In celebration of International Dot Day, elementary students across the Sachem Central School District participated in challenging activities that expressed their unique creativity and showcased their artistic abilities.

Dot Day is a worldwide celebration of creativity which arose as a byproduct of the Peter H. Reynolds book, “The Dot.” The book depicts the story of a little girl who is shy about expressing her artistic abilities. Following some encouragement from an art teacher, she becomes inspired by a tiny dot she put on a piece of paper and from that dot creates multiple works of art.

At Lynwood Avenue Elementary School, first grade students in Christine Breslin’s class watched a video of “The Dot” author creating his own drawing from a dot and then used his creation as inspiration for their own works of art. Student drawings included butterflies, people, flowers and animals. Second grade students in Christal Satterfield’s class began their activity by reading the popular book together. Continuing the activity, students made their own colorful drawings on coffee filters, representing each student’s individual artistic vision, which were then combined into one large collective masterpiece. Fifth grade students in Mary Scoll’s class crafted a buddy dot quilt by creating unique dot-inspired drawings on a paper circle, cutting them in half and then combining them with a partner’s to form a whole circle. 

In another lesson, second grade students in Tara Erb’s class inspired their classmates’ creativity by offering encouraging words to each other. In the activity, students used coffee filters as their canvases to paint colorful designs that then were dipped in water to allow the vibrant colors to run together.  

As the day continued, Dot Day activities throughout the district celebrated creativity, and each emphasized the importance of embracing individuality.