Casa Maria's Creative Learning Zone

10/06/2026

10/05/2026

Joy doesn’t always need an invitation. Sometimes it simply appears when a child is completely absorbed in what they’re creating. ❤️

10/02/2026

My co-presenter, Mary, and I are getting everything ready for tomorrow’s conference at Ivy Tech Bloomington!

We’re excited to share a brand-new presentation, Repurposed Possibilities: Process Art & Wonder, focused on using children’s books as a starting point for process art and STEAM experiences.

See you there!

10/02/2026

My co-presenter, Mary, and I are getting everything ready for our presentation at Ivy Tech Bloomington tomorrow!

We’re excited to share a brand-new presentation, Repurposed Possibilities: Process Art & Wonder, focused on using children’s books as a starting point for process art and STEAM experiences.

See you there!

10/02/2026

Reposting

🎃 Spooky Paper Plate Faces! 👻
A fun Halloween process art invitation using paper plates and paint. A simple setup for creating some delightfully spooky faces!

09/30/2026

Painting Dollar Tree Pumpkins 🎃🎨

Today, Dollar Tree pumpkins became our canvas! The children chose their own colors and added paint directly to the pumpkins, watching it drip, overlap, and create unexpected patterns.

Simple materials. Open-ended choices. Same invitation. Different results.

09/30/2026

ART IN MOTION 🎨
Large muscle art gives children the freedom to move while they create.

With a large piece of butcher paper, tempera paint, and rolling pins, painting becomes a whole-body experience. Children push, pull, roll, reach, press, and change direction as they move color across the paper.

There is so much learning happening within the movement.

Vocabulary: roll • push • pull • press • forward • backward • fast • slow • pressure • force • motion • direction • texture • mix • blend • overlap

STEAM: Children explore science through force, motion, pressure, and color mixing; technology by using a rolling pin as a tool; engineering as they experiment and adjust their movements; art through color, movement, and mark-making; and math through direction, distance, spatial relationships, and comparison.

Indiana Early Learning Standards: This experience supports Creative Arts (CA3.1), Physical Health & Growth (PHG3.1), Science (SC1.1, SC1.2 & SC5.1), Mathematics (M4.1), Language & Literacy (ELA1.2 & ELA1.3), and Approaches to Play & Learning (APL1.2, APL2.1 & APL3.1).

No need to sit still to create art.

Sometimes art is meant to MOVE.

09/24/2026

It’s all about compartments! 🩷💜💙💚❤️
Building little spaces, connecting them together, and deciding what belongs inside. So much thinking happens while they build.

09/23/2026

Early childhood is where Indiana’s future begins.

What we invest in today shapes tomorrow.