Feature of the Month- March! – The Pencil Grip, Inc.
Feature of the Month- March!

Feature of the Month- March!

Feature of the Month- March!

March Feature of the Month!
We are so excited to learn a little more about our featured Brand Ambassador @ms.recinos. Valeria is a kindergarten teacher that does a great job at keeping her students engaged in the classroom. Valeria creates TikToks of fun crafts and lessons!
 
Follow: @ms.recinos
 

Q: Tell us a little about yourself! What is the inspiration behind your Instagram page?

I'm in my 6th year of teaching and am currently teaching Kindergarten in Northern California! Before becoming a public school teacher, I used to work for a non-profit after school program at the middle school level while I was in school to get my Bachelor's and Master's degrees, as well as my Multiple Subject teaching credential. Although I'm no "expert", I have accumulated about 10+ years of experience from the several schools I worked at, so I decided to create a Teacher Instagram account to further that learning - and hopefully help a few other teachers (and future teachers) along the way! 

Q: We have loved seeing your page grow, and all the amazing projects and activities you share, and we learn so much as you incorporate reusable supplies into art! What inspired you to want to be a Brand Ambassador?

Being able to share fun and exciting resources that allow for creativity in the classroom has been the most exciting thing about becoming a Brand Ambassador. Often times, trying to incorporate art into the classroom can be a bit overwhelming, especially if time and resources are limited, but I've found that products like the Kwik Stix make the process so much easier - why wouldn't I want to share this with other teachers?!
 

Q: What is your favorite product of ours that you have tried so far?  Can you tell us more about why you love this product, and if you have any tips or tricks when using it or favorite techniques? Is there anything in particular that has helped you blend creativity, play, and learning together with your projects?

My go-to product in our classroom is definitely the Kwik Stix! When you teach Kindergarten, the idea of being the only adult in a room with liquid paint and 20+ tiny humans is terrifying - but of course, kids love paint! Getting to use paint in a way that not only minimizes mess, but dries quickly, has been a game-changer and makes art (and the clean up) a lot less scary! One little trick that my students like to do now is using the metallic Kwik Stix over the solid colors, so there's a bold, shimerry result! The students also work on their fine motor skills every time they're using the Kwik Stix, which is an added bonus! 
 

Q: We love that you incorporate photos of your activities on your page! What is one of your favorite projects you have created using our products? There have been so many great posts you have made, and we want to know which stands out to you! 

In December we read a couple of different versions of the Gingerbread Man story and I think one of my favorite projects we've done has to be the gingerbread houses the students made. They used brown paper bags to create the shape of their house and the Kwik Stix to decorate the doors, windows, etc. So many of my students were excited about how the white Kwik Stix looked like REAL icing on their gingerbread houses! We then put up all of their houses around the classroom, turning it into a mini gingerbread village as part of our decorations for December.  

Q: What’s next for you? Do you have any exciting crafts or activities planned for the Spring months ahead?!

Every season the students have created a tree using the outline of their hand, and paint for the leaves on that tree (or lack of leaves in the winter). For spring, we're doing the same project again but with cherry blossoms! It'll be fun to display all three projects together at Open House because families get to see the progression of their students' work (and hand size!) change over the different seasons.

 

Check out these amazing projects by @ms.recinos