The worst day in Art ever...
I should have written about this amazing experience Monday....but I was exhausted and needed time to process my day. It's Wednesday and I think I am ready to talk about it.
Last Sunday I spent about three hours preparing for Monday's Art lessons. I had many different projects going on with the kids so I had to make sure I was organized. About an hour and half of this time was spent making "clay" for the kindergarteners (flour, salt, alum & water mixture). Their project was to make a Christmas tree ornament. I got the recipe from an art book I have and followed the directions very carefully. I measured everything because I knew that I was basically making dough and if the dough had too much of anything it was not going to work. The first batch turned out great. I made my own little Christmas tree ornament so I would have an example to show the kids. So far, so good.
I counted out the children and made sure each one would have their own special baggie of clay. I bought reusable covers for the tables to ensure an element of cleanliness. I bought wax paper so each little ornament could be handled very carefully while I transported them home for baking. I even used food coloring to color the clay so the kids could have their ornaments back the week before Christmas (this saved them the job of painting them after they were baked). I thought of everything and then some.
So......after a long day of 7 different projects with all of the other kids - it came time for the Kindergarteners...
They come in to my room so quiet...their teacher reminds them they should have bubbles in their mouths. They are eager to find out what I have in store for them. Their anticipation has texture. I pull out the little baggie of clay and show them how to make a Christmas tree. They are beside themselves with joy....and ready to pounce on their little baggies. I send them to their tables and they start to work. For about 15 seconds all is well....and then all hell breaks loose.
Only two kids (out of 16) had "clay" all the rest had the yuckiest, stickiest, green dough I had ever seen. Something went terribly wrong. The noise level began to grow. Kids were "ewwing" and squealing because they could not get it off their hands. I went over to one kid who refused to even touch it. I decided to show him that we could make it work and ended up with green, sticky dough all over my hands. I saw a couple of kids flinging, yes, flinging it across the room, trying to get it off of their hands. And that's when I had my moment......I started to laugh.
OK, sidenote - there was a time in my life when something like this would have sent me so over the edge it is not even funny....I am happy to report I made some weak lemonade out of these lemons and laughed instead of cried.
I realized very quickly that the lesson was not working. Unfortunately the bathroom closest to us had no paper towels and I had already had issues with sending the kids to the upstairs bathroom with three other classes. I lined the panicked 5 year-olds up and told them to "TOUCH NOTHING." We walked up to the bathrooms and two by two I had the kids wash their hands. I stood outside the bathroom with my sticky, green hands and attempted to direct the chaos. Sadly, their teacher was just coming out of the bathroom when we were coming in. Her tiny, thirty minute break was all but ruined.
When I finally went into the bathroom to wash my own hands one of the little girls in my class was finishing up. She smiled at me and said, "This was the worst day in Art ever, Mrs. Knight!"
Last Sunday I spent about three hours preparing for Monday's Art lessons. I had many different projects going on with the kids so I had to make sure I was organized. About an hour and half of this time was spent making "clay" for the kindergarteners (flour, salt, alum & water mixture). Their project was to make a Christmas tree ornament. I got the recipe from an art book I have and followed the directions very carefully. I measured everything because I knew that I was basically making dough and if the dough had too much of anything it was not going to work. The first batch turned out great. I made my own little Christmas tree ornament so I would have an example to show the kids. So far, so good.
I counted out the children and made sure each one would have their own special baggie of clay. I bought reusable covers for the tables to ensure an element of cleanliness. I bought wax paper so each little ornament could be handled very carefully while I transported them home for baking. I even used food coloring to color the clay so the kids could have their ornaments back the week before Christmas (this saved them the job of painting them after they were baked). I thought of everything and then some.
So......after a long day of 7 different projects with all of the other kids - it came time for the Kindergarteners...
They come in to my room so quiet...their teacher reminds them they should have bubbles in their mouths. They are eager to find out what I have in store for them. Their anticipation has texture. I pull out the little baggie of clay and show them how to make a Christmas tree. They are beside themselves with joy....and ready to pounce on their little baggies. I send them to their tables and they start to work. For about 15 seconds all is well....and then all hell breaks loose.
Only two kids (out of 16) had "clay" all the rest had the yuckiest, stickiest, green dough I had ever seen. Something went terribly wrong. The noise level began to grow. Kids were "ewwing" and squealing because they could not get it off their hands. I went over to one kid who refused to even touch it. I decided to show him that we could make it work and ended up with green, sticky dough all over my hands. I saw a couple of kids flinging, yes, flinging it across the room, trying to get it off of their hands. And that's when I had my moment......I started to laugh.
OK, sidenote - there was a time in my life when something like this would have sent me so over the edge it is not even funny....I am happy to report I made some weak lemonade out of these lemons and laughed instead of cried.
I realized very quickly that the lesson was not working. Unfortunately the bathroom closest to us had no paper towels and I had already had issues with sending the kids to the upstairs bathroom with three other classes. I lined the panicked 5 year-olds up and told them to "TOUCH NOTHING." We walked up to the bathrooms and two by two I had the kids wash their hands. I stood outside the bathroom with my sticky, green hands and attempted to direct the chaos. Sadly, their teacher was just coming out of the bathroom when we were coming in. Her tiny, thirty minute break was all but ruined.
When I finally went into the bathroom to wash my own hands one of the little girls in my class was finishing up. She smiled at me and said, "This was the worst day in Art ever, Mrs. Knight!"
Comments
I am happy you were able to see the humor in it, cause it really is funny!