The Mo Willems’ Gerald and Piggie book, A Big Guy Took My Ball, is a favorite of the West Wing children. During a clay exploration, I referred to this story in order to engage the group in a figure investigation in the exploration space.
Zelda: Look at this! (Holding up a clay coil)
Teacher Jess: It reminds me of Gerald’s trunk. (referencing the book just read at afternoon circle.)
MJ (holding a coil and referring to another character in the story): I have a big one! A big friend! And I’m gonna snap it.
Teacher Jess: I wonder how we could create a head for that trunk…
Juliette: Well, there are lots of round things in body parts.
MJ: Oh yeah!
This conversation and clay exploration included more than just reminiscing about meaningful characters from a favorite book. Juliette’s observation that there are “round things in body parts” offered the group an invitation to explore the “parts” that make up the “whole.” The ability to recognize the shapes that inherently make up our world and the characters within it will continue to strengthen figure study work in and across all the materials available in the environment. – Teacher Jess