Magical Art Experiences in Extended Day-Part 2

The love of treasures kicked off the theme of magic in Extended Day. Noticing the love the excitement of finding treasures, we started presenting the children with a treasure hunt during playground time. A “Fairy” hid beads on the playground and the children searched for them.

This led to Morahs presenting more magical experiences.

      

Gems

We wanted to recreate this experience for parents and families on Siyum night so we decided to make our own gems! Morah ordered some silicone molds, resin, and resin dye. 

When our supplies arrived, we first had to cover up, not only ourselves but our workspace too. Resin is VERY sticky. The children first added gold foil, glitter, and tiny sequins to the molds. Then, with Mora’s help they mixed up different colors of resin. The children poured their different colors of resin into the gem molds. There were several different shapes and sizes. 

Once dry, The children were able to pop the treasures out of the molds and marvel over their work. On Siyum night, they will hide them for family members to find and take home.

Magic Wands

Continuing our magical theme and our work with resin, the children made magic wands. When we ordered the gem molds, we also saw crystal molds. The children realized that they could make these elaborate magic wands so of course we ordered those too!

We made the crystals the same way that we made the gems. The only difference was that these 

molds were completely three dimensional. There was a lot more space to experiment. 

They were able to layer colors within the molds. 

Once dry the children attached the crystals to the ends of sticks. They then decorated the sticks with ribbons, rhinestones, tiny tiles, seaglass, buttons, and paint markers.

Potions-

The children mixed together Epsom salts and glitter for sparkle. They added color with tempera powder. The children also like to grind chalk into powder, so they mixed that in too. 

For another fun textural element, they added multicolored seed beads. The children also added some fragrant essential oils and combined the mixture using their hands for a calming sensory experience. 

They scooped the mixture into plastic test-tubes then decorated their potion tubes with paint markers and gems. 

Once dry, the children tied their tubes onto strings to make them into necklaces. The children also wrapped some of the tubes in wire and ribbon and strung them with beads. 

These tubes were hung all over the sun porch in building 3 from the ceiling, on the walls, and in the windows for a magical atmosphere.

Resin/Potion Painting-

First the children sprinkled some of their potion onto a wooden panel.

We had some leftover resin in different colors. The children poured the leftover resin on top of the potion. They used paint scrapers to ensure that the resin covered the entire board. 

Glitter Glue Paintings-

We wanted to see if glitter glue could achieve a similar effect to the resin painting. First the children painted boards and canvases with gesso.

 

Then the children dyed the glue with liquid watercolors, poured it onto the panels, then sprinkled different shades of glitter into their concoction. 

They pushed the mixture around the canvas using paint scrapers.

Wings-

The children designed their own wings inspired by magical creatures to wear on Siyum Night. The children drew pictures of what they wanted their wings to look like. 

Next they made the shape out of wire.

With a Morah’s help they cut and glued fabric to cover the wire armature. 

They then decorated the wings by gluing feathers, rhinestones, and pom-poms onto  their designs. 

Morah attached stretchy cord into looped straps so the children could wear their designs.

Come experience the magic on Siyum Night!

Magical Medallions By: Extended Day

This year the Extended Day children have been entranced by all things magical. 

They often make up games involving magical creatures such as superheroes, ghosts, fairies, and dragons. 

They use sticks as magic wands and turn their Morah into all sorts of silly things.

We often have a treasure hunt during outside play in which a “fairy” (Morah) buries treasure (beads) around the ship and the children get to search for, collect this treasure, and take it home. 

This paired with their love of glitter and rainbows inspired our direction with art this year. 

We have a magical extravaganza planned for Siyum Night involving fairy and dragon wings, a 

treasure hunt for resin gems, magic wands, potions, and a magical art show. 

For the Fun Run piece, the children carved designs into round pieces of clay using various tools. 

After the medallions were dry, the children painted them in a variety of pastel colors. 

The children then coated the clay in a layer of Modge Podge to protect the paint.

The children dusted the medallions with glitter.

The finished medallions were arranged by layering pieces on top of one another and alternating the colors. 

The medallions were then glued into a white shadow box frame. Come bid on this magical piece at the Fun Run!

Industrial Cityscape by: Kitah Daled

The Kitah Daled children enjoy collecting things.

 When they go on nature walks or when they play on the playground,

the children often find “treasures.” 

These treasures are sometimes rocks and other bits of nature, 

but more often they are a piece of string, a bead, or some other piece of trash. 

These children also spend a lot of their time building with blocks, Magna-Tiles, 

and other manipulatives. 

This fascination with trash to treasure led us to the concept of recycling

and thinking about what these “treasures'' could become. 

Their enthusiasm for building led us to think about building with recycled materials.

The Kitah Daled children are currently working on creating their own world out of

boxes and other recycled materials. (You will be introduced to these on Siyum Night.)

In order to make something a little more upscale, 

we collected  a variety of metal  “treasures”  such as keys, 

jewelry findings, hardware bits, bottle caps, wind chimes, and other odds and ends. 

The children glued these pieces together, creating their own skyscrapers. 

They then arranged them into skylines in four metal trays of varying sizes. 

We glued them into the trays. 

Tiny metal stars were glued along the top of each skyline as a finishing touch. 

Holes were drilled into the tops of the trays 

and chains were cut and attached for hanging.

Bid on these pieces of art at the Fun Run!