This week we explored texture and Monet’s Haystacks. It’s not my favorite series of Monet paintings, but we had fun with it in preschool from creating textured haystacks art, textured letters and looking for farm animals hiding in the hay. Mother Goose Time’s Art Studio has been exciting this summer. See the end of this post for more Art Studio activities.

Monet’s Haystacks

This project may not “look like much” when it’s complete, but I appreciated the process of the Haystacks Invitation to Create.

First, we looked at the Inspiration Photo. We talked about this being another picture by Monet. Does anyone know we’re looking at? We don’t see haystacks like this anymore. Farmers around here bale the hay. What is hay anyway?

Then we talked about how we could make a haystack picture. Mother Goose Time provided brown crinkle paper so everyone checked that out.

I said, if I were making a haystack project, I would draw a haystack shape on my brown paper like this, and drew a shape with a curved top and flat bottom.

Then we can cut out the haystacks, glue them on the paper and add the crinkle paper on top.

Consider the planning that took place, then the drawing with a pencil, cutting, gluing and adding the texture.

I don’t want to guide the art necessarily, I just know my group. It was likely my group would lose interest and move on too quickly before creating anything if I didn’t present it the way I did.

So that’s the direction most took. One 5-year-old drew a picture and told a story about the haystacks, which I thought was creative!

Haystacks textured artwork:

Textured Letters

There was lots of interest in the Textured Letters Small Group Literacy activity. First, we chose an alphabet card.

Then the child assembled the letter shown on the alphabet card with colored letter parts.

Then using a crayon, they rubbed it over the letter to transfer it to paper.

Some needed help holding down the paper. I was surprised the letter parts didn’t move as much as I expected.

They did a great job creating textured letters!

What a great hands-on way to explore letters!

Hiding in Hay

Mother Goose Time takes a simple Farm Animal Matching Game to another level by adding a sensory element.

We put hay, which our rabbit eats, into a plastic bin. Then we hide one set of the matching cards in the tub.

The other set of animal cards is arranged face-up on the table.

The kids loved taking turns looking for card matches in the hay!

The hay has texture, smells, well, like hay! Plus it was something different, that really drew their attention.

I explained that this is what hay is, that’s shown in Monet’s Haystacks painting.

Some of these animals also eat hay. Which ones?

Kids always love activities that are a little messy but this one wasn’t too bad.

It would have been great for outdoors but it’s been pretty hot here this week.

What other ways could we play this game? One of the 5-year-olds tried to match the cards with his eyes closed. Another version was don’t get the rooster! If you draw the rooster, it’s someone else’s turn.

That wraps up Monet’s Haystacks activities!

More Art Studio

• Self-Portrait Center
• Monet’s Flowers
• Hosting a Preschool Art Show
• Preschool Art Study: Painting Sunflowers
• Starry Night Sensory Play
• Girl with a Pearl Earring
• Magic Letters Watercolor Painting Literacy Activity
• Cardboard Murals
• Community Collage

Two of my favorite things about Mother Goose Time are the Forest Friends books and the Community Challenges in each lesson. Our community collage wasn’t actually a lesson plan suggestion but it was inspired by the Forest Friends book called A Community Collage A Story About Creativity.

Community Collage

A Community Collage is a story about creativity. Fox, one of our favorite characters, is upset because he can’t draw a tree. He crumples up many pieces of paper before giving up.

Racoon comes along with a piece of cardboard and explains that art comes in many forms. He suggested using the paper to make a collage.

The book details the steps for making a simple collage. I love that the characters use the materials they have on hand, which includes nature items.

In the end, they actually created a tree! Beautiful!

Making a Community Collage

We started with a piece of cardboard too. It was leftover from our Cardboard Murals. I gathered some materials from the art cabinet and cart for us to get started with. We also used the colored letter part pieces from the Haystack lesson.

Everyone took turns gluing materials on the collage.

Later in the day, my older group who no longer naps went outdoors and gathered some nature items to add to our collage. We agreed that leaves, flowers, and sticks add so much to art!

One of the kids decided to go look for some more feathers and found a few.

Look at our beautiful community collage! As soon as it fully dries, we’re going to put it on display in our room.

All ages can participate in making a collage. Some of the little ones squeezed on a lot of glue and the older ones helped fill in the spaces.

I love that Mother Goose Time offers ideas for working on community projects. It promotes teamwork and consideration of others. And there’s such a feeling of pride when it’s complete!

More Art Studio

• Self-Portrait Center
• Monet’s Flowers
• Hosting a Preschool Art Show
• Preschool Art Study: Painting Sunflowers
• Starry Night Sensory Play
• Girl with a Pearl Earring
• Magic Letters Watercolor Painting Literacy Activity
• Cardboard Murals