Our MWF preK classes will be learning about and creating individual sculptures (if time allows we might do a giant group sculpture). During this unit, we revisit the concept of two dimensional and three dimensional. During our unit on Picasso, we explored three dimensional geometric shapes (cube, sphere, cone and cylinder).
Our sculptures are made of toilet paper and paper towel tubes. A few years ago on a trip to Seattle, I was looking down from the Space Needle and saw Alexander Liberman's
Olympic Iliad. The following year, I asked the children if they wanted their tubes cut (a teacher job b/c it's a little difficult for preschoolers).
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| Olympic Iliad Alexander Liberman |
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This past summer, we were fortunate enough to visit some friends who were temporarily living in Manhattan. These two large sculptures by
Alice Aycock are located on Park Avenue. I had to slow down my husband and friends so I could snap a quick photo. I am anxious to see how the children will manipulate the tubes when we unfurl them. This will be an interesting option for their sculptures. Thanks bunches to
Alice Aycock for the inspiration.
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| Spin-the-Spin Alice Aycock |
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| Waltzing Matilda Alice Aycock |
Want to do more? There are many public works in our area. When the weather warm ups, you and child can visit the riverfront and downtown Peoria, ICC main campus and the Bradley University campus to see many outdoor sculptures. Locally you can drive by
Greg DePauw's studio to see his work or drive around the square to see the Abraham Lincoln sculpture.
More info and past posts---
The Common Core Standards do not address the importance of the arts. For more information on why the arts are important---
http://www.pbs.org/parents/education/music-arts/the-importance-of-art-in-child-development/
