Colossal Collections!

............ I wish this season could stretch ...........

I wish that the changes we are witnessing could last a while longer.

The children taking a moment to take in the

fresh scents of autumn by our pond

Thank you so much for sending in pressed fall leaves that you collected on your walks. We marveled that each collection was unique, as were the methods of pressing and preserving these little gems. The children have been so proud to bring them in, and we put them straight to "work".  The first collection which was presented last week, provided the initial inspiration for one of our bulletin boards. The leaves were pressed in three separate sheets of wax paper, and labeled with "kid print" : oak leaves, maple leaves and basswood leaves. When the next presentation was made, the children identified the "Canadian" leaves (maple), and it was suggested we put them all together. The children were identifying shape as a feature of their collections, and so the bulletin board emerged.

"We can sort by shape."

Four categories were created "on the fly" - leaves that look like the have little fingers similar to the oak leaves, leaves that are more rounded like the basswood leaves, leaves that have points like the maple leaves, and leaves that look like feathers. Over the coming days, more leaves came in and we added to the bulletin board, allowing everyone a chance to contribute.

 In our focus groups, we took the remaining leaves and brainstormed other ways that we could sort our collections. The process engaged the children and the morning flew by.



Sorting leaves by colour

Creating a "rainbow" of leaves

Another "rainbow"

Our second bulletin board that documents

the childrens' sorting collections

And then there was the MASSIVE leaf that was presented. Compared to their little hands, it was a shocking size and begged to be displayed. As the leaves came in, we sorted from largest to smallest, featuring maple leaves.

Part of the leaf sorting process

After sorting their leaves, one of the focus groups were inspired to make a long leaf train. That's a lot of leaves! How long is it?

The children use link-its to measure

 the chain of leaves

And once we had exhausted the leaf sorting activities, the paints came out. Brushes were dipped, and colour was applied. We did a water colour painting of maple leaves, focusing on one leaf at a time. We paid attention to the amount of paint necessary to add pigment to the paper. We replicated a pencil grip, using our brushes.

Water colour painting on dry paper

This activity was a precursor to a painting activity completed a few days later. The children had lots of "hands on" experience with the leaves at this point, and had observed the contours of the leaves, the colours and the veins on each leaf. Our next activity incorporated these observation skills and replicating the symmetry we observed. They were presented with a piece of paper, on which was only half of a leaf. Being fully aware that our little people are still developing fine motor skills, we encouraged them to take a risk and try their hand at tracing the other half of the leaf in pencil. Admittedly, we did not know how this would turn out. Both teachers and students took a risk with this one. The next step was for the children to pick up their paint brushes and interpret how the other half of the leaf would look. The results are amazing. 

So many curriculum expectations were covered. We touched on mathematics, literacy, science and social emotional needs. Creativity was employed, and critical thinking skills were exercised. We cannot thank you enough for sending in your collections! It is wonderful to witness the children engaged in "play", using natural materials.

Counting with our fingers, the children can

"read" this poem

Thank you stopping by our atelier!