Creating With Oil Pastels

As early care and learning professionals we are always on the look out for new and creative ways to use every day materials. You can imagine our delight when we came across this post from "Let the Children Play". Colour with oil pastels on paper and then brush baby oil over top with a Qtip. The baby oil turns the pastel colours to paint! This a great way for children to experiment with colour and texture!

Eco Friendly Paint

What is more inviting then bright colours that smell wonderful? "Botanically crafted arts and crafts paints made from fruits, vegetables, flowers and spices with natural food-grade ingredients. GLOB's organic extracts smell fresh & fruity." Check out GLOB's website to find out where to buy...

Introducing The Arts

 

Harmony in Red - Henri Matisse

It's no secret that we are big supporters of child development here at Child Care Options, and the arts are an important part of that process.   Research  shows exposure to arts in children has a positive influence in their overall achievement (in areas such as math skills and problem solving.)  Take a look at Catherine Read's (from Simon Fraser University) paper "Fine Art, Imagination and Literacy" for more details. 

 Looking for ways to incorporate the arts in your everyday environment?  A great place to start is a series of board books by authors Julie Merberg and Suzanne Bober.  This colourful collection includes the beautiful art work of different artists accompanied by simple rhyming text.  You can read these at circle time, one on one and have them out for children to explore on their own.  Check out an excerpt from "A Magical Day With Matisse"below. 

 

Want to check out these books in person? Make your way to our our Early Years Learning Store!

MaryAnn Kohl Part Two

We are so crazy about MaryAnn Kohl's workshop, we couldn't resist a second post. As promised, here are a few more pictures from the event. It was great to see so many child care providers networking and having such a great time. Make sure you check out the free art ideas on MaryAnn's website, the "Dark Sugar Chalk" idea looks fabulous!

MaryAnn Kohl...

A few of the child care providers...

Some more masterpieces...