Sketching, cutting, writing...

On Friday we placed a beautiful arrangement of gourds in the Art Center and invited the children to sketch/draw the gourds. We placed white paper and soft crayons on the table. Sasha and I sat down and started to draw the the gourds ourselves.

Hannah, Eliza and Molly joined us at the table and helped themselves to a gourd or two and proceeded to trace the gourds. Then Molly started to cut her gourd out. Lilly, Hannah and Eliza used the scissors to make a fringe all around their paper. Rachel had another idea in mind. She took the opportunity to practice writing the letters in her name.

This is a perfect example of how teachers can plan activities and make suggestions but as the children engage with materials, they might ignore your idea and substitute it with their own. At these times the children teach me another way of using and playing with materials/toys. In fact each and everyday in some way or another the children teach me to see things from their point of view.

Blocks and Bridges Demonstration!

Sam called me over and informed me that he was building a bridge, but the bridge kept falling down. He went on to say, "My bridge is wiggly, and I think we need some stabilizers so it can stand up." I told Sam that I have a book with pictures of bridges made out of wooden blocks and asked him if he would like to look through it. Sam, Hadley, Isaiah, Teddy F, Josh, Oliver and Nathaniel all gathered around the book to look at the pictures. I asked the children if they wanted me to teach/demonstrate how to build a bridge with the wooden blocks.

The children enthusiastically gathered around the table/block platform for block building lessons. I asked the children if they wanted to build a bridge like the one in the book. As part of the demonstration, I held up each different block and asked the children to name what they noticed about the shape and size. I described and demonstrated how the children might fit the various blocks together to form a bridge and other structures. After about a ten-minute demonstration, I invited the children to jump in and try bridge building. They all worked eagerly, copying what I had done, but also adding their own ideas. Hadley took it a step further and asked me where the clip boards were, as she wanted to draw her own diagram of the bridge that she and her friends helped create.

Creating Friendships and a Sense of Community in the Classroom

Once children enter preschool, having friends becomes a very important part of their daily lives. Children often ask to have play dates after school so they can extend their friendships beyond the school day. As children explore friendship, they will need to learn that it is a give-and-take process that doesn't always go smoothly. In school, we have been been using the theme of friendship to explore many aspects of what it means to be a friend. Learning to develop empathy, cooperate, and share are important parts of friendship.

Joshua came running over to me with some big news,"Lauri, Samuel is amazing!" I asked, "Why do you think he is amazing?" He looked at me with an ear to ear grin, his eyes open wide, moving his head slowly from side to side and said,"Look he made an eight with the wooden blocks! Isn't that great!" He was clearly so proud of his friend! Samuel was beaming with pride, as his friend Joshua was so kind to respect and acknowledge his creative work!

Loose Parts Sculptures!

Cereal boxes, toilet paper tubes, corks, juice concentrate cans, telephone wire... These sorts of "disposable" materials are sculptural treasures in an early childhood art center/studio. Found materials like these offer intriguing provocation. In a child's hands, a cereal box is no longer a container for cereal: it becomes a toy car, with paper towel tubes for seats and water bottle caps for wheels.

Today the Tel Aviv All Stars had the opportunity to construct their very own "Three Dimensional Loose Parts Sculpture". As the children dove onto the construction process, they encountered challenges about how to attach loose parts together. The teachers acted as a mentor to the children, using our experience to teach specific skills, and when needed pointed out technical problems and offered remedies.

Tomorrow as part of Curriculum Night we will reenact this experience for all, to take part in! Now that, is something to look forward to!