Dimensions of Early Childhood - Southern Early Childhood ...

Much of children’s learning is accomplished
through encounters they have with interesting
people, places, and objects in their
environment. Depend on numerous
child-directed, teacher-guided play activities
to enable children to develop concepts
about their world.
and/or stamps. For even more personal
involvement, plan for children
to wrap handmade gifts for someone
they love.
Play matching games. Children
cut pictures of gift boxes from magazines
and glue them to cards.
Encourage them to find different
colors of bows. Children then use
their visual discrimination skills to
match pictures, such as finding all of
the packages with blue bows.
As children became proficient
with matching cards, introduce a
memory game so that pairs or small
groups of children can play. Older
children can draw their own illustrations,
taking care to make pairs of
each different package.
Art Explorations
Roll a design. One process-oriented
art activity involves printing with a
rolling object (such as a marble or
Ping-Pong ball) in a box. Ask children
to measure and cut their chosen
color of paper to fit in a box. They
choose a paint color and painting
object. Children place their paper in
the box and add a small amount of
paint. They then add the rolling
object and tip the box so the object
rolls back and forth in the paint.
This creative, interesting art experience
could also be classified as a
fine-motor or math activity.
Stamp patterns with boxes.
Children use large pieces of paper,
two colors of paint, and various
boxes to “stamp” designs. Pour a
thin layer of paint in a larger box,
dip the smaller boxes in the paint,
and then press them on the paper.
Box tops, edges, lids, and bottoms
can be used. Stamping can be done
with the base or the edges of the
boxes, creating many visual patterns.
Clean up is a snap, because the
painting tools are disposable!
Decorate boxes. One art activity
evolved spontaneously when Mrs.
Keenan placed a box on an easel for
children to paint as if it were canvas,
much like famous artists. She shared
some famous paintings by Cubists
(Juan Gris, Pablo Picasso, and Georges
Braque) who used box shapes.
Rippled prints. To create interesting
prints, children can peel the
paper from one side of a corrugated
cardboard piece. Press designs into
the bumpy surface with the wooden
end of a paintbrush or other hard
object. Press the corrugated side into
paint and print the rippled designs
on plain paper.
Build sculptures. Much like
building with hollow blocks, children
can glue or tape boxes together to
create massive sculptures. They might
choose a theme in advance, such as
a pirate ship, or may just see what
emerges as they create. Boxes can be
painted and decorated with a variety
of craft items such as paper, streamers,
recycled items, or natural objects.
Art activities present many
opportunities for vocabulary and
math concept development as children
design, draw, measure, and
construct. Talk with children about
the shapes, colors, techniques, and
their imaginative process.
Create Games and Books
Boxes have a variety of uses in an
integrated curriculum. These are
just a few examples.
Food-box puzzles. To enhance
young children’s awareness of environmental
print, while they are
using fine motor and visual discrimination
skills, Mrs. Keenan placed
two separate, teacher-made puzzles
inside a cereal box. (Any clean,
familiar box could be used.) Mrs.
Keenan backed these puzzles with
adhesive foam to make them sturdy
enough for multiple uses. Cover the
box with clear self-stick paper to
increase durability and longevity, too.
Place a box on an easel for children to
paint as if it were canvas, much like
famous artists. Share some famous paintings
with them that use box shapes, from
artists such as Cubists like Juan Gris,
Pablo Picasso, and Georges Braque.
14 Volume 35, Number 1 DIMENSIONS OF EARLY CHILDHOOD Winter 2007