During the month of August, the children explored the East Wing Communication Area and its array of materials to use to express ideas, as well as to explore and master the use of constructive tools.
Habitually, the children used materials with adhesives to add decorations to their letters to friends and families. As the materials became more familiar they began to be used in compositions as layers in their drawings. For example, wiggle eyes were added to faces and silk flowers were added to drawings of flowers. However, over the month we noticed that the children had not used many of the materials that were not clearly defined such as: pipe cleaners, leaves, feathers, sequins, or buttons, and we began to wonder why such a rich selection of open-ended materials were not being included in the children’s work.
We asked ourselves: Are the materials not interesting or are the children stuck and unsure where to began? The teachers met and made a decision to spend time with the children in small groups and to focus more intentionally on the open-ended materials. The children were asked to explore the materials and think of ways they could be combined. In order to focus the work on the unused materials, a twist was added. They would not be using any paper.
“I’m gonna make a dog. I can use a cork and tape and then I need to make a face.” Declan (revisiting a drawing he had made on another day)
Declan’s drawing with gathered objects.
Declan’s dog, inspired by his drawing.
“I’m going to make something out of these.” Beckett (while collecting materials from the shelf)
“Look, I made something like a letter. It’s a letter ‘T’.” Georgia I.
“I want to make what is on one of my drawings. I can use pipe cleaners and these shiny things for the hands.” Sadie Jade (inspired by Declan’s work).
“I made my pig with all of this. I used so many things.” Sadie (after revisiting a design she had made for a wire pig)
With dialogue and inspiration from their peers, each child saw in the materials a new possibility. This experience reminded the teachers of the importance of slowing down and reviewing observations which enable us to offer the familiar with a new lens.
-Cindy