The 2nd transnational meeting of our great Erasmus+ team takes now place in Ploiesti, Romania. All the partners -from Romania, Greece, France, Estonia and Italy- presented their series of activities realized outside the classroom in the european nature! The Romanian team achieved the organization of the 1st day of the meeting in an excellent way. Thank you Toba Mihaela Carmen -Director of the school- and Albu Iuliana-Ana!!!
We received invitations with the map of Romania for the second transnational meeting of our partnership in Ploiesti Romania from 25th till 27th of April 2018. Our partners there prepared nice postcards to invite us and we are looking forward meeting them!
Inspired by the land artists Nils Udo, Andy Goldsworthy, Robert Smithson we programmed an outdoor excursion. The wonderful landscape of “Akti Vouliagmenis” (a beach near our school) offered us great points of interest to observe. Kids first admired the elegant statues in small size standing in the neat gardens by the sea and then they reproduced them with their bodies! Their creativity pushed them to make their own sculpture -a fish- using pieces they found around: stones, small branches, sea shells, leaves.
Coming back to school their inspiration guided them to gather diverse spam objects in an “empty” corner of our garden and decorate it with a brand-new sculpture. The result was … a unique lighthouse with a small cage on the top!!!
After our easter holidays kids were happy to discover changes in the school garden. We made a tour all around the garden and they asked me to take photos of all these different images : fresh new camomile, leaves, flowers and high tall wheat! My proposition to give them my cell phone so that they would become photographers, appeared as a very appealing idea! Our tour ended up by making artistic compositions using natural elements found around the garden and presented in a hula hoop frame.
This was another happy day for our pupils. It was a nice sunny day and we could organize several sport games outside the classroom such as bowls , ball games and sporting competitions. We enjoyed very much and the weather was our friend creating a pleasant atmosphere in kindergarten courtyard.
During these months we worked on emotions we feel when we are outside the classroom in the open air. We worked on the relationship between emotion, color and form inspired by great painters!
Wednesday 4th of April teachers and assistants organized a big hunting for Easter chocolates.
Few days ago each pupil has decorated egg with decorative graphics, or a rabbit, chick and carrot. In which are some pieces of chocolate . Then around 90 children came outside in the playground for a huge Easter hunting!
Spring hasn’t arrived to Aruküla yet as you can see from the first photo and we decided to experiment with natural materials indoor. There were two experiments.
First one was called “Thirsty celery”. We did taste celery at first and then we put three branches into three differently coloured water. After a few days we could see how differently coloured liquid had changed celery. The celery looked best in a clear water.
Second experiment was very traditional for Estonians. We do this in the beginning of spring when we feel a need to see some green leaves after a long cold dark winter as symbol of new beginning in nature. We do not eat these leaves, we bring them into a warm room and we observe how leaves start to grow from the buds.
To celebrate the arrival of spring children plant seeds in pots. When the little plants had grown up we replant then in our inside vegetable garden. Pupils planted : radish, cherry tomatoes, lettuce, green beans and zucchini !!
Then planted seeds in our outside vegetable garden. This summer we will have lots of flowers to attract butterflies !! and at that time there is no need to water, we have lot of rain !!
40 pupils aged 3 to 5 years old went to Versailles to see a very special place. It was royal stables converted to hospital for the statues which used to decorate the parc. The old statues are repaired and some times craftmen make copies and they keep the old one inside and decorate the parc with new statues !
Children were very impressed !