Winter break is here! I do enjoy the break from the routine, but I'm looking forward to seeing the students again. I'll add some more options to the studio. At the 3-d construction center, I'm going to introduce paper-mache. And in the fiber/weaving center, I'm bringing in beads. K-2 will have pony beads with string and pipe cleaners, while the older students will have the elastic beading string along with crimping tubes and beading pliers.

I'm also going to formally introduce sewing to the older grades. Sewing is interesting, because I didn't have the tools out at the fiber center, but if a student asked, I handed them thread and a needle, but told them I wouldn't be able to give them instruction (sewing is wonderful, but learning the basics really is a one-on-one activity). Amazing things happened; students that knew the basics taught interested students. And all this was completely unorchestrated, unplanned on my part!

I want the students to learn creative problem solving, so we don't have tape in our classroom. Instead of answering the same questions over and over, I created some posters at that center:

Okay, found my card reader, now I can post images of all the exciting art:

This is a girl in her house, and here is her chair.

This second grader is creating a suit of body armor!

Kindergarteners draw freely:

A sixth grader shows his finished weaving: Modeling clay:

A torn paper collage by a sixth grader:

Another woven piece, turned into a bracelet by a first grader