Pre-KG 2023 / 24 Blog 20 The ART of Connecting

Pre-KG 2023 / 24 Blog 20

The ART of CONNECTING

People who know me, know that I am a big fan of ART.

Art can be defined in many ways, it can be shown in many ways and it can be interpreted in just as many.

Children, even the smallest ones, are always exploring through play, they are finding new ways to express themselves, they like to tinker and they love to create. 

And it doesn't matter whether they fit into anybody's established thinking of art, children are usually very proud of their creations and rightly so. The results stem from their imagination and their efforts. 

As with my own children, I have found in my many years of teaching that most children are also very interested in the creations of others and very receptive to art and beauty.

We therefore took another trip to the fabulous Fashion Museum on Rokko Island which this time featured works by the 7 Japanese muses of paper cutting art, many of them depicting animals which was the perfect connection to our current unit.

And what a fantastic exhibition it was !

The teachers and children alike were stunned by the enchanting paper art ! We were only allowed to take a picture of the entrance display, but we could take back many shiny pamphlets. 

Back in class, the Pre-Kindergarten children were eager to use the beautiful pamphlet to create their own artistic collage.

They each received a canvas and had a choice of wavy paper and origami paper. Then they cut out their favourite images, glued them on, decorated them with sparkly diamonds…..

and voila.….with lots of joy a piece of stunning art was created which will certainly take a favourite spot in your house.

Bravo, ihr habt wirklich ein wunderschönes Collage kreiert, liebe Pre–Kindergarten Kinder!

The children also showed that they had learnt a lot about different shapes and colours in their first unit when they created a variety of towers and structures with giant lego blocks, colourful cones and rings as well as a spiky caterpillar with their friends from K1 and K2.

The children additionally connected very well with a new friend in class and included her in all their play and discoveries.

A heartfelt welcome again to little Fiona and the Liu / Zhao family, we are so happy to have you with us in Pre-Kindergarten and in our DSKI school community! 

We always strive to make connections to the wider community and events outside of school.

When the children had planted the tulip bulbs, we promised to check on their progress and we were delighted to find out that the tulips have started to show green sprouts even though it is still winter. What a growth spurt !

Of course our Pre-Kindergarten children are growing as well and we were so thrilled to celebrate Sora's 3rd birthday with him this week.

Hearfelt congratulations, dear Sora and a big thank you to his mum and the Nakamura family for the cute and delicious homemade cupcakes and other treats.

I am looking forward to many more connections, art and fun projects !

P.S. And yes, the pun was intended. Art also means skill or to be good at something!

With kind regards, 

Mit herzlichen Grüßen, 

Anita Ursula Mönch

Pre–Kindergarten homeroom teacher

Playgroup / EY German 

German Saturday School homeroom teacher