Below is a blurb I wrote for our school monthly newsletter. We were asked how we promote 'Green' thinking in our classrooms...
We use recycled materials in our Pre-K classrooms all the time, and mainly in our art or 'creation' stations. Odds and ends spark children's thinking, and the way they use these items often surprises adults. Unlike the loose parts in the block or drama areas, the art centres use primarly consumables - children making creations for one time use or as an on-going prop in dramatic play. Play items do not have to be coloured green, blue, yellow and red to be meaningful or of quality. Aside from being an economical way of keeping our art centres stocked, by re-using or recycling materials we are taking ordinary objects like paper tubes, bottle caps, or wood scraps and creating beautiful objects. Making the extraordinary out of the ordinary.
By using items that would normally become garbage, we are helping to raise children's awareness that a little creativity can make a simple 'throw away' item into something useful. Last year we were given all the boxes of the travel mugs that the Grade 12 graduates received in their gift bags. So far the boxes have become apartment buildings, castles, a rocket ship, a train line that went all through our classroom, and they will soon become display boxes for our artworks.
The wood scraps we had gathered for us were used as play items in our class for a week previous to making our sculptures. The children used the scraps in their dramatic role playing, took sand paper to the pieces and discovered the difference between rough and smooth, built towers and found out more about balance. Then, we used the scraps to create our sculptures...which really wasn't a lesson at all about building a sculpture, but about problem solving and turn taking. Each group had five children in it and they had to make a sculpture using all their assigned pieces, and do this co-operatively.
Our forest walks are also a way we promote 'Green' thinking amongst our students. Developing a relationship with the natural world around us instills a sense of responsibilty to protect our forest. The children start to understand why we do not throw garbage on the ground, why we need to use less paper in the classroom, and begin to observe the world around us with a softer eye and appreciation for what is natural and living. The forest walk becomes the most anticipated event of the week!
We use recycled materials in our Pre-K classrooms all the time, and mainly in our art or 'creation' stations. Odds and ends spark children's thinking, and the way they use these items often surprises adults. Unlike the loose parts in the block or drama areas, the art centres use primarly consumables - children making creations for one time use or as an on-going prop in dramatic play. Play items do not have to be coloured green, blue, yellow and red to be meaningful or of quality. Aside from being an economical way of keeping our art centres stocked, by re-using or recycling materials we are taking ordinary objects like paper tubes, bottle caps, or wood scraps and creating beautiful objects. Making the extraordinary out of the ordinary.
By using items that would normally become garbage, we are helping to raise children's awareness that a little creativity can make a simple 'throw away' item into something useful. Last year we were given all the boxes of the travel mugs that the Grade 12 graduates received in their gift bags. So far the boxes have become apartment buildings, castles, a rocket ship, a train line that went all through our classroom, and they will soon become display boxes for our artworks.
The wood scraps we had gathered for us were used as play items in our class for a week previous to making our sculptures. The children used the scraps in their dramatic role playing, took sand paper to the pieces and discovered the difference between rough and smooth, built towers and found out more about balance. Then, we used the scraps to create our sculptures...which really wasn't a lesson at all about building a sculpture, but about problem solving and turn taking. Each group had five children in it and they had to make a sculpture using all their assigned pieces, and do this co-operatively.
Our forest walks are also a way we promote 'Green' thinking amongst our students. Developing a relationship with the natural world around us instills a sense of responsibilty to protect our forest. The children start to understand why we do not throw garbage on the ground, why we need to use less paper in the classroom, and begin to observe the world around us with a softer eye and appreciation for what is natural and living. The forest walk becomes the most anticipated event of the week!
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