A new Atelierista for 1st Place
A warm welcome to Illaria Capponi who has joined 1st Place as our new Atelierista. Based at 1st Place at Cambridge House, Illaria is an experienced artist and practitioner in EYFS settings, and has been working across different nurseries for the past 4 years. An Italian artist and teacher, Ilaria’s passion for art started at an early age and has continued throughout her life (she studied fine art at school and has a degree in Art and Design). As part of her new role at 1st Place, Illaria will be nurturing our children’s imagination and creativity, and training members of staff across our 3 nurseries to do the same.
What is an atelierista?
Traditionally, an atelierista works alongside teachers and practitioners, helping them to collect and design creative ideas and activities for the children. Generally working with a small group, the atelierista helps to develop the children’s communication skills and social interaction.
A provocative researcher, the atelierista facilitates the interaction between children and materials. In the atelier (a studio), this interaction comes alive. Problems become projects to work on and materials become an excuse for learning about the world. There is no way to predict what will happen when the children and materials meet in the studio! As the children explore the various resources in the atelier, the atelierista encourages them to talk about the materials, nurturing their knowledge and problem-solving skills, and promoting individual and team work. Through their questioning, imagination and creativity, the children develop social, physical and emotional skills.
Atelierista projects at 1st Place
Ilaria has been working on a number of different projects with our children at 1st Place at Cambridge House. Using different natural materials including leaves, pine cones and sticks, our children have been decorating a frame which will take pride of place in one of our nursery rooms. They have also been exploring salt dough and other natural materials to make decorations, and discovering the shape of their hands using the tracing technique. Our babies have been delving into the meaning ‘hiding’ with books, objects and little toy animals. They have absolutely loved this sensory activity!
Other explorations in the studio include looking at:
Impermanence
Who discovered the first fire?
Light and transparency - What happens when lights and fabrics work together?
Materials have a voice – listen! What sounds do materials make alone or when used together?
Night and day
Veggie art with sensory and natural paints
We cannot wait to share our children’s discoveries. Watch this space to find out more!