If you've been reading my blog for a while you know that I open my room every morning before school for kids to come in and work on projects or 'extra activities' of their choice. With all the end-of-year deadlines, I decided to put away all the 'fun' stuff last Friday (legos, K'nex, clay, drawing books, etc.) I kept only scrap paper along w/crayons, old markers & colored pencils out for the early birds. I also put away all my stools yesterday afternoon. I thought this would discourage my kids from coming in so I could get a little more work done. ...HA! Today I had more than 30 kids show up...
Here's what was going on:
drawing of course,
making more maru dai looms and buying yarn & ribbons for summer kumihimo braiding,
last minute finishing on a woven pouch,
and helping to wash one of the gazillion plastic trays used this year.
I believe if I had nothing but sticks and dirt, my kids still would have stopped by to create something...
I have been thinking about opening the art-class one day a week during lunchbreak. When it is cold and wet outside, this would work like a charm. I'm just a bit scared too many kids will show up ...
ReplyDeleteThe end of the year is near hear too! Just one month to go... I'm already thinking about new projects to do in September ...
Greetings and have a nice holiday!
Ilse at
http://artlessonsfrombelgium.blogspot.com/
I had the same fear but it's rare that I have more than 30 and most of the time, it was a very manageable 15 - 20. Lunch might be different though because you would have the potential of a lot more kids already on campus. Before school eliminates a large group that: 1. arrives too late by car or walking, 2. eats breakfast here on campus, 3. doesn't have/lost their pass. Having said that, 80% of our school arrives/departs by bus and my room is in a direct line from where the busses drop off. Perhaps you could manage numbers by requiring a pass & limit the number of passes...Let me know if you try it & how it goes!
ReplyDeleteHang in there for your last month & enjoy your summer break when it arrives!
I have CREATE, which is art at lunchtime (note that the word EAT is in the middle). I have a couple of days a week for 4th grade and a couple for 5th grade, and 6th graders come in during , study halls. I printed up 20 numbered passes, and it's on a first come basis - they sign up and take a pass in the morning. If they get shut out, they can sign up first on the next day's sheet. Everyone is happy, including the cafeteria staff, since I remove 20 noisy bodies from the cafeteria.
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