Building Imaginative Athletes
With a dash of creativity, curiosity, and humor, we managed to make the most of what we have indoors to grasp the idea of what the sport artistic swimming is all about.
Lap Pool Artwork
Athletes often swim in lap pools which are longer in length than the usual leisurely pool.
Yesterday’s group artwork which we worked on using blue colored crayons was continued earlier this morning. To add texture, we ripped different shades of blue colored cellophane and tissue paper which we pasted on the existing artwork. Together with Goh San and Liezel, they encouraged us to create lines and swirls using these strips of paper to mimic the waves in the water. Blue and silvered colored sequins were also available for us to align and make patterns. These tiny objects kept our fingers busy as it proved to be an interesting challenge to get a hold of it. A few of us opted to strongly press our fingers onto the sequin for it to “stick” while others used their palms to “sweep” the sequins towards the area where they wanted it to be on the artwork.
Finger Play Obstacles
Our fingers are a vital part of how we learn. With our fingers, we can feel, touch, and connect. A table was specially prepared for us to display our ideas with the use of these objects which our fingers can work with. Little connecting cubes kept both our fingers and minds busy on finding ways to put together these pieces. Neon colored spiky rollers were either worn as rings or used to give our palms a tingling feeling. Plastic balloons that were once used to protect a fragile delivery provided us a opportunity to show our strength by finding ways on how to pop it. A few of us tried using our palms while others tried squeezing the balloons tightly.
Our “Circle” Pool
Towards the inner of the room, our eyes widened when we saw a makeshift pool made out of blue colored beams and cloth. It’s interesting how some of us instinctively dived in to it! Our teachers used a special cloth that made it quite challenging for us to balance when we step on it… this was to help us understand that when around a pool or wet area, the floors can be slippery so we have to be extra cautious when moving. Colored translucent cube blocks were also included in our “pool” for us to play with. A couple of us nicely asked our teachers if we could play with Lego cars which we drove around the pool, on top of the beams. While driving, the words “up”, “down”, “fast”, “stop” and “slow” were often heard as the beams provided an uphill and downhill driving experience.
After separating the beams to be packed away, K had the idea of lining up the beams vertically. He then dived in and laid on top of it and said that he was swimming! Wow! The beams indeed looked like waves! K then placed the beams on top of his head like he was wearing a pirate’s cap. We all loved his awesome new ways to play with the beams which kept us occupied for another 20 minutes or so.
Circle Time
Each of us was given an egg shaker to use and do various actions with. We shook it gently and excitedly… taking notice of the volume of the sound it made. Throwing it up in the air and catching it with both our hands while enclosed in a circle turned to be an opportunity for us to increase awareness of how we throw and move around so that we don’t bump into each other. Hiding it underneath our shirts and inside our pants brought about a lot of giggles too!
Using the song “Song to the Mountains” by Susie and Phil Splitter, we tried our hand in doing synchronized swimming by at least trying to all lie down on our backs and do a round formation. It turned out to be quite a challenge task for us little Buds as we preferred to have our own space when lying down and listening to the song.
The sky is gloomy yet we took advantage of the cool weather to enjoy the outdoors. We used balls and a hula hoop to help us work on our balance and eye-hand-foot coordination.
We hope you all had a lovely day.
Love,
Buds Class Children