The first grade had their first visit to the Children's Museum on Tuesday, March 1st. Although we had to reschedule because of a snow day, the students were still very excited. For about half of the kids, it was their first visit ever to the Children's Museum, so we wanted to make it as fun as we possibly could. Rather than focus on one area of the museum to go along with the project, we visited all areas so they could explore, play, and become familiar with it. We split the group of 40 up and explored different areas on our own, without a tour guide. It was nice to be able to spend as much time in each room as we wanted, and even nicer to see how much time they wanted to spend creating in the art studio! While we were going through the museum, we made sure to point out and talk about areas of focus such as Mr. Roger's Neighborhood and the various examples of Installation Art. There was no lack of interest throughout the entire day, and the kids had a great time exploring the different areas and playing.
The next time we had Art class, we talked as a group about everything we did and saw, and everyone got a chance to draw their favorite exhibits. Here are some favorites:
"My favorite thing was when we went in the room that was crooked" - Henley
"The bird was fun. It has a funny beak!" - Traisean
"I went to the water room at the Children's Museum. We went to all kinds of places. We stayed for four hours. It was very fun" - Jaelen
"My favorite thing is the trolley" - Christine
1st grade went on their second trip to the Children's Museum on April 12th. Before we went, we looked at the pictures of the installation pieces at the museum and created our own installation to prepare for the trip. When we arrived, the kids were able to point out the different installations as they were introduced. Our tour guide, Nick, showed us around the building and led a discussion about all of the installation art in the building. He even showed us a piece outside of the building through a window (the three fish). The kids really enjoyed seeing the art that they talked about in the classroom and already recognized. It was really helpful for them to be surrounded by the art so they could understand the concept better. We will begin the process of our school installation next week, so this trip was very helpful in getting them focused on the idea of Installation art.
