On a regular day in our class, you will find that the Art Studio is one of the busiest areas in the room. The children love to draw, paint and create! This week we decided to introduce pastels to the students. I did a mini lesson on how you can create both bold and soft colours with oil pastels, while still showing detail in the drawing. The children were very eager to give it a try at the Art Studio. 
On a walk that we took last week we collected fall leaves in different colours and shapes. We have been matching the leaves to the trees that they come from and learning why leaves change colour and fall off the trees. To extend the learning, I decided to set up a provocation with fall leaves, pastels, white paper and magnifying glasses.
Paying close attention to the details they observed in the leaves, the children used their sharpie markers to draw the veins. They then began to blend different coloured pastels to create the colours they saw on the leaves.
M.B. “Their are lots of different colours on my leaf!”
A.R. “The bottom of the steam is bigger than the top part.”
The results were quite remarkable! The detail that the children were able to observe and portray in their drawings showed us that its very important to ask children to look a little closer and pay attention to the finer details. This skill with help them later when they are reading, writing stories, or discovering something new. This was not only a lesson for the children but also us. We are reminded that we have to take a moment and look a little closer so as not to miss the learning that is happening while children are engaged in their play.
“The Full-Day Early Learning- Kindergarten program capitalizes on children’s natural curiosity and their desire to make sense of their environment. However, curiosity on its own is not enough. The guidance of a thoughtful Early Learning-Kindergarten team is essential to enable children to learn through inquiry.” -Ontario Ministry of Education, FDK Document
The Kinder Class 