Looking at two vials of blue colored water, the children started a dialogue on what names to give them:
Aiden: This can be called Sky.
Teacher Cindy: You called this one Sky, too.
Aiden: That can be Night Sky.
Isla: And this Daytime Sky.
We later noticed another vial of blue.
Cindy: Look. There is a third vial of blue.
Josephine: Water.
Everly: How about The Moon?
The children brought this information back to the larger group at reflection meeting and a plan was made to continue thinking about names. Over the course of a few days, the recipes for these colors grew from three to over twenty. When we reconvened, the group reflected back on their previous conversation and made an agreement to divide blue colors into two groups: Sky and Water.
We brought the Sky collection over to the light table. The children recalled the idea of day sky and night sky and through collective thinking, they began to use the color blue as a way to organize the colors around daily routines.
Aiden: This one is half morning.
Cindy: Half morning? Before morning or after morning?
Aiden: It’s noon. So this is when it’s lunch time.
Josephine: And this one can be Circle Time.
sky color names from NSW Documentation on Vimeo. Password is venice1987
In addition to creating the following names, the children organized them in sequential order from Sunrise to Before Morning and used wire to create a display.
The names include: Sunrise, Good Morning, Circle Time, Noon – Lunchtime, Nap, Snack, Home Time, Bath Time, Dark at Night, Before Morning
As teachers, we are intrigued with how the children made connections with color and their daily life experiences. They related blue to the sky which lead them to think of times of day and then to what similarities they share during those times. Now we wonder how they will begin sorting and classifying the very large and growing array of color creations.
