All A Glow in the Mirror Tent

I have had a black light that
I thought the children would enjoy for some time now, but the school has a lot of light, 

which is wonderful, but I have not found the right place to let the children explore with the black light

until now.  What a place it is, the mirror tent, so they get the chance to see themselves glowing, but also to see many images of themselves all a glow.

I covered both ends of the mirror tent with blankets and the children were invited in to take a look.

Many had to peek in to see what the others inside were giggling about.

The best is when they would smile and see their teeth glowing.

We discovered in this moment, that there was some maple cream left on his face from lunch, 

it was funny to discover it in the black light when we hadn't noticed it in natural light.

The mirror tent continues to be a fun place to explore and play.

A Kaleidoscopic of Faces in Our New Mirror Tent!

A friend of mine, Sonya Shoptaugh, introduced me to the Reggio Emilia Approach almost three years ago.  At the time I had not known what a gift she had presented me with, nor the significance of her role in this field of education.  Sonya, I found out through reading books on Reggio, worked in the first established school using the Reggio Approach that the educators from Reggio actually considered a true model of a Reggio Emilia school in the United States.  As I said, this information came to me as I read numerous Reggio Emilia books, Sonya with her very modest ways did not mention this to me.   Sonya regularly continues to inspire me with her personal documentation about the journey she and her daughter are taking on her website: Creative Childhood.

I bring Sonya up not just to show gratitude, but also it was at her home that I first saw what I call a "mirror tent."  I fell in love with the one she has, and later, pictures of these "mirror tents" in Reggio schools, and at long last I am happy to say we now have one at Art and Soul.

Watching the children play in the mirror tent was a delight.  I was given a large sheet of acrylic mirror from my teacher and dear friend that was 7'X4'.  I brought it to a local glass shop and they cut it  down for me.  I still have to make a frame for it, but in the meantime, it is so light weight that I was able to Gorilla Tape it together for the children to play in.

It is a magical little space.  The children can see their faces from every imaginable angle, and 

the more time the children spent looking at all their images, the more absorbed they became, almost to the point of forgetting themselves.  This was so clearly expressed by one of the children when she exclaimed, "Which one is the real me?!"

There really is a wonderful disorienting feeling to the mirror tent.  While I was editing the pictures, many of them I had to look at for several minutes to see which way the picture should be positioned.

The picture above is neat because all of a sudden a little face pops out at you.

My assistant, Irina, is from Cuba and she joked saying that when a bunch of the kids were packed in the tent and the images multiplied beyond that, that it looked to her like a "Cuban Bus."

These three laid  like this for some time just making faces at themselves in the mirror.

Later when it was "library time," several of the children brought their books into the tent to read creating a unique perspective.

The second day of our mirror tent adventure was with my 2 1/2-3 year olds.

They too loved the mirror tent, but had a little hesitation at first.  Whereas my four year olds  dove right into it, the little kiddos took their time approaching it.  I can see why they hesitated at first, it is like crawling into an abyss, or like being inside a kaleidoscopic. 

However, like the older kids, once they adjusted to it, they soon were magically transported into this multi-dimensional world that they did not want to leave.

The tent first entered the school last Thursday, so I am excited to see what the Monday crew will think about it tomorrow.  More fun to come.

Self Portraits

Our mirror fun continues with self portraits.  When I taught high school art, my students dreaded self portraits, I think in part because they were afraid their pictures would not resemble themselves, but also because a lot of the teenage students disliked sitting in front of a mirror having to look at themselves.  Self acceptance is hard for teenagers, a lot of adults as well, but that is one of the reasons I love watching these preschoolers look at themselves in the mirror.  They do not have self consciousness in front of the mirror, actually they are fascinated with their image.  I hope that if this positive self image is promoted now, perhaps it will stay with them in years to come.  In the meantime, I love watching their play and art work in front of the mirror, not to mention their silliness.

Before any drawing could take place, we had to have some funny face time.  This was followed by a very brief talk about the shape of the face, our eyes, noses, and mouths.  As well as some questions about what are some other features we see on the face and head, for some reason they almost always forget to mention ears and hair.

Then the children got to work.  For many of these little ones, drawing faces and bodies are a new thing.  I always think of Carl Jung and his child development stages in which he discusses a child starting to become aware of their place in the world around 3 and 4 and how at this point they start their early representations of people.  So here they are representing themselves through these drawings, and for some their families as well.

Portrait by J.P.

Another Portrait by J.P.

Portrait by E.P.B.

Portrait by J.D.

Portrait by E.P.H.

Portrait by E.M.

Portrait by A.R.

Portrait by M.N.

Portrait by J.D.

Portrait by K.S.



Portrait by H.S.

Portrait by S.G.

Portrait by T.M.

I just love the personality all these pictures have.  I photocopied them and plan on having the kid's reexamine them throughout the week, as well as see if they want to add to the copies with a couple different mediums, I am curious where this project may go. 



Mirror Play

Our world is reflected to us in many different ways, and when children, and adults for that matter, begin to look at the world through different perspectives, their minds are opened up to many possibilities.  What better way to begin reflecting about the world and self, than playing with mirrors. Children can see themselves from different points of view, it helps build a positive self image, they can experience emotion through dramatic play in front of a mirror, there is also an awareness of light and reflected light scattering in many different directions.  There are so many   opportunities for discovery with mirrors and even the possibility of making the impossible a reality as we will see later in this post.

I was very excited to find a supplier that has a reasonable price on acrylic mirrors so that all the children would have one to play with.  You can find them at www.discountschoolsupply.com for hours of playtime with the kids, and I also have to add a link to the blog that recommended this supplier, Caution! twins at play, a great blog for more ideas of play with mirrors.

Many of the children gravitated to the mirrors right away, especially placing a couple together and seeing multiple images of themselves and their play toys.

I have to add in here that my assistant and myself were equally excited to play with the mirrors, so we were all having a ball.

 When I was a child, I would walk around the house with a mirror in front of me and "walk on the ceiling," a game we have enjoyed at school as well.  When outside playtime came around, it was time to take a walk, this time not on the ceiling, but on the sky!  Here is when the impossible became possible.  As the children walked around, they saw themselves walking on the sky, on tree branches, and as they pointed out to me, they were walking on wires as well.

He is walking on a tight rope in the sky.

These walkers observed that "their feet are walking above their heads!" 

 This student began pressing the mirror in the snow and looking at the marks and how they changed  direction in the mirror.

The raindrops on the mirrors added another element of discovery.

I can't wait to do this when there are blue skies and clouds so they can jump on the clouds!