A Spontaneous Invitation to Create

Last week I set out the mirror grates for the children to play with.  I was curious how they would respond if paper was put underneath the grates with pencils and color pencils near by.  I also set up mirrors for them to have reflections all around them.

It was an interesting process to observe.  The kids trickled in making faces at themselves in the mirror, then ran back into the play area to continue with free play, then two little girls got curious about the paper and pencils.

As the girls started to trace around and color in the squares of the grate, others became interested in it, and joined in on the fun.

The children loved seeing the colors reflected on the sides of the grate, but loved even more the images that were left when they lifted the grates off the paper.

 

Everyone joined in on the drawing when the grates were removed.

We then hung up the drawing and the artwork took another adventure as the children began drawing on it hanging on the wall.

Here is the drawing when the day was done.

I love how it came out, but more so, I love how a simple provocation turned into a group project.

Invitations to Play at the Light Table.

One of the areas of school that the children gravitate the most to is the light table and gemmie area.

For the fall we had acorns, leaves and pumpkins, the children loved these so much that I just finally switched them out.  They love concocting drinks and plates of food with these, so when I saw the Valentine cupcake wrappers, I had a feeling they would enjoy them. 

This little baker is very intent on her creation!

"Cherry" cupcakes ready for a friend.

I work with children 2 and half years of age to 5, and they all love playing with this light table set up.

There is something about the lights, colors, and the tactile exploration that keeps them focused and engaged for long periods of time.  When someone at school is having a hard time, either feeling shy or missing their parents, this is the area that helps calm and center them.  They play here for a little bit, and then smiles and active participation follow.  It is Magic!

Another recent addition to the light table were these colored ice cubes

 I love to shake them up and see the bubble inside go from many and work their way into one large bubble

I purchased them at the Dollar Store, and they are a lot of fun for the light table, 

but the kids have been enjoying them in the kitchen area as well as when they play doctor.

 I love that they can be stacked like blocks.

 I thought this was very clever how he placed them inside cups and made pyramids with them.

Perception and Hand-Eye Coordination Skills

There is a Local Materials Exchange that I love to frequent for supplies.  It is a unique place where surplus materials are sold cheaply and are saved from the landfill, so in my book it is a love/love situation for both economical and environmental reasons.  On my last visit they had grates for sale.  I had never considered using a grate as an exploration tool in play, but this grate had such a wonderful mirrored surface I knew the kids would love it. 

We actually have been playing with it for a couple months and I am just getting to a post about it.

When we first started to play with the grate, the children filled it with buttons and gemmies.

Because of the reflective surface, the children started to gain an awareness of the different dimensions of the objects, and the refracted images of their hands, faces, and tweezers as they reached and looked into the compartments.  It is a great sensory experience where they are perceiving themselves and objects from different points of view. 

After exploring for some time with gemmies and buttons, the children then started to place pom poms in the compartments.  The pom poms are easier to grab with the tweezers, but still challenging and a great hand-eye coordination builder.

Now they are challenging themselves to get more than one at a time!

We then took it to the light table to have a different perspective.

Another thing the children love about the pom poms, is that if they are tossed into the air, they bounce into the compartments of the grate.

I love how this simple grate has become the source of so much play and exploration.

Through the presence of a simple stimulus the children are gaining hand-eye coordination and perception skills, and cognitive development through the senses.

Circles All Around Us

Shapes are a part of our daily lives.  As an adult I don't go around seeing all the shapes around me, however the joy of teaching preschoolers is that when you start talking about a shape such as a circle, all of a sudden the world is filled with circles. 

When we discussed circles a couple of weeks ago, one of the concepts we addressed was that in many cultures artwork done in a circle is called a Mandala, which is the Sanskrit word for circle.  When we talked about Mandalas  we talked about how it is an art form that is usually made as a healing or calming art.  A lot of mandalas are temporary art forms, and once they are made they are then  disassembled again, such as Tibetan sand mandalas.  Their projects for the week were simple arrangements that the children made on a variety of circles and then they practiced drawing different circles.

These sensory experiences proved to be very calming indeed.  I found that each of the children had their own unique way of working with the materials and creating patterns.  They also were very much captivated by the experience.

The invitation to create

On one of the days we had large circles that the children added shapes and gems to.

I loved how they approached their use of materials.

Another day we worked with smaller circles.  This little guy was a pro at making patterns with the materials.

Look at the focus on their faces.



That smile expresses how a simple and tactile experience can bring so much joy to children at this age.

After the children experimented with their mandala making, they then were given several different circle shapes to try and trace. Though I am not an advocate of tracing pictures, tracing shapes is a wonderful way to work on hand-eye coordination.

                                       

After they traced their shapes they were encouraged to draw around or in their shapes anyway they would like.