Fine Motor Friday, Part 11

Welcome back!!! It's Friday!!!! 
That means its' FINE MOTOR FRIDAY!!!
We're already on to part eleven of the series! WOW!!! 
I thought it would be fun to take a look at 'shapes' today. 
Shapes in Preschool Art. Shapes in kindergarten. Let's get started with shapes!
Shapes in Fine Motor. Shapes in Fine Arts!


SHAPES! SHAPES!! SHAPES!!!
A strong foundation with the basic shapes establishes an introduction to math and geometry at a very young age. Bring on the shapes!

Independent coloring: exploring all manner of circular shapes, ovals, balloons, color. EXTRAVAGANZA!!

Imagine my excitement to arrive early for my latest author-illustrator school visit to my local VPK (Voluntary PreKindergarten) to find the children engaged in an 'open-ended' session of drawing. Most of the children in this class are five years old and by this time of year they were working independently and with enthusiasm. 


What struck me was how there were so many children employing 'shapes' as their subject..... yet each was unique in their approach!! The young boy above was lovin' his circular fun and this next sweetie below had divided her paper into triangles to get underway. 

Here come the triangles. Dividing your paper itself into triangles to explore color!

At a table all the way across the room another girl had also divided her paper into triangles, but had a slightly different take on the way she got things underway. 

Yet more triangles in the division of paper. Creating a spring pin-wheel of colors!!

Here's an approach from a boy at yet another table. Rather than dividing his page into triangles to color.... he is focused on creating triangles as the very subject itself! Can you tell he's movin' at the speed of sound. Go triangles!

Here the triangle itself is being explored as the subject for coloring. Go Mr. Triangle.

And lookie here. Sitting right next to Mr. Triangle was Missy Square. Look at her stacking of boxes. I was fascinated, because of course to me -- all of her adjoining squares looked like a quilt!! Look at her design choices. Look at her color choices. Look at those happy squares!

Quilted squares within squares and yet more squares. Geometry at Preschool!!

Perhaps I shouldn't be so surprised about these children and their choice of shapes within an open ended drawing session. Their school has a 'shape-of-the-week theme' and for this particular day.... are you ready? TRAPEZOID. I kid you not! Next time I come in will there be children drawing trapezoids in the open ended drawing session?


How often have you spoken of trapezoids with young children?


These little red trapezoid purses were the 'craft' of the day: fine motor fun in lacing up the yarn thru the pre-punched holes and then decorated with stick on shapes.

Did you say trapezoid? Look at the various sensory explorations of the trapezoid!!

Long time readers know that I have an obsession fascination with polka-dots -- also known by the academicians in our midst as 'circles.' So I have a long-standing tradition of photographing the circles I see in my travels. These are Colorado circles. Can you tell?

Future round up? Ways to use paper-plates in Art and crafting explorations.

If you look really closely at these happy face smiles above, you can see that the 'eyes' are actually circles! They've used those little white gummy hole reinforcement circles for eye details and then the children have colored inside the circle reinforcers. CLEVER!! CLEVER!!! (Ohio circles.)


Next come Louisiana Seurat circles. Followed by New York circles!

Next up. Some more Louisiana circles. ACTUAL child's work!

These two circle extravaganza's are from the '100 Day' celebration in the kindergarten pod at South Daytona Elementary earlier this spring. LUV the circles! Luv the shapes! Luv the geometry exploration!!

Just yesterday I had those cutie-little ladybugs in my round-up of all things ladybug. File them today under the 'circle' category!

When we start with a strong foundation and a focus on the 'shapes' in our world, then it should come as no surprise that children can replicate them in their painting at the easel as well. Speaking of geometry, take a look at these beauties! Talk about fine motor! Talk about fine Arts! Talk about GEOMETRY in preschool!!! Bingo-bango!!

Simple projects work so well with little fingers! Spring birds by changing colors!

Here's a collection of shapes all of the way from my day in Reggio Emilia, ITALY, almost exactly one year ago. These are 'upcycle' shape people from bits and bobs of material. They were actually QUITE large in person. [Something of the scale is lost thru this collage.]



This next bulletin board of happy shapes was assembled in Cleveland in honor of my coming to their program serving children with special needs. These are commercially available 'sticky' shapes that the children have applied with abandon. They really look like Debbie Clement is ready to have some fun, don't they?


You know I LUV this type of preparation with the children before I arrive!


Remember!!! Always have the children see you in the process of writing! (Even before they can read!) 

YIKES?!?!?!?!?!


How did this post go to publish mode? I'm still writing it! 
Google. STOP!!!! This isn't supposed to go live till much later. AKKKKK!! Come back later and I'll have finished putting it together. Talk about a work in progress!!!


                                   -- Debbie --