Friday, November 30, 2012

Swizzle Stick Open-Ended Designing

I love material that allows for outcomes to be different each time with unending potential for image building and design work. No wonder I teach clay ( see my many tutorial videos here and then on You Tube ) and no wonder I love Montessori's Sensorial works. ( See my creative use of the Constructive Triangles and Pink Tower ) 
As a Montessorian, I am not afraid to use what works even if it is not Montessori. This time it is swizzle sticks! Purists would shudder. I revel in the possibilities. Mix and match, oh yeah. Creative to the max, you bet. A work that keeps a four year old busy and happy for the full length of a morning preschool period designing and then getting a clipboard and drawing that design is a success. 









11 comments:

Aubrey said...

Beautiful - especially on that big blue rug! We Montessori teachers tend to think "small" sometimes for individual works, and we forget how great it is to allow children to work large scale. I bet this would work well with regular colored plastic straws, too.

inspiredmontessori said...

Yes,it would, Aubrey. I love the idea of transforming non-traditional objects into creative, beautiful works.

Deb Chitwood said...

Wow! I love the creative happenings in your school, Carolyn! Your students are very lucky! Thanks so much for sharing with Montessori Monday. In addition to featuring your post at the Living Montessori Now Facebook page, I pinned it to my Kids' Art Projects Board at http://pinterest.com/debchitwood/kids-art-projects/

inspiredmontessori said...

Thank you, Deb. I love everything you are doing to help all of us!

Anonymous said...

Love this! My girls are older but I know that they would enjoy this:) Thanks for sharing!

Unknown said...

So much fun!! Thanks for sharing at Share It Saturday. My kids will really enjoy this idea.

toady mama said...

What a great, creative project.

Savannah McQueen said...

Thanks for linking this to Look What We Did. You've been featured as one of the most liked posts in December.

dressage66 said...

Fun idea! So many things you can do with simple everyday objects! I have linked a post from my science site to your site. http://scientistsusinginsidevoices.wordpress.com/

Kali Lin said...

These are great! I think we'll try to do something similar this week. Thanks for sharing! Stopping by from Sharing Saturday. :)

MyBright Firefly said...

I love your cool shooting stars. Thanks for posting: very great and creative. I am your new follower, can't wait to read more of your blog.
Laura, http://camillaandroman.blogspot.com/