rock/flower/fabric/marker?” Even if they don’t yet speak back to you, they are wondering and thinking with their senses.
- While young children are working with materials, you can invite conversation by saying: “Tell me about your idea.” Need some suggestions for materials or activities to try with your child? Check out our Infants & Toddlers, Nurturing Creativity at Home and Preschool posts, to start.
Talk about the art you encounter together, whether in a museum or on the street. Art is everywhere and offers great opportunity for meaning-making. When you see a painting, collage, mural or sculpture in your community, you might ask: “What’s happening in this picture?” Learn more about open-ended conversations about art at vtshome.org
*The Week of the Young Child™ is an annual celebration sponsored by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). The purpose of the Week of the Young Child™ is to focus public attention on the needs of young children and their families and to recognize the early childhood programs and services that meet those needs.
The 2013 Week of the Young Child™ is April 14–20, and the theme across the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is “Brain Building in Progress.”
Tags: Brain Building in Progress, conversation, VTS, Week of The Young Child
Posted in Elementary School, Infants & Toddlers, Nurturing Creativity at Home, Our Approach, Preschool, Professional Development, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Friday, April 5th, 2013
The Carle, committed to inspiring a love of art and reading through picture books, hopes you will celebrate The Week of the Young Child™ and Brain Building in Progress Week with us!
The Week of the Young Child™ is an annual celebration sponsored by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). The purpose of the Week of the Young Child™ is to focus public attention on the needs of young children and their families and to recognize the early childhood programs and services that meet those needs.
The 2013 Week of the Young Child™ is April 14–20, and the theme across the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is “Brain Building in Progress.”
The Brain Building in Progress (BBIP) campaign is a public/private partnership of the Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care, United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley and a growing community of early education and child care providers, academic researchers, business leaders and individuals.
Brain Building in Progress wants to make it known that “early experiences build the foundation for a lifetime of learning, achievement and productive, responsible citizenship. Quality environments, enriching learning opportunities, a connected, supportive community, and positive interactions with knowledgeable adults actually help form the architecture of the developing brain.”
Here are a few ways you can celebrate with us:
- Visit The Carle next Friday April 19th with your young children for a celebratory Brain Building Storytime in the Reading Library at 10:30 am. Before or after storytime, come to the Studio to explore our materials and then have a conversation about the art in the Galleries or try our Gallery Search.
- If you’re an educator or grandparent, visit The Carle by yourself to discover new ways to foster brain building skills in the young children in your life, or register for one of our upcoming Professional Development Programs.
- Whether you can or can’t visit The Carle in next week, check back here in the coming week as we celebrate WOYC and BBIP! I’ll be sharing ideas for nurturing brain building in your home or classroom and some of the resources we use to inspire our work in the Studio.
Tags: Brain Building in Progress, Early Childhood, initiatives, NAEYC, partnerships, play, Resources, STEM, storytime, Week of The Young Child
Posted in At The Carle, Elementary School, Infants & Toddlers, Nurturing Creativity at Home, Our Approach, Preschool, Professional Development, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Saturday, March 23rd, 2013
Therese Brady Donohue, Director of Picture Book Theater and founder of The Amherst Ballet is leading an exciting workshop called Paint, Shape, Create! for ages 9 through adult here in the Studio on April 20th from 1-4.
Inspired by works in our last exhibition Beyond Books: The Independent Art of Eric Carle, participants in this upcoming workshop will channel Eric Carle and their own inner artists as they paint on aluminum foil and then experiment with shaping it in strips and composing the strips on a painted canvas.
Therese, well known for costume and mask design and construction as founder of Amherst Ballet, told me “For eight years I have worked with reproducing Eric Carle’s picture book images, adapting them into puppets and costumes. I am always interested in taking a technique and creatively using it in different ways. When I saw what Eric had done as an independent artist taking his signature textures and applying them to foil and creating dimension, it spoke to me as a fun technique to introduce to artists of all ages. It is not complicated and does not require in-depth talent to experiment with this technique. This is also a good technique for educators to use in the classroom up through high school.”
With that in mind, Therese and I thought that this creative process would be a great opportunity for an intergenerational class experience in which young artists, parents, grandparents, artists, and educators could work side by side and learn from each other.
The Carle has offered parent/child and family programs before, but with this workshop the elementary-aged artists can participate with or without their parent present. By age 9 some young artists are clear in their creative passions and are ready for an opportunity like this.
Therese and I are both excited about the creative expression and layered learning that will happen this workshop. If you or someone you know in our area might be interested in this workshop learn about how to register (carlemuseum.org/register ) today! We’ll need to have at least 5 participants registered by April 12, and space is limited, so don’t wait!
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Don’t forget to enter The Carle’s Call for Caterpillars Contest for the chance to win an original doodle by Eric Carle! Visit www.carlemusuem.org/call_for_caterpillars for contest details.
Tags: aluminum, April 2013, class, color, Eric Carle-Inspired, foil, paint, Picture Book Theater, relief sculpture, Therese Brady Donohue, visual texture
Posted in At The Carle, Classes, Collage, High School, In the Studio, Middle School, Mixed Media, Painting, Professional Development, Special Guests and Artist Visits, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Friday, March 15th, 2013
It feels good to be back at The Carle! I’ve been scarce for a while because a very young person has come to live with my family and I took some time off to get to know her. In the past two months I’ve learned that life as a working mom of 2 kids under 2 years old is super busy but full of learning. I’m grateful that I get to spend time at home and time at The Carle learning about how toddlers explore materials and use them to make discoveries about the world.
While I’ve been out for most of our last Friday morning Materials Play for Toddlers series in the Studio, I wanted to share some pictures that were captured in a few of the sessions:
Pictured above: marbles, tempera paint, liquid watercolor paint, & black construction paper placed in the bottom of a plastic paper tray. Below, paper circles, cookie tins, tempera and liquid water color paint. Shake rattle and roll!
***Safety Note: if marbles are a choking hazard in your setting try golf balls or ping pong balls.***
Below: plexi mirrors, washable markers, water-soluble oil pastels, wide cups of water and brushes.
Truck Printing! Tempera squeezed into trays, toy cars and rolling stampers, black paper taped to the floor in the shape of a road. Secondary colors (violet, green and orange) chosen so that the mixture of the 3 would resemble mud.)
A buffet of beautiful ingredients: (colorful paper dot confetti, raffia snipped to smithereens, reflective plastic Easter grass, plastic newspaper bag shreds, white feathers, yarn scraps, clementines box mesh, (in other words, all the bits we had laying around) . . .
. . . pressed and sprinkled onto contact paper (paper frame attached first). This is my own sun catcher experiment. My guest’s compositions were less ordered, more spontaneous.
I hope this inspired some experimentation and creative fun with your toddlers! Happy mess-making!
Don’t forget to enter The Carle’s Call for Caterpillars Contest for the chance to win an original doodle by Eric Carle! Visit www.carlemusuem.org/call_for_caterpillars for contest details.
Tags: Beautiful Stuff, contact paper, February 2013, Friday mornings, January 2013, marble painting, markers, materials play, mirrors, paint, painting with children, reflection, sun catchers, toy trucks, water play, window art
Posted in Collage, Found Materials, Infants & Toddlers, Mixed Media, Nurturing Creativity at Home, Painting, Preschool, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Saturday, January 19th, 2013
Here is a sneak peek at one of the new things our January Intern, Reid, is making for the light table.
Tags: light table, play, reflection, snow, transparency, Winter
Posted in In the Studio, Infants & Toddlers, Preschool, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Thursday, December 20th, 2012
Dear Friends,
Diana and I find great joy in the work we do with children, so we are among those for whom words are difficult this week. To that end, here is a message our Executive Director, Alix Kennedy shared on our Facebook page on Monday:
“As everyone on staff here heads into a new week, approaching each task in our day with such heavy hearts, we are reminded anew of how honored we are to do this work. Every day here we bear witness to the boundless love parents and teachers feel for their children — and every day those children give back to all of us with their joyfulness and kindness.
Today, and always, our love goes out to the parents, teachers, and children of Newtown.”
This week, may you continue to share the joys of the season with the children in your life, and as Eric Carle shared in his post on Tuesday:
“May there be peace for children everywhere. May there be peace for all.”
With Love,
Meghan & Diana
Tags: Eric Carle, joy, Newtown, sadness
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Saturday, November 24th, 2012
If you’re in the area next Saturday, I hope you’ll join us for some creative card-making fun!
I’ll provide all the materials you need to collage five special holiday cards with envelopes for you to share with family and friend. I’ll also provide music and a snack to help make it festive affair. Here are the details:
Holiday Card-Making Party In The Museum Cafe
December 1, 2012
10:00 – 11:30 am (Please arrive by 10:30 am.)
$7 per participant
Ages 3 and up with an adult
Space is limited; registration is recommended. Walk-ins welcome as space permits. Please click here for information on how to register.
And, if you can’t join us, next week I’ll share some ideas for making cards with kids at home.
Tags: cards, Events, Handmade, Holiday Card-Making Party, Party
Posted in At The Carle, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, November 21st, 2012
Wishing you a plentiful feast of good food, family and friends this holiday.
From all your friends at The Carle, Happy Thanksgiving!
Tags: Face It, thanksgiving
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
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