Springtime easel starters

We continue to explore flowers and seeds in our classroom and this is a simple way to promote different types of concepts and possibly a little more advanced painting at the easel…

I call this an easel starter.  Using the same kind of approach as a sentence starter, an easel starter starts off with something added to the paper that extends a concept we have been exploring in our classroom…

I don’t know if you can tell without looking closely, but each of these painting started with a blank sheet of paper with three seeds glued to the bottom.  When the children started their paintings, there was nothing else on the paper but the seeds which I glued on the night before…

In our circle time we explored, in very simple terms, the growth pattern from seed to flower. As one way to extend our discussion, I prepared easel starters for the children to create their own flowers from a seed…

The children created their own paintings from seed to flower using the real seeds I had already glued to the paper the day before…

Some of the children chose to paint dirt over the seeds so they were under the ground….

Others chose to simply add the stems, leaves, and flowers…

By adding the seeds in advance, we had a simple way to start our easel painting and to extend the concepts we are learning that day as well…

Can you think of other simple easel starters to try? Leave me a comment below with your thoughts!

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Deborah J Stewart

Deborah J Stewart

Every time I think I know everything I need to know about teaching young children, God says, "Hold on a minute!" and gives me a new challenge.

Let me tell ya...

With each new challenge that you overcome, you will find yourself better equipped and more passionate about teaching young children.

God didn't call wimps to lead, teach, or care for His children. Nope, he has high expectations, so get ready. You will have to give your very best but after teaching for over 30 years, I can tell you that it is a wonderful and rewarding journey.

Whenever your calling feels hard, just remember, 'He who began a good work in you (and in the children you serve) will be faithful to complete it.'

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