Early Childhood Activity - Outdoor Discovery

Play Plan
Student Name: Adayla Liggett
Gather nature materials and create different shapes, concepts, and ideas with the objects.

Activity Name Create with Nature!

Developmental Area Nature-based/science & art - using natural objects to create

Focus different shapes, objects, and more.

ECSQ (list one) Early Learning Expectation: Visual Arts. Children show how
Infant Toddler they feel, what they think, and what they are learning through
Prekindergarten experiences in the visual arts - Use their own ideas to draw, paint,
mold, and build with a variety of art materials

TS GOLD What do you want the children to learn?

Developmental I want the children to use their creativity to be successful in using
Progressions different objects to create art and allow the ideas in their heads to be
Objectives and shown physically on the poster board. I want them to learn that art
Dimension (List 1-2) can be created with materials that are not typically used in art.

Assessment I will observe the student's creativity and ability to create different
designs on paper out of natural materials. I will also ask them
questions about their creation such as “How did you do that?” “Why
did you do that?” “What does this represent?” “How else could you
have made this?” and more. I will also use “I notice...”, “I wonder...”
and “It reminds me of...“ statements to model inquiry and
exploration.

Materials Weather-appropriate clothing

Natural items found outside
EX: Landscape trimmings
Pinecones
Sticks
Branches
Dry leaves
Pine needles
Rocks
Wood chips
A poster board
Creativity!

Procedures Details about what the teacher does, what children do, where they
do it, etc. List the steps in the process. Include DAP teaching
strategies by name.
As the teacher, I will tell the student/s that they have a couple of
minutes to go and gather different natural materials and bring them
back to the meeting place. Then I will explain that we are going ot be
 using those materials to create art! First I will have them use the
materials to create the first letter of their name. They can use any
materials as long as they try their best to shape them together into
the intended letter. Based on how easy or difficult this was, I will
them have them clear off the poster board and begin a new task.
Some of the potential tasks include; Making a pretend house for an
animal, favorite toy, or imaginary creature, like a fairy house.
Spell out your name using the found objects.
Have a competition to see who can build the highest tower.
Create a model of something you’ve seen before, such as an animal, a
person, or a landmark.
After attempting a couple of different tasks, and asking questions
after each one, we will clear the poster for the last time and then
return the materials.

Simplification If students need more support I will give them different objects to try
and create. One way I could simplify this, would be to ask them to
create a letter of the alphabet instead of expecting them to do their
whole name. Another thing I could do instead of telling them to
create an animal, I will tell them which animal to try and create and
give them the qualities and characteristics of that animal to help
spark creativity.

Extension I can make this more challenging by picking out different materials
that they grabbed and requiring them to use all the ones I picked out.
I also could tell them that they are only able to use one type of
material to create their design. I could also give them harder
concepts/ideas that they should create.

Reflection:
This lesson plan was a success! I brought three pieces of paper and used each one per person. I
asked them if they had ever made art before adn after they said yes, I asked them what they
normally use when they create art. They said they use crayons, markers, colored pencils, etc. I
then told them that we were going to be creating art with natural materials! I explained the
task to them and then, with my piece of paper, I showed them an example of what we were
going to be doing and making the letter “E” because both of their names start with E. I had so
much fun exploring the pine grove for different materials with the two students. We gathered
all the materials and put them in piles by our pieces of paper. I then prompted them to create
an animal. They both started creating right away. One student made a bunny while the other
created a fox. To create the fox, she used many pine needles to create fur. I acknowledged her
creativity and helped the other student as she asked me what she should use for her bunny’s
tail. I asked her about the qualities of a bunny tail and we looked at the natural materials that
looked most similar. She then decided on a leaf. Her bunny is picture four. The two sticks are
the ears and the brown leaf toward the left is the tail. After we created and talked out our
animals, I invited them to create a house. This is where the students tried to use their sticks as
pencils to draw the house and I had to remind them that we are using the materials, not as
pencils, but to form different shapes. I started to create my house alongside them adn I pointed
out how I created a roof. One of the students had also created a roof (third picture). She also
added a door and four windows. I can clearly see how she created each of those house
components while I had a more difficult time making the connection between what she had on
her paper and the components of a house. Her house is image number two. I asked many
questions about what she had created. She said that the pine needles were the roof of the house
and then started to talk about how it was Santa’s house. After we talked about Santa and
where the reindeer would live, we cleared our papers one more time and started to do letters
and names. Picture one is Emi’s creation! I was so proud of her and how distinct each letter
was. I could tell that they wanted to go and play after spending about fifteen minutes with this
activity so, I thanked them for all their hard work and let them go play. Overall, this lesson
was very fun and I loved seeing the girl’s creativity. What may look like one thing to me and
you is something totally different to the creator of the art. There is no right or wrong with this
assignment and I loved spending this time with these hilarious, bright students!