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BestStart Tawa South Plunket Appeal
Here at BestStart, we annually host a Plunket appeal week to support this wonderful cause. We recently celebrated our appeal week in March, and as a center, we organized an art auction, inviting our families to contribute a small donation (koha) to purchase their child's artwork. Here's a glimpse into what the infants and toddlers in our under-2 room created.
Initial Art: Sam guided the children in this activity. Using bubble wrap and a stencil, each child covered the bubble wrap with paint and then used their hands to spread and move the paint across it. Sam then placed the child's initial on a piece of paper and placed the painted bubble wrap on top, transferring the paint and texture onto the paper. After removing the stencil, Sam outlined each initial with a sharpie.
Bird Art: Silky led this project. She painted each child's right foot and pressed it onto the paper to create the bird's body. Then, using different colors of paint on the children's hands, she helped them create the bird's wings. After forming the base of the bird, Silky painted branches, leaves, and other features to complete each bird individually.
Butterfly Art: I, Hannah, supervised this activity. I provided the children with a butterfly template drawn in white crayon on each piece of paper. Then, each child was given spray bottles filled with red, blue, and purple dye. They sprayed the dye onto the paper, and using sponge brushes or their hands, they spread the dye around the page to reveal their butterfly. Once the butterfly was visible and the dye dried, the children used gold paint to decorate the wings. I followed up by outlining the butterflies to enhance their appearance.
Throughout the creation of these artworks, the children developed various skills such as math, color theory, fine and gross motor skills, communication, hand-eye coordination, and sensory awareness. They also learned social skills like turn-taking. Overall, it was an incredible event, and we were fortunate to raise funds for such an essential cause in our community.