Reflecting on the children’s long term investigation of flower’s, the teachers have wondered what effect this has had on the children’s observational tools, fine motor skills, and their ability to stay on task while exploring and representing flowers. A decision was made to revisit the flower curtain that was created to support the Fancy Flower Day party. While looking closely at the curtain, the children noticed a ladybug on one of the flowers. With excitement they expressed a strong interest in adding their own insects as well as flowers to the shower curtain.
The Procedure
For inspiration the children looked over books, images, and other models of flowers and insects. After deciding what they wanted to represent, they worked on practice drawings until they were ready to use one for the Flower Curtain. Next, they traced their drawings onto the curtain, and then the color palette was considered . The final step was to paint their work. This work happened in many layers over a period days.
What skills were practiced?
They developed the concept of revisiting and working in layers.
The children were able to stay on task for longer periods of time.
They were persistent, and when faced with a challenge, did not give up.
They increased their ability to verbally express their ideas to the teachers and their peers.
They were able to look at many perspectives and accept different ideas.
They were able to use drawing tools more successfully.
They were able to identify colors and create color recipes (yellow and red make orange).
-Cindy