“THEY ARE ROARING BECAUSE THEY WANT FOOD.” – Sol
In the West Wing Exploration Room, children have been working with clay and using it as a medium to build relationships with each other and to express their ideas. When we introduced an array of natural materials (logs, branches, wood, and a barren tree) to use in combination with the clay, playful stories began to emerge. Amalia and Evera sculpted small pieces of clay and attached them to the tree. As they did this, they pretended these were talking spiders called Roly Pistons. Sol was nearby and used the clay to create a lobster.
Sol: This is a lobster. It can eat more food, so it can get bigger. I need more food.
Evera: It’s coming. Here you go, Sol.
Sol: The lobster hatched an egg. Here comes the baby lobster. There are 20 more lobster friends coming. They are roaring because they want food.
Amalia: I can make you food.
Sol: Can you give it to me?
Amalia: Yes.
Wondering how the children could use their creations to tell a common story, I asked them, “How could the Roly Pistons and the lobsters play together?” Amalia and Evera invited the lobsters up to the Roly Pistons’ home on the tree. Noticing the lobsters couldn’t reach them, Sol transformed the lobsters into dragons so they could play together. This experience is an example of how the children use this space to build relationships, communicate their ideas, exercise their cognitive flexibility to adapt to changes in a story and collaborate with each other. – Teacher Susan