Simple as chalk / Jednostavno kao kreda

Drawing with chalk is one of the simplest art activities for kids, yet I think it is an ever-lasting hit! We don't have to invent or browse for comlicated and new art activities all the time. Children are perfectly happy with the simplest things and with things they have already done, as well, maybe even more. So when ever I wonder, what could we do today, chalk is always a great solution!

Crtanje kredama je jedna od najjednostavnijih likovnih aktivnosti, ali po mom mišljenju - večiti hit! Nema potrebe da stalno izmišljamao ili tražimo komplikovane i nove likovne aktivnosti. Deca su savršeno srećna i sa jednostavnim ali i sa onim aktivnostima koje su već radili. Tako da, kad god se pitam šta bismo mogli danas da radimo, a da pri tom nemam ideju, krede su uvek odličan izbor!

Creativity is not only exploring new things, but also exploring old and familiar things in  new ways. This is a reason why it is good to offer familiar materials and familiar art activities to your kids, again and again. 

Kreativnost nije samo istraživanje novih stvari, već takođe i upotreba poznatih stvari na nov način. Ovo je jedan od razloga zašto je dobro nuditi deci poznate materijale i likovne aktivnosti iznova i iznova. 

Jean from The Artful Parent wrote about some more reasons why simple is good, here at the Babble blog. 

Džen sa bloga The Artful Parent je pisala o još nekim razlozima zašto je jednostavno - dobro, ovde na Babble blogu.

Clay / Glina

Every time I suggest playing with clay - my kids accept it with delight.  And I am very happy for that because I think that working and playing with clay has numerous benefits. I shall name some of them:

1. Playing with clay is very convenient when playing with kids of different ages, which is very important for me now - since baby Z (age 2) wants to do everything (everything!) that V (age 5) does. So many projects that I do with V are not so  easily adjusted to working with toddlers, or it requires a lot of time and preparation to set the same project for kids of different age (and I often don't have time for that). That's why playing with clay is so perfect: it's enough to just set the same tray with clay for both of them, and occasionally a box with our clay-tools or some other additional material such as small branches, sticks or so. No further instruction is necessary.

Svaki put kad predložim deci da se igramo s glinom - predlog bude prihvaćen sa najvećim mogućim oduševljenjem. (Čak mislim da se toliko ne obraduju ni palačinkama sa eurokremom, a može li se išta voleti više od palačinki sa eurokremom?) I vrlo mi je drago zbog toga, jer smatram da rad i igranje s glinom ima višestruke koristi. Navešću samo nekoliko:

1. Vrlo je zgodan materijal za rad sa decom različitih uzrasta, što je meni od neprocenjivog značaja sada - kada i beba Z (2 god) želi sve (sve!) zajedno sa nama da radi. Mnoge aktivnosti koje radim sa V-om nisu  baš prilagodljive za decu mlađeg uzrasta, ili su prilagodljive uz puno prethodnih priprema, za šta se često nema vremena. Rad sa glinom je stoga savršen: dovoljno je da joj samo postavim isti poslužavnik sa glinom kao i V-u i kutiju sa alatom koji koristimo za glinu, ili neki drugi dodatni materijal kao što su grančice ili sl.  Nikakva dalja uputstva nisu potrebna.

 2. What I like about clay is specifically the fact that regardless the kid's age - instruction is actualy, not necessary. The kids are simply fascinated with just touching the clay, poking it, making holes in it, wetting it, squeezing it, splitting it, sticking twigs in it, etc. A perfect material for "open-ended" activities.

2. Kod gline volim upravo to - što kada radite sa vrlo malom decom, a i sa starijom decom - nikakva uputstva zaista nisu potrebna. Ona su fascinirana samim dodirivanjem gline, bockanjem, bušenjem, kvašenjem, gnječenjem, ubadanjem grančica, cepkanjem, itd. Odličan materijal za aktivnosti "otvorenog tipa" - one koje nemaju konkretnu temu, tj. za istraživačke aktivnosti. 

3. Clay is a natural material and I love that. It has a soothing effect. Only touching the clay is soothing (let me remind you here that clay is used in medical and therapeutic purposes, too). Mixed with water - it becomes mud - perfectly calming material for spirited children. It is beautifully combined with twigs, leaves, stones and pebbles, sea shells, etc.

3. Glina je prirodan materijal i to volim kod nje. Ima umirujuće dejstvo. Već samo dodirivanje gline je smirujuće. (Samo da vas podsetim da se glina koristi i u medicinske i terapeutske svrhe). Pomešana sa vodom - pretvara se u blato - savršeno opuštajući materijal za decu nemirnog duha. Prelepo se kombinuje sa različitim prirodnim materijalima: grančicama, lišćem, kamenjem, školjakama...

4. Playing with clay develops fine motor skills, finger and hand. It is also great for realising the excess energy out of children, specially when angry, frustrated or tense (by beating a large piece of clay with hands, wood hammer or a roller pin), squeezing, tearing, kneading it, hiting it with the palm, etc.

4. Rad sa glinom razvija finu motoriku, mišiće prstiju i šake: npr. štipkanje gline, bockanje, čupkanje, pravljenje malih kuglica, glistica i sl., ubadanje kamenčića, grančica, dugmića i drugih sitnih materijala u glinu, nizanje kuglica od gline... Osim toga odlično može poslužiti i za oslobađanje viška energije kod dece, naročito onda kada su nemirna, napeta ili besna: npr. ako se veći komad gline udara (rukom, drvenim čekićem za mesom, oklagijom) gnječi, kida, mesi; ako se od lopte pravi palačinka - udaranjem, itd.

5. The possibilities of playing with clay are endless - from drawing in clay with a twig or toothpick, making prints in clay, reliefs and 3D figures, ceramics, terracota, as a basis for mosaics, etc., but about all that stuff - I shall write in some next posts.

5. Mogućnosti rada sa glinom su mnogobrojne - od crtanja u glini, otiskivanja u glini, vajanja trodimenzionalnih figura i reljefa, izrade keramike i terakote... ali  o tome u nekim narednim postovima.

A Ladder for Birds / Merdevine za ptičice

We have a small wooden bird house here, but even though we leave food for the birds, they rarely come. So, how could we attract them to come more often? Maybe with these small ladder? We shall se.

Imamo jednu drvenu kućicu za ptice ovde. Ali, iako ostavljamo pticama hranu, one retko dolaze.  Kako da ih privučemo da dolaze češće? Možda ovim malim merdevinama? Videćemo.

A Raft / Splav

Twigs and string - a beautiful combination! I think that everything made of twigs and string - is just beautiful!

Grančice i kanap - prelepa kombinacija. Čini mi se da je sve što je napravljeno od grančica i kanapa - jednostavno prelepo!

V was thinking and talking about boats and ships these past few days and wondering how to make a boat for his imagination travells around the world. I saw that he was realy puting an effort to figure out how a boat can be built. So instead of just talking about it, I suggested we make one, and since there are a lot of twigs all around the forest,  we decided to make a raft first. It is a simplest boat after all. And I got so surprised when I saw how little help he actually needed from me. He made two of them - one for himself, and one for baby Z.

V je proteklih dana puno razmišljao i pričao o brodovima i čamcima za svoja zamišljena putovanja po svetu i smišljao, smišljao kako da napravi sebi jedan čamac. Pošto ovde u šumi ima puno grančica, predložila sam mu da prvo napravimo jedan splav. Iznenadila sam se koliko mu je malo pomoći sa moje strane bilo potrebno. Napravio je dva splava - jedan sebi i jedan bebi Z.

After that he put them in water to see if they sink or float.  Where did he get that from? We never talked about that. He put different toys and items to see how they behave. He even put some small rocks, counting how many of them can he put before they drawned the raft.

Posle je tražio da ih stavimo u lavor sa vodom da vidimo da li tonu ili plutaju. Odakle mu to? Nikad nismo pričali o tome.  Stavljao  je različite predmete na splavove i ispitivao da li tonu ili plutaju.  A kamenčići? Koliko kamenčića može da se stavi na splav, pre nego što počne da tone? Eto, to su njegova razmišljanja.  

Hammering With Kids / Zakucavanje eksera sa decom

Kids usually want to do everything that we (the grown-ups) do. At least my kids. So, while making the geoboard the other day, both V and baby Z were importuning me to let them hammer the nails as well. Since the wood log for the geoboard was to hard, I found this small wood board that was soft enough for little hands.

Deca obično žele da rade sve ono što rade odrasli. Bar moja deca. Tako su pre neki dan, dok sam pravila ovu geo tablu, navaljivali da im dozvolim da i oni zakucavaju eksere. Pošto je panj bio suviše tvrd, pronašla sam ovu drvenu daščicu, koja je bila dovoljno mekana za male dečje ručice.

We used large nails so that small hands can hold them easily, and a large but a lightweight wood hammer (that we use for meat). V didn't miss a nail. Ha!

Namerno sam dala V-u velike eksere, da bi mogao lakše da ih drži, i ovaj veliki ali lagan drveni čekić za meso - zbog velike udarne površine. Nije promašio ni jednom, i nije udario prstić ni jednom. Ha!

After that, V was so curious to see how the pincers work, so he took out all the mails.
Nakon toga, V je želeo da proba kako rade klešta, pa je izvadio sve eksere.

But, there is another kid oround here that always cries - 'Let me do it, too!' - so here is the same activity set up for a two-years-old girl. The same lightweight wood hammer, clay and some sticks. 

Međutim, ovde imamo i jednu malu devojčicu koja stalno traži da radi sve što radi i njen strariji brat, pa sam ovu aktivnost ovako prilagodila njoj: isti drveni lagani čekić, glina umesto drvene pločice i grančice.