This July we've been fully immersing ourselves into the artist's world. Our first week we explored photography and collage, followed the next week with drawing and painting, currently we're studying clay and sculpture, and we'll conclude the exploration with performing arts. 

    The children are developing their senses and fine motor skills as they spend time with each medium. Learning how to manipulate new materials like blending chalk pastels or bending wire into different shapes, they're enjoying getting their hands messy. 

    Sprouts have made their own paint from smashing up mulberries, learned about and sculpted hedgehogs, and even made their own clay! These budding artists are just starting their life's journey of making art and enjoying the art of others. Through each exposure they are developing their social emotional, cognitive, and motor abilities. Art is a valuable cultural experience for all people, and through the process of making art and enjoying the works of others' the Sprouts develop their self expression and gain a greater connection to the natural environment. 

"Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up."
​                  ~Pablo Picasso

Every month, at the beginning of each new theme, the Pips room receives a fresh haul of board books from the downtown library related to the month's studies.  Not only does a print-rich environment help solidify our monthly inspirations, but the presence of books supports even the youngest of children in their language development, introduction to the arts, and social-emotional development.  

This month's theme of Artists provided the perfect topic for our latest library perusal, motivating us to check out books that were not only about art and artists, but also books whose illustrations spanned multiple art mediums!  Here are some of the Pips' favorite July books thus far: 

​Black & Blanco by Trinity University Press

This absolutely AWESOME book uses actual works of art from the San Antonio Museum of Art as its illustrations, and asks the reader simple questions related to the piece in both Spanish and English.  One of the ways the Pips have been exploring black and white is through the use of light-colored chalk on black construction paper.

Jane Eyre by Jack and Holman Wang

We chose Jack and Holman Wang's clever board books like Jane Eyre and Moby Dick for their textile-rich illustrations and infant-friendly spin on literary classics.  The characters are entirely felt-crafted, which lends itself well to our exploration of different art mediums.  Some of the ways we have been discovering art textures in class are  through the use of soft puppets and simply engaging our sense of touch (like laying on a picnic blanket!).

Global Babies by the Global Fund for Children

Another WONDERFUL board book for very young children, Global Babies combines actual photographs of babies from around the world with simple text communicating the message that children everywhere love and are loved the same.  You really can't go wrong with this book!  We selected it as part of our Photography week, in addition to some of our photography-themed materials like homemade cardboard cameras and body part photo blocks of our friends.

Mouse Paint by Ellen Stoll Walsh

We were fortunate enough to find this book in a bilingual Spanish-English version for our class library...and it's a hit!  This gem tells the tale of three little mice who hide themselves in jars of paint, only to discover that they can create other colors by mixing the ones they've dyed themselves with.  They make quite a mess in the process!  One painting activity that has proven to be popular with our Pips is using paintbrushes and water to paint on our natural blackboards - slabs of slate!

​The best thing about these books is that they are all available at the Ann Arbor District Library, downtown branch. Check out their entire catalogue here, and do some summer family reading of your own!  Happy Browsing!!!

Outdoor scapes provide our youngest friends with natural challenges that push them to grow their skills, like pulling up to stand by a stump, climbing the big hill, and learning to be okay with having others playing close by.  ​