Wee Builders ClubFor ages 3-5years

National Galleries Scotland are keen to get pre-school children and their grown-ups excited about art.

You are invited to book a nursery group visit to the Wee Builders Club, an outdoor building site for trying out ideas and playing with materials – a place where young children and their grown-ups can play creatively and build big.

Book now to visit:

The Scottish National Gallery (September 2017 onwards) and /or

The Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (1st July- 22 October 2017)

Maximum 10 children per group

Contact education@nationalgalleries.org / Liz 0131 624 6547

The Lamp of Sacrifice, 286 Places of Worship, Edinburgh 2004 by Nathan Coley

At the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, (Modern One and Two) 73 Belford Rd, Edinburgh EH4 3DR

An outdoor ‘building site’ for trying out ideas and playing with materials - a place where young children and their grown-ups can play creatively and build big.

Inspired by Nathan Coley’s cardboard buildings, children will create cities, dens and structures of their own, on the lawn outside the gallery.

Led by gallery freelancers, or self-guided nursery staff.

Note: There are also drop-in family sessions on 16 July and 13 August 2017, noon-4pm. All welcome.

At the Scottish National Gallery, The Mound, Edinburgh EH2 2EL

Moving from outdoor (the Mound precinct and 3D map of the city centre) to indoor learning in front of paintings of buildings.

Block play inspired by the architecture of the gallery & paintings of buildings.

Led by gallery freelancers, or self-guided nursery staff.

WHAT WILL HAPPEN WHEN WE VISIT THE SCOTTISH NATIONAL GALLERY?

Learning outcomes: creativity skills (curiosity, imagination, open-minded, problem solving)

Welcome Meet inside Gardens entrance or on the Mound at the map

Outside: (weather & crowds permitting) at the 3D map on the Mound.

Look at the gallery exteriors eg pillars (check they know the word pillar?)

Come in via Gardens entrance (if before 10am). Or via National Gallery front entrance from 10am.

Where are we?

Inside:

What are the people doing?What art have you seen before?Do you make art? What can we do in a gallery?Are they touching? Running? Eating or drinking? Why not?

Wander with purpose

On route to the first painting, let’s look and see what’s inside the gallery. What’s the most exciting / unusual thing?

Tell us what you found

Look at artwork together

Things to touch: eg. canvas, picture frames, view finders, telescopes, brushes, tubes of paint, old palette (introduce different things in front of different works)

On gallery main floor, look at these 3 paintings (very short time at each)

Buildings in Edinburgh

Buildings in Verona

Buildings in Rome

What can you see?Look for shapes / artist signature / colours from the palette

Make your own art

Adult role: take photos on our cameras : record check-list observations

Children build with wooden mini blocks. Open, undirected play

Check out what everybody else has made

WHAT WILL HAPPEN WHEN WE VISIT THE SCOTTISH NATIONAL GALLERY of MODERN ART?

Please bring waterproofs and be prepared to work outdoors, whatever the weather!

Learning outcomes: creativity skills (curiosity, imagination, open-minded, problem solving)

Welcome

Meet at entrance to MOD 1. Introductions, hellos, name badges (builder themed?), friendly housekeeping.

Today we’re going to be builders. Do you like building things? Shall we look at some buildings first, before we build our own?

Look at artwork together

Look at and discuss Nathan Coley's 'Lamp of Sacrifice' inside MOD1.

Make sure children have something in their hands to avoid temptation to touch eg piece of card

What are these?What are they made from? How do you think they were made?What tools do you think were used?What kind of buildings?How many do you think there are?

Wander with purpose

Back outside

Look at the building / the Bothy / artworks

Look at Master of the Universe – what’s he doing? Discuss how Nathan Coley did a lot of measuring when making his cardboard buildings.

What can we find to measure? Can we measure ourselves? Each other? Mum? Dad? Granny? Baby sister? What about that tree? What about round the tree? What can we use to measure? Our hands / feet / tape

Go on a walk measuring things. Include measuring a sculpture in the grounds (eg 'Conversation with Magic Stones')

Builders need protective clothing and the right tools. Give everybody high vis and a measuring tape, ball of string. Discuss what the tools are.

Make your own art

Culminate walk at back of MOD1 lawn (behind Bothy) or on MOD2 lawn.There will be a 'construction site' for us to work in. This is an area that has the feeling of a construction site, ie: traffic cones, bricks, hazard tape, fluorescent string etc

We are going to build our own sculptures in the construction site. Show the group what materials are available. In collaboration with the wee builders, demonstrate simple building techniques with the available materials, including toolbox tools.

Den Building / making time. Grown ups to help (eg take photos / ask questions / note observations) but let wee builders lead on what they want to make.

Session culminates with 'exhibition' in the construction site, everybody looking at each others work.

Materials:high vis for each wee builderstool box for each wee builder

Den making materials: egTarpaulinPolytheneSticksFabric Ready made ‘frames’ that fabric can be draped over – different sizesBig Plastic tubes / carpet tubes?Gaffa tape (limit the amount of joining and fixing) peeled off adults legs as requiredBoxes – different shapes and sizesCorrugated sheets

Loose parts eg tyres tbc?