Vacation week at the MFA!!

Looking for something to do this week?  The MFA has some really fun family and kid activities going on all week! Check out their website for more information! Vacation Week at the MFA!

All ages and abilities welcome; children must be accompanied by an adult. No registration required. FREE admission for kids all week.
Special Events include: story time, family tours, visiting artists (including Japanese Taiko drummers!), and a childrens film festival!

They also have art making activities all week!

10 am–4 pm (until 8 pm on Wed). Drop in to enjoy hands-on activities for all ages.

Cherry Blossom Scrolls, Druker Family Pavilion 159
April is the month of the cherry blossoms in Japan! Find images of springtime on the screens and scrolls in Gallery 280, and then join us in the studio (Druker Family Pavilion 159) to create your own watercolor painting.
Samurai Helmet, Shapiro Family Courtyard
Discover the beautifully detailed helmets in “Samurai!”(Gund Gallery LG31). Can you find helmets that have features of rabbits, dragons, and other animals? How do you think the helmets were put together? After viewing the show, join us in Shapiro Family Courtyard to create your own helmet!
Symbolic Seats, Gallery 278C
Join us in Gallery 278C to view the Buddhas. What are they sitting on? The lotus flower grows in murky water then pushes upward until it reaches the surface as a beautiful flower. In Japanese culture, the lotus symbolizes working through something until you rise above it and reach the light. Create your own lotus mat—maybe it will inspire you to work through and rise above conflicts.
Contemporary Ceramics, Druker Family Pavilion160
Check out how today’s Japanese artists create sculptures and vessels. Explore Yagi Akira’s Nesting Covered Boxes in Gallery 280, Kondo Takahiro’s Blue Porcelain Box in Gallery 158, or Jun Kaneko’s two rounded forms, Untitled, in Gallery 258. Back in the studio (Druker Family Pavilion 160), create your own clay piece exploring shape, size, and texture.

Melting snowmen

Have you ever built a snowman and discovered the next day that his grin has gotten a little crooked, or his tree-branch arms have moved? And you've wondered . . . what do snowmen do at night?  Kindergarteners imagined the possibilities by reading the story Snowmen at Night.  After reading the story students were inspired to create their own melting snowmen (who were obviously very busy at night).  Students discussed shapes and collage as they created their artwork!

Light It Up Blue!

Autism affects 1 in every 88 children born today.  All my classes discussed and learned about autism in preperation for today (April 2nd) World Autism Awareness Day.  We discussed the role of the organization Autism Speaks and learned about their campaign "Light it up Blue!".  To spread awareness they ask that on April 2nd we change our regular lightbulbs to blue.  At the Garfield School we decided to light it up blue by creating our own lightbulbs.  Using blue glue on sheets of plastic we created our lightbulbs.  Once dry each student demonstrated their support for this day by writing their name in the center of their bulb.  You can visit www.autismspeaks.org for more information or watch this short video to see how people lit it up blue last year:

Ink monsters

One of my first grade classes was a bit ahead of the others so we did this short excercise in creativity!  We started by reading the story Beautiful Oops and discussed how mistakes can be transformed into beautiful artworks.  Next, we looked at an artist who creates daily monsters out of his mistakes.  Check out the video below:

Finally students dripped their own ink on their papers and used a straw to blow it around.  We then used our imaginations and markers to transform them into our own monsters!!