Celebration of The Moon

With the eclipse approaching in our corner of the world I thought it would be a nice idea to do a post on celebrating the moon. During our Potion Lab Summer Camp we created moon phase banner using the power of the sun.

We talked about the phases of the moon and a few ways to represent those phases. The phases of the moon is a wonderful way to discuss how we are all connected together. Even if the moon seems so incredible far away, it has an affect on how the oceans move here on earth. 

These are the two ingredients you will need to turn any piece of fabric into a sun print. The possibilities are so fantastic. This Solar Fast solution doesn't wash out so you could make t-shirts or pillows and so much more. It also comes in other colors.  I water the solution down with water 1:1 in a cup for the kids to paint on.

The kids cut out shapes of the moon phases from paper to place onto the sun printed fabric. I cut a sheet into rectangular small banner sizes.  You just paint the solution onto the fabric and place the shapes you like onto the fabric. We did tape the fabric onto a piece of cardboard to make it easier to carry outside. Once the sun hits the painted fabric it starts to turn blue. We counted to 20 then brought them inside.

Place 2 capfuls of the solar was into a tub of water to wash away the chemicals. Then rinse ad hang to dry. A few of my kids wanted to experiment with the  shades of color so they would paint on some solution them paint on some water in order to make some parts faded.

Lastly we cut slits into the tops of the fabric and passed a stick through the slits to create a way to hang the banners on the wall. It's such a beautiful project to celebrate celebrate the moon. 

Tiny Cameras

Relevant joyful learning is what we strive for where children can make their own choices all the  while learning new techniques and furthering old old ones through practice. We practice by cutting, and glueing and drawing and stacking. This week at our summer camp the theme was Teeny Tiny Things. It's a theme that sparks the grand imagination of even the smallest of our artists. It's a way for their small hands to work their magic to create little art projects.

 

I so enjoy offering materials that are well known as an everyday objects. By altering those seemingly mundane materials into art objects kids learn about the possibilities of transformation.

I gave the children match boxes, buttons, beads and tiny pieces of paper for this project. All the kids needed was some paint mixed with glue to turn those boxes into a little cameras.

 We talked about he kinds of things they would like to take pictures of sisters, brothers, moms and dads, their cats, or maybe flowers or a forest. The children used the small pieces of paper to make drawings to be their photographs like little polaroid cameras.