::: sculptures inspired by nature!
We found we had a basket of polished stones left over from the wonderful pet rocks which the children made recently. Inspired by Sherry’s trip to Italy during the holidays where she saw little towers of rocks from the local beaches popping up all over the holiday house she was staying in, we decided to see how the children would go with this idea.
Of course we wanted to do our own take on this so thought we could combine the stones with other natural materials we had on hand …
like gumnuts, pine cones, coral, shells, bark, leaves, acorns and sticks.
We felt that the old PVA glue just wouldn’t hack the pace so thought it would be a great opportunity to invite our children to construct their sculptures using our trusty hot glue gun … something we’ve not used with them before but as Teacher Tom had said his children love to use hot glue guns we thought we should give it a go too! We brought in a bit of science here too – solid glue/apply heat/liquid/let it cool/solid again.
A few of the children were a little unsure as to whether they were “allowed” to use a hot glue gun. One child was concerned about the fact it was HOT while another’s concern was the GUN part. Yet another said he shouldn’t use it because he’s only five years old!
Others of course just dived right into the new experience!
We were really impressed how the children took in all the safety information …
such as which part of the glue gun was hot …
and how the glue itself is very hot.
Only one child got to accidently experience how hot the glue was … but only one!
Once again they blew us away with their ‘outside the square’ ideas. We expected interesting creations for sure but never in our wildest dreams did we think we would see …
a platypus …
bat …
skeleton man …
snail or …
nature sculpture just to name a few!
The top of the children lockers has become quite the display cabinet lately!
Oh and the three children who were a bit reluctant to handle the hot glue gun? … Keira made the nature sculpture, Jackson the skeleton man and Joss created the bat … all on their own … and all were very proud!
We have linked this post up with the ‘Nuture Store – Play academy’
Simply click on the ‘Play Academy’ button to see what other are playing at this week!
Tags: acorns, bark, coral, glue gun, gumnuts, natural materials, pine cones, shells, sticks
What creative kids! I love the diversity of the sculptures. We’re heading for the beach next week and will be hunting for treasures to bring home and create with.
P.S. The Play Academy linky is up at NurtureStore today – I would love it if you’d come and share an idea.
::: Cathy we WILL come by and link up today for sure!
::: All done Cathy. We are in there!!
Gorgeous
I have almost decided to use a glue gun this year. I have very precious parents, but dammit, I think I’m going to do it!
::: Shar we like your attitude!
Way to go, Sherry and Donna! I’m impressed with the work your kids did. I’m thinking the glue gun will make an appearance in my classroom, too, soon.
Those are some of the best sculptures I’ve seen in a while.
::: Scott the very first sculpture made was the platypus! Never in our wildest dreams did we expect any of the children would have a plan like that. We honestly expected they would all create ‘stacks of stuff’ as apposed to something recognisable and from that platypus more great things came! We would imagine as your children are a year older than ours that you too might see some interesting creations.
Wow Ladies!! Impressive!!! What a totally irresistible nature activity!! I can’t wait for Fall so we can gather some of these materials and have a go at making Nature Sculptures!! Love it, love it, love it!!!! Again, way to go.
::: Thank’s Michelle we were pretty impressed ourselves!
Oh wow guys, these are just gorgious. Not only the idea but the way the kids responded to it and the materials is inspiring. I still haven’t got around to glue gun purchasing and this has spurred me on!
::: That said Jenny we will be looking out for another one of you amazing posts then … yes?!
::: BTW If we can do it then you certainly can!
Wow! I love the creativity, great process with an amazing product!
::: They blew us a way with their ideas too Amy.
these are awesome. well done children (and teachers too for giving them the experience) I am off to buy myself a hot glue gun I feel I am missing out LOVE the pic on the bottom right with all the glue oozing out everywhere
::: Thanks Michele … and yes we certainly had plenty of glueing oozing out everywhere. It kind of adds to it don’t you think?!
Just Gorgeous!!!
So much thought, creativity and attention to detail! I’m sure the children are very proud of their creations. Congratulations Kids and bravo Donna and Sherry for bravely relinquishing the hot glue guns!!!!
::: hee hee hee Ms Jojo we’re not sure if it was us being brave so much as we didn’t want Teacher Tom and his children having all the fun!
P.S. Ssshhhhh … Don’t tell Tom we said that!
Yay! These are masterful! I’m so happy!
Yesterday, 2-year-old Elliot showed me the small round burn he’d acquired on this thumb on Tuesday. It was nearly healed. I asked, “Does it still hurt?” He answered, “No. It ready to get burned again.” =)
::: Elliot is certainly a trooper! We haven’t asked our little finger burn victim if she’s ready to go again but if she ever does I hope she has Elliot’s attitude because if anyone is going to want to test the heat of that glue AGAIN the next time it wall probably be her! As you can see Tom the children had a ball so thank you for your inspiration!
Those are awesome!
::: Yep! They sure are Deborah.
Wow, amazing! I want to have a go
::: Just go for it Erin!
I’m really very happy, Donna.
:: That’s good Tom. We like making people happy!
Impressive! We will have to try this once we collect enough nature finds! Our daughter brought some cool things home today.
::: Have fun Min!
OMG! MY kids would love this!! We need to go collecting now!
::: The beauty of it is Melissa this stuff is free and laying all over the ground!
These are so creative! What a wonderful idea!
::: Thanks Pam it was a lot of fun!
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by thewonderdays and thewonderdays, Cathy James. Cathy James said: Love these nature sculptures from the kids at Play Based Learning http://bit.ly/bfF1nH Thanks for sharing with the #PlayAcademy [...]
Love these – love that you are using the glue gun – love how they turned out!
::: Thanks for all the ‘love’ Gwynn!
Ditto to all the above – I have just come back online after a few days away from the blogosphere – and there are so many exciting – indeed irresistible! – posts to catch up on from your place…
::: Awwww … thanks Louise.
We made these today and I can’t wait to get our pictures up on our blog! Thank you so much for the ideas! I even showed your website to give my kids with autism and cognitive disabilities a concrete model as an example. And we even used the glue guns! Only one student was afraid and no one got burned! Our principal walked in during the middle of the project and was impressed. He saw your website up on our SMART board and even commented on how cool it was. THANK YOU!
::: WOW that is really cool Morgan … thank YOU! We’ll be sure pop on over and look out for your post.
Thanks again! Here’s our link- http://staff.bbhcsd.org/kolism/category/science/
::: Thanks for the link Morgan. We’ll pop on over and take a look.
[...] Garden creatures from Irresistible Ideas for Play [...]
Ladies this idea is too creative. I absolutely had to include it @ theclassroomcreative recycled garden post. I can see these popping up in people gardens everywhere! Karen & Nicolette
::: That’s really cool … THANKS Karen and Nicolette!
Just wondering as i’m still a studying early childhood, whether there are certain rules or ‘laws’ around the use of hot objects/certain age groups. Is it your ‘fault’ if a child is burnt a little on the finger even if properly supervised? or is this just a normal thing about growing up? It is so tricky knowing what to do/not what to do and whether parents will be angry or no/blame you… when intentions are always in the best interest of the child… any advice??
::: Raquel there are no regulations regarding the use of real tools … supervision is the key as well as providing age appropriate expereinces.
