Mandala Work...other ideas

Mandala is the Sanskrit word for circle. A mandaal can be any of various geometric designs symbolizing the universe. Mandalas are often used as an aide for focus and meditation.

As part of our classroom's study of the cultures of Asia the children are learning about Mandalas. Here are just a few art projects they have worked on which incorporate a mandala theme...

 These are mandalas made from triangle cut from magazine pictures and glued onto a circle...

 Here are a few photocopied images for coloring and inspriation...

 Here is a fabric madala (see earlier tuttorial post)...

 Some mandalas can be made just by gluing different shapes and colors together...

Mandalas....

Making Prayer Flags To Promote Peace, Compassion, Strength, and Wisdom

The primary classroom has been studying the continent of Asia and recently learned about Tibet. They have been making Tibetan prayer flags to hang around the classroom and in their homes. Traditionally, prayer flags are used to promote peace, compassion, strength, and wisdom. A prayer flag is a colorful panel or rectangular cloth often strung along mountain ridges and peaks high in the Himalayas to bless the surrounding countryside. Blue symbolizes sky and space, white symbolizes air, red symbolizes fire, green symbolizes water, and yellow symbolizes earth.

Pinwheels for Peace Art Installation--Happy Peace Day World!!!

Here is the first part of our art installation, Pinwheels for Peace, in front our our local library.

Tomorrow we will be setting up a similar installation in front of our school.

Even Nature knows it's Peace Day. I found this broken stone, just as you see it here, right outside of our campsite this weekend in the Catskill Mountains (New York State).

Pinwheels for Peace

Our primary classroom is making "Pinwheels for Peace" in celebration of International Peace Day on Septemebr 21, 2010.

Seed Balls

Today we made seed balls!

It's a technique for planting in abandoned places, and often inhospitable land, that was developed in Japan by Masanobu Fukuoka, a pioneer in natural farming. And its fun.

1 part seeds, 3 parts compost, 5 parts clay. Mix in a little water to make the consistancy of play dough. Roll into small balls and let dry in the sun. Then the fun part....5,4,3,2,1...throw!

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=103129515

History of Bread: Field Trip to the Flour Mill

Yesterday our class took a field trip to a local flour mill. Farmer Ground Flour grinds local organic grain into flours that are sold regionally. It is really exciting to learn about where our food comes from. The children were excited and inspired.

History of Bread: Lesson 1- Grinding the Wheat

And the Little Red Hen asked, "Who will help me grind the wheat?"

Wow, no wonder why it was so hard for Red Hen to find help, this is hard work!

Here are some locally grown, organic wheat berries bought in the bulk food section of our grocery store. Try smelling them, feeling them, tasting them, chewing them....I wonder who thought of grinding them? Who discovered flour? All great questions to ponder with your children.
The set up is simple: a spice grinder, a spoon, one container with wheat berries, and one container for the ground flour.

The Fruits of Our Labor....Our Maple Syrup Store

Just had to share and follow up on our earlier posts. This spring we tapped the six maple trees that live in the front yard of our school (check out previous entries). After weeks of watching, waiting, boiling, and filtering we bottled our precious syrup. The children designed signage and bottle labels. They researched market prices and calculated our production costs. After much discussion we set a product price and planned for our sale. We used the bead materials to add totals and calculate change. We set up tables just outside our classroom doors and sold to families as they arrived to pick up at the end of the day. Everyone in our class has definitely caught the entrepreneurial bug!

Inspired by Andy Goldsworthy

Our class continues to enthusiastically study artist Andy Goldsworthy.

Casey, one of our primary classroom teachers put together this simple but wonderful work on our shelf. A dish bin filled with three bowls -- one bowl of green colored stones, one bowl of black, white and gray stones, one bowl of small twigs and a blue work mat. With these simple supplies our children create thier own sculptures.

This sun-like sculpture was created by one of our five year old students.

Here are two students working cooperatively on a sculpture.

Check out our previous post on April 5th for more Andy Goldsworthy inspired activities.

Maple Moon

The full moon on March 10th is know as the Maple Moon.

We are lucky enough to have six beautiful sugar maple trees in the front of our school who generously share their sap with us each year. When the nights are still very cool and the days are warm the sap flows freely and sweetly.

The children love collecting the "sweet water" and together we boil it down into a rich syrup. The older children have researched the business of syrup making. They have designed labels for our bottles, determined the pricing, and will market their product this spring.

More Moons...

We made a larger version of our moon work to hang in our classroom. The "moons" are made from the cardboard packaging from precooked pizza crusts from our grocery store. The oil left from the bread on the cardboard made a crater-like effect for a more realistic moon. The blue shadows were made from left over wallpaper. The children enjoy laying on the floor staring up at the moons or reflecting from our breathing room loft with a great view of the moons.



A family in our school gave us this calendar. The calendar comes in four sheets and is broken up by seasons. The stars, cycles of the moon, and ecological highlights of the seasons are emphasized along with marking for traditional days and months. The calendars are beautiful. I think every Montessori classroom should have one.

Since my picture really doesn't do it justice check out their website at http://www.ecocalendar.info/

Happy Lunar New Year!

Here are some pictures from our Lunar New Year celebration. The children made the dragon head from a cardboard box, tissue paper, and found objects (the eyes are detergent bottle tops and dog show ribbons!). The body is a table cloth.

Gung Hay Fat Choy!

Here are some more Lunar new Year themed cutting works out in our art area...

For the year of the ox a great printable from http://secret-agent-josephine.com/blog/year-of-the-ox-cut-out/

A simple three dimensional star. Just draw two stars of the same size. I made a template and ran off a bunch on my printer. I find cardstock works best. After cutting out the outline of the stars, make one cut from the valley between two points to the center of the star. Do the same for the second star. Join the stars at the place where you made the cuts by sliding them together.