Autumn Art     

As part of their art program, our Year 3 students have been exploring the amazing warm hues of autumn. Using the art of sponge painting, they have worked to create some beautiful works that capture Adelaide’s autumn trees that we see around us.

Nature Paint Brush

Sometimes inspiration for our nature experience comes in advance, and other times it comes with interaction in nature with my family. This week's inspiration was inspired by a simple play at our local playground with a beautiful big nature space next to it. On the ground were a lot of sticks and there was a big variety of different kinds of leaves and plants. The inspiration to make all these bits and pieces into a paintbrush came to life.

When the students came to the Nature Play Space this week, they were excited to paint, however they were confused as there weren't any paintbrushes. The students chose from a variety of different species of plants, grabbed a piece of string and tied them onto a stick. They then used their brush to make a picture using paints either of the tree around them, or a picture of their own. The students found it tricky to creatively use the nature paintbrush to make it do what they wanted, but their creativity took over and they were able to create a masterpiece, using different textures and techniques to make a picture. While the students were busy making their masterpiece a small mud kitchen was set up for the students to mix, grind and stir.

Have you ever tried making a paintbrush using pieces from nature?

Nature Maths

This week, we lapped up the bits and pieces of sunshine during our nature maths time. Students were still working on subtraction, and we used our natural items and some recycling to have some fun with subtraction in the sun.

Working in small groups, the students had cards with subtraction facts on them, a white board marker and some collected pieces from the nature play space. They worked out the sums using the items they collected and wrote the answer onto the cardboard, with each group member helping their group to get to the answer. We all enjoyed learning subtraction in a different way, with some students saying ‘That was fun’!