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GAZETTEER Vol. 5 June 2020

Hi Trailblazers. This week we’re exploring how we express ourselves through our clothes, hairstyles and accessories, and thinking about why we wear what we wear. Time to strike a pose!

ACTIVITY #1 – DRESS TO IMPRESS

Sometimes our clothes are all about style and self expression, sometimes they’re about function. Let’s explore an outfit which might not be practical but definitely looks cool!

DISCOVER

Dutch fashion designer Iris van Herpen uses nature to inspire her wild runway outfits. This plastic dress was 3D-printed. What do you think this skeleton dress would be like to wear? 

CREATE

Time to make your own fashion show outfit. Restyle a bunch of your own clothes to look like a completely new outfit. You can do this by combining different pieces in a new way: folding, twisting and tucking them or go crazy and wear them on a different part of your body! When you’re creating your outfit make sure you think about colour, pattern and texture.

ACTIVITY #2 – HAIR LOVE

Our hair can be a very personal thing, and it can tell different stories about us throughout our lives. It’s also a great way to express yourself!

In Hair Love, Zuri’s hair can do all that and more thanks to her beautiful natural curls. Watch a read along of Hair Love here!

DISCOVER

There are lots of great hairstyles throughout the ROM galleries, but did you know you can also find examples of supernatural magical hair? 

One example of supernatural hair you can find in the Gallery of Greece is Medusa, whose hair was made of snakes and could turn people to stone. In the Daphne Cockwell Gallery dedicated to First Peoples art & culture, you can find a carved narwhal tusk showing Sedna, or Nuliajuk, mother of the sea animals, whose hair could catch them up when she was angry and leave hunters’ nets empty.

CREATE

1. Find a background for your artwork. If you’re going to be hanging it up, you will want to use cardstock or cardboard. If you’re capturing it in a photo, your background can be anything you like. 
2. For a fun and colourful background, add a few drops of food colouring to a small amount of bubble solution. In an outdoor space, grab a friend or an adult to take turns blowing colourful bubbles and catching them on your background. 
3. Take a picture of yourself and cut it out. Then place your picture on your background. 
4. Find your magical hair. This can be yarn, string, tissue paper, fabric, or you can get creative with things you find outside! 
5. Arrange your magical hair around your photo until it covers your natural hair – or let your natural hair show and add on to it, whichever you prefer! Add twists, turns, and gravity-defying stunts. 
6. Now add small objects to your hair that are important to you and help to tell the story of who you are. 
7. If you’re planning to hang up this art, glue everything in place once you’re happy with how it looks. 
8. If you usually choose to cover your hair, remember that you can choose that for your art, too. This art is about things that matter to you! 

ACTIVITY #3 – FORM MEETS FUNCTION

DISCOVER

This oni Samurai helmet from Japan is quite the accessory! Oni is the word for an ogre. In Japanese mythology the oni was part scary, part protective: so wearing it was a perfect way for a warrior to intimidate their enemies.  

CREATE

Now it’s your turn to make something cool-looking but functional. Find a bike or sports helmet and use household materials like foil, paper, cardboard and tape to turn it into an awesome piece of armour. If you don’t have a helmet start with a sports cap. 

SHARE

We want to see what you create! Take a picture of your efforts and ask an adult to share it on social media. You can tag us @ROMToronto and use #ROMTrailblazers

You got style Trailblazers! Show it off,

Amanda and Christian

Do the Skittles science experiment with Paulette!

You will need

• 1 package of Skittles
• 1/4 cup warm water
• white plate

Credit/instructions KidSpot.Com

Magic Milk science experiment

Supplies

• Milk (Must be either Whole or 2%)
• Food Coloring. The more colors the better
• Dish Soap
• Shallow Dish or Bowl

Instructions

Step 1 – Pour some milk into a shallow dish or bowl until the milk covers the bottom.

Step 2 – Add some drops of food coloring on the milk. You can use a variety of colors, just be sure to add 3-4 drops of each color.

Step 3 – Add a drop of dish soap into the center of the milk

Step 4 – Watch in amazement as the colors dances across the surface of the milk

How Does the Magic Rainbow Milk Science Experiment Work?

The dish soap causes the fat and the water in the milk to separate and spread apart. The result is the dancing motion of the food coloring in the milk. Whole Milk and 2% Milk contain more fat than other milk, so that is why it is important to use one of those kinds of milk for the experiment.

Sort and Count with Bottles!

Use old bottles and pom poms for simple counting and sorting maths games and motor skills fun! With lots of ways to play and learn, these are a great addition to the maths area at home or school.

What they are learning while they play:

Maths: recognizing numerals, counting using 1:1 correspondence, sorting and matching by colour, counting up to 10 and beyond

Motor skills: using control and precision to pick up and drop small materials, pincer grasp, hand/eye co-ordination

Colour Cubes Gross Motor Game
Get your kids moving!

Here are some ideas of what you could put on your “action” cube.  Choose some that are appropriate for your child.  You could even make more than one cube and switch it up during the game!

• march
• run
• skip
• walk backward

Credit/Instructions: Paper and Glue

How to Make Milk Paint for Rainbow Toast

Supplies:

• milk
• food coloring
• paint brushes
• bread (white works best – it’s the one time of year we buy white bread)

Rainbow Necklace with Beads

Materials

• beads in a variety of colours
• Black plastic lacing (black pipe cleaners are easier to use. Make bracelets instead!
• Scissors