All posts filed under: Art Ideas

Graham Cracker Gingerbread Houses

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Today was our last Creative Treats class with ICS, its been such a wonderful term! For our last class, we wanted a project that the students could complete in one class, so we made amazing Graham Cracker Gingerbread Houses. The houses are so cute and so easy! Plus without using too many red and green candies, no-one seemed to notice we were making them in March and not December! Follow these easy steps to make your own: Ingredients 1 batch of Royal Icing  4 Graham Crackers (full size) and one split into two pieces 1 zip lock bag (or a piping bag) Lots of candies for decorating! 9×6 piece of cardboard wrapped in tin foil Method: Step 1 Fill your zip lock bag with icing and using your hands push it all to one corner of the bag. Cut a small hole in the same corner of the bag (and by small, we mean very, very tiny, think like a tip of a pencil). Step 2 Take a full size graham cracker and using your …

Homemade PlayDough!

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Here at Seasons, we use a LOT of Playdough and it can be pretty pricey to be continually buying it. So we learned how to make Playdough in our kitchen and want to share this easy recipe with you! Ingredients 2 cups of flour 2 cups of water 2 tbsp of oil 2 tsp cream of tartar 1/2 cup of salt food colouring Combine all the ingredients in a pan over low heat and stir constantly until ball forms. Let the dough cool down before adding the food colouring. Once it has cooled, you can push your thumb into the dough and simply put a few drops of food colouring into the hole. Kneed the dough until you obtain your desired colour and presto, perfectly made Playdough! Plus, no harm to the tummies of those little ones who occasionally sneak bites of Playdough!

Young Rembrandts at Seasons!

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We are thrilled that Seasons has invited us to offer our program their Centre. We believe that our Young Rembrandts program fits well with Seasons Family Centre’s mission to provide families and individuals a place where they can enrich their creativity through various art forms. Young Rembrandts was founded based on first-hand understanding by our founder, Bette Fetter, of the value of the arts on developing young minds.  Bette’s passion for the arts and early childhood education led her to develop Young Rembrandts, a unique teaching methodology focused on developing foundational art and drawing skills in young children. As an artist and classroom instructor, Bette has seen the impact of her directed drawing method and its impact on inner discipline, art skills and core learning skills that undergird essential learning functions. Research and education experts say what Young Rembrandts has always delivered: there is a significant correlation between involvement in the arts and achievement in the classroom. Children who learn to draw using the Young Rembrandts method develop spatial reasoning and fine motor skills, order …

The Importance of Learning Through Artistic Play

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>> Expert Advice from our ECE Expert: Kim Davies << Children’s overall development is affected by a combination of both their biological maturation and their environment. As they represent what they know in different ways, it is imperative to provide children with opportunities to practice their skills in a safe environment that offer real challenges. By problem solving through artistic play, children cognitively go through the process of accommodation. During this process, children learn new information and add it to their existing knowledge base, to come up with a refined idea about their world. So, when I walked into the spacious art room, illuminated by sunlight streaming through the windows, I smiled as my eyes immediately noticed the long tables’ set-up with a variety of water colour paints, paint brushes of multiple sizes, colourful and bright pastels and multiple large canvases. As a qualified and experienced Early Childhood Educator and Elementary School Teacher, I understood the critical components that produce an ideal and amazing art program for children. An ideal art program must provide children …