This Term in the studio we’ve received a couple of new computers from the College that the children are using to create drawings, (using a drawing tablet), and also to type letters and numbers. Some of our kids have been keen to try drawing with a mouse also, which is tricky, and the results have impressed me.
We’ve also been experimenting with different materials to use in molds to create sculptures, namely rice and PVA glue and flour and PVA glue, flour and glue was a failed experiment (live and learn), but rice and glue works like a charm so we’ve started using it to make random objects based on whatever we can find around the room to use as a mold and have also made a cardboard dinosaur mold which we filled up with pink and blue rice mixed with PVA. The children love ‘mixing’ by the sink, making all kinds of colourful splatter paintings with our droppers, brushes, shape stamps, rollers and plastic palette knives and I have started tasking them with cleaning up after themselves in the mixing area, wiping up spills and sweeping the floor, kids who are happy making a mess also it turns out being who are happy to pitch in and clean-up which is great for me and also for their social development, caring for their own environment and considering others who will be using the space after them.
Maps have been explored, both physical and digital, (Google maps and Google Earth), and the Kodomo kids specifically have been telling me about places that they’ve travelled and seen while looking at different countries on Google earth. Kodomo were also the first class to have a bit of a sing with me, listening to the song “Bert’s Blanket,” (an old sesame street song about sheep farming and wool), and singing some familiar songs as well as making up some little songs about superheroes, (nothing solid yet, but making songs is one of the aims of having a sing with the kids and hopefully, I will be able to make time to bring some tunes to our other classes soon).
With help from Mrs Tweedie the studio now has an official timetable also which means that each room has equal time in there to make and play, introducing some of our babies to the studio has been great and we’ve had a couple of very enthusiastic little painters.
We have been working with clay, with the smaller children slowly learning about rolling coils and making marks in the clay and with the older children making gingerbread men, animals, and other characters. We made a display for National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children’s day which is up on the wall across from the kitchen and have also been listening to the music of Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunipingu and learning a little about his life.
Music making has continued as usual, using our music software, (Garage Band and Fruity Loops), and a few new ukuleles which I am teaching the children slowly how to hold and strum. Lots of drawing using basic shapes has been happening with our older kids and even some of our Pikanini 2’s and Minasan draws with me for a couple of hours every morning, the kids choosing something they want to draw, finding a reference picture and following along with me as I draw with them, (some kids now attempting to draw from basic shapes in pencil first and then inking the results, most letting me work out their chosen subject in pencil first and then following along with my inking process). They are producing some great work, showing excellent progress and commitment and I am very proud of them.
Mr Marwick – Atelierista
