Da Little Arts School - Eco Gardens Holiday Programme
Media Invite
We are into the third week of the June Holidays! What has everyone been doing? Are the mommies getting burnt out from bringing the children out to play the past 14 days? A holiday programme is your answer to kick back a little and still provide fun for your munchkins!
Open to children aged three and above, this is a drop-off art programme that runs from Tuesdays to Fridays [0930 to 1230 hours] every week until school re-opens. While you've missed Week One and Two, the last two weeks of the holiday programme is looking extremely exciting! If they enrol adults, I would love to be a student creating clay figurines for my mini terrarium and painting a beautiful butterfly on canvas!
Ewan and Faye attended Week Two of Da Little Arts School "Step Into My Backyard Garden" holiday programme and I must say it was worth missing childcare for. I could say this because I had the privilege to sit in their class to observe all four days of ECO GARDENS [theme for week two].
It was not just pure paints and brushes, crayons and canvases. There were story-telling, music and movement, play time, snack breaks and educational inputs about Reusing, Reducing and Recycling materials. Teacher La La also introduced various creative ways of planting a garden using recycled materials and I felt inspired myself to give it try! Only thing is, I am afraid I do not have green fingers.
DESIGNING A SMALL PLANTER WITH RECYCLED MATERIALS
The children worked on their very first project of the week and started creating their own planters with egg cartons and egg shells! There were a lot of play with textures and fragile live plants which I was skeptical about. Will my children be able to handle it? Surprisingly, they tried their might to be gentle with their heavy hands and managed to put together their very own planter with lots of pride.
There was one little incident though when Ewan got overly excited and cracked one of his egg. If it was just me and him, I would have gone, "Oh No! Why so rough! Be careful!" and probably take that egg shell away from him and fill it up with soil myself lest he breaks it further. However, when he announced it to his art teacher, she simply told him to continue working on his egg shell. A cracked egg can be a work of art too! I like that mindset.
Ever since we brought them home, the children had been watering and caring for their little plants with the mantra, "Only two sprays per egg so we don't drown it!"
It is an easy DIY project for the home if you are embarking on an Eco Garden project with the children. Here's sharing a pictorial walk-through of what you might need to get one designed for the home!
There was one little incident though when Ewan got overly excited and cracked one of his egg. If it was just me and him, I would have gone, "Oh No! Why so rough! Be careful!" and probably take that egg shell away from him and fill it up with soil myself lest he breaks it further. However, when he announced it to his art teacher, she simply told him to continue working on his egg shell. A cracked egg can be a work of art too! I like that mindset.
Ever since we brought them home, the children had been watering and caring for their little plants with the mantra, "Only two sprays per egg so we don't drown it!"
It is an easy DIY project for the home if you are embarking on an Eco Garden project with the children. Here's sharing a pictorial walk-through of what you might need to get one designed for the home!
A Vegetable Garden On Canvas
Of course the planter was not the only art piece the children embarked on during the holiday programme. Teacher La La presented each child with a blank canvas. With a paint brush in hand, they were asked to think about the colour of the sky they wanted for their Vegetable Garden.
Ewan shouted, "Yellow and Golden!" A representation of morning twilights; the golden hour.
Faye chose purple [her favourite colour] for her sky. Purple? Are there purple skies? I learnt a lesson from the teachers at Da Little Arts School - a tree need not be green and the sky need not be blue. It isn't like I do not already know this but there is a small part of me who would sometimes influence the choices my children make, "Oh you want purple? Why not make it blue?" However, I kept my opinions to myself this time and allowed the teachers to lead the children. Well actually, the teacher allowed the children to work freely with their imagination.
"Purple you said Faye?" and her art teacher squirted a big blotch of purple paint on her canvas for her to fill. Skies are beautiful when you mix two colours to it and purple and pink looked like a beautiful combination after Faye was done with it! It was sunset!
After the children were done with their skies, it was time to work on the soil. The easiest option to paint soil is to use Brown! However, Teacher La La took it a step further to ask her class of three to seven, "What colours make brown?" Everyone chipped in with their answers and obviously, I had no clue. It was a great activity because hey! We learnt that Red, Blue, Yellow and a tinge of Black makes Brown! The children enjoyed mixing the colours in to make the colour of soil.
Adding texture to a flat picture can be made easy by overturning the paintbrush and creating circular spirals to the soil. How about adding real soil to it as well?
This was a big project which required the children to break the work process into several days. After leaving the base to dry, they were encouraged to draw their own vegetables, paint them and cut them out to paste.
While Faye decided to put only a single root [twine as roots] in her portrait, Ewan created a tornado in his sky! Oh I love how art brings out the imagination in my children.
Adding texture to a flat picture can be made easy by overturning the paintbrush and creating circular spirals to the soil. How about adding real soil to it as well?
This was a big project which required the children to break the work process into several days. After leaving the base to dry, they were encouraged to draw their own vegetables, paint them and cut them out to paste.
While Faye decided to put only a single root [twine as roots] in her portrait, Ewan created a tornado in his sky! Oh I love how art brings out the imagination in my children.
Music and Movement, Games, Stories and Snacks
The class was not all about art. Teacher La La played on the guitar and the children sang with her. They even prepared a performance for parents on the last day of class with a song all about farmer and plants! The short theatrical aspect of the holiday programme made it very wholesome for the children.
The children loved their circle time on the mat with Teacher La La where they were told stories from books and played games that were themed In The Garden.
On the last day of the holiday programme, Teacher La La began to cut some fruits! Bananas, strawberries, blueberries and oranges! The children were very excited and kept asking if they could it them. Oh yes they could but only after they were done with their food art.
We've seen mothers preparing awesome food art meals for their children on Instagram accounts that garnered tens of thousands of followers and I had attempted such platings before for my children. Yet why haven't I thought about involving them to create a food art meal for themselves?
It was a fantastic idea! Ewan and Faye put together a flower for their plate. Which was devoured as soon as they were done.
On the last day of the holiday programme, Teacher La La began to cut some fruits! Bananas, strawberries, blueberries and oranges! The children were very excited and kept asking if they could it them. Oh yes they could but only after they were done with their food art.
We've seen mothers preparing awesome food art meals for their children on Instagram accounts that garnered tens of thousands of followers and I had attempted such platings before for my children. Yet why haven't I thought about involving them to create a food art meal for themselves?
It was a fantastic idea! Ewan and Faye put together a flower for their plate. Which was devoured as soon as they were done.
A Bird Feeder
Oh this is a beautiful art work! Do you think birds will really come flocking to our home if I put some bird seeds in them? I really wanted to try but what if the ants came instead!
All you need is a box, paint, glue, some crepe paper, a paper bowl and ribbons. This time, Teacher La La encouraged the children to choose a colour that they do not usually choose.
"Faye, try to think of another colour other than purple. Ewan, do not choose green this time" said Teacher La La.
GALLERY TIME
The day has arrived when all their creations shall be put on showcase for their parents. I loved this initiative and looked forward to watch Ewan and Faye perform! As I wanted a surprise, I left the room every time the children practiced with Teacher La La.
There were lots of praises, hugs and kisses in the room. It was a proud moment for both parent and child. Ewan asked where daddy was and when I told him he was at work, he replied, "So bad!" I didn't think it was so important to a child that both parents should be there at Show and Tell. Thankfully, he did not bear the grudge too long. The children waited for daddy to come home that night and eagerly showed him their art works.
Da Little Arts School is still enrolling students for Week Three and Four! Their art week starts every Tuesday so if you are reading this before 13th of June 2017, you still have time to sign your child up this week for the terrarium-making session. The price of the holiday programme is S$380 for four creative days of arts and crafts infused with lots of fun!
Contact Details
Da Little Arts School
35 Rochester Drive
Rochester Mall
#03-23
Singapore 138639+65 6570 8001
Tuesday to Saturday: 9:30am to 6:30pm
rochester@dalittleschool.com.sg
 |
| Like Us on Facebook if you enjoyed the read! |
A stay at home mum, blogging to widen her social life.
We want to echo the sound of love through our lives to inspire other mothers alike.
Comments
Post a Comment