The students at Harker Preschool used Grandparents’ Day as a special occasion to hold their very first art show. Along with works made in the art studio throughout the school year, grandparents were the first to view a collection of canvas paintings that the preschoolers completed as part of an end-of-the-year art concepts review.
Grandparents’ Day, held each May, is already a long-standing tradition at Harker’s lower school. Now, preschoolers have joined in the tradition, welcoming their grandparents, special adult friends or “adoptive” grandparents-for-the-day to visit the school for a morning of exploration and play, including a captivating stop at the art exhibit.
“Grandparents’ Day was a huge hit! The event served as an opportunity for our fabulous teachers and specialists to showcase their work from this year and the strong bonds that they have developed with the preschoolers,” said Alexandria Kerekez, Harker Preschool’s art specialist.
Kerekez added that near the event’s gallery, which was “filled to the brim with artwork,” there was a table reserved for children to join her in sharing bead-making techniques with their grandparents. Participants also had the opportunity to join the preschool’s music and movement teacher in a song. Meanwhile, the school’s STEM specialist opened up the farm for the children to enjoy delicious edible plants and play with snuggly bunnies.
According to Kerekez, preschoolers of all ages are regularly invited into the art studio to paint, work with clay, hone their pencil skills and learn to observe the world around them while working in a variety of media. The school’s outdoor art area allows for further creative expression, where everyday things such as the sun, water and leaves can become part of a project.
Making ceramics is a favorite art activity for 4-year-old Ameera Ramzan, who, earlier in the year, had worked on making a “pinch pot.” Sounding very much like an art teacher herself, she proudly explained that to create the pot you “first roll the ball … and then you pinch it!”
Back in January and February, Kerekez hung a more informal exhibit in a room just off the preschool lobby called “The Faces of Harker Preschool.” Included in that self-portrait display were works by all of the preschool’s children – from the Pebble, Clover, Acorn and Feather cottages to the transitional kindergarten crew.
That exhibit and the Grandparents’ Day art show were so successful that Kerekez said she hopes to make them annual events.