Polka Dot Pumpkin Patch

Hi everyone! This month was all about patterns, pumpkins, and polka dots! Since fall is in full swing, we created our own Yayoi Kusama inspired pumpkin patch! 

Yayoi Kusama was born in Japan in 1929. When she was a child, Yayoi had a hallucination of being surrounded by many talking flowers that looked to her like polka dots. This inspired her to include polka dots and other repeating patterns in her work. Her art became very popular, and she earned the nickname “The Princess of Polka Dots”. She was one of the very first people to explore performance art, and became a very influential artist. Yayoi continues to work to this day, experimenting with fashion design and music as well. The whimsical polka dots and patterns of her work are very inviting for the children. There’s just something about the repetitiveness of Yayoi’s art that is very appealing. I think the children found a lot of joy in getting lost in a sea of dots. 

Each classroom received a collage work for their art shelves. The children first chose a vibrantly colored pumpkin. Next, they collected some scrap paper to make the dots with the different sized circle punchers. Once they punched out all the dots they wanted, they glued them to the pumpkin. Each pumpkin brought unique, colorful patterns to the fall season here at Greene Towne!

The kindergarteners learned about pattern making by creating their own patterns on large dots. We talked about what makes a pattern, and how we can use shapes, lines, colors to make up our very own. They used oil pastels and watercolor paints to create their dots to add to our mural. Then, the kindergarten students each made their version of a Yayoi Kusama pumpkin. They created repeating patterns using different shapes for the background, and drew their pumpkins with the pastels. They covered it all with more watercolors and the results were colorful, beautiful, and full of dots!

For our collaborative mural, every classroom decorated a large pumpkin. Students took turns adding dots to the pumpkin with a sponge and paint. Each student also decorated their own dot with more- you guessed it- dots! There were plenty of dot markers and stickers for them to use to make their own unique addition to our mural. And lastly, all of the children were invited to add polka dots to the walls, doors, and front desk in the lobby. They were all very excited to help decorate!

Next month we will be discussing a new artist and art concept- stay tuned!