Friday Group - Textiles

With just two children exploring the textiles at the beginning of the session it was easy to observe the interactions with the materials. In the following video you see Kasey showing Kaia a piece of velcro that is a texture she has felt before in her new favorite book (about a dragon which has scratchy ears) but she's never been able to manipulate it herself. She is not only excited but extremely interested in trying to get it in her mouth. At one point Kasey offers a suggestion that she hold a piece of fabric in one hand and the velcro in the other so she could still feel the velcro but chew on something. Kaia is too engrossed in the material, she's intent on figuring out how to get it in her mouth and turns it around and around trying different angles.

Sebastien on the other hand was having a different experience. He found a piece of soft fabric and he moves it from side to side. With crawling on the horizon, crossing the midline of his body is a skill he will need in order to coordinate the movements of his arms and legs to move himself forward. (Note: Sebastien started crawling 2 days later!)

In this last video clip, Sebastien and Kaia both explore the velcro although Sebastien turns his focus to a different material before Kaia is ready to give up on the velcro but she soon finds something else just as enticing...of course something that Sebastien has and he finds her clothing a nice material to explore.

Bryce joined the group after they had finished exploring the materials and Sebastien's grandmother showed up so there was a different dynamic during his exploration. Despite the circumstances he was engrossed by the materials. He didn't let the adult conversation around him stop his experience. Everything within Bryce's reach was touched and tasted.

Some he likes, some he doesn't

And then he just had to try them all at once.

Thursday Group - Textiles

The Thursday group really tuned into one another. In the following video, Zadie gets very animated with the cellophane sewed onto a piece of fabric and Xavier and Sebastien really tune into her to check out what's happening. Theo, however, happily found the velcro and was very focused on chewing on it. He was one of the few who actually liked to have it in his mouth. Zadie also very sweetly checks in with her mom (watch carefully the end of the video). All the children at one point or another look to their parent to reconnect and acknowledge their presence. This attachment behavior is very important during the materials group as children encounter new materials the parent becomes a supporter and encourager to the child's process.

Xavier discovers the flaw in my sewing and manages to separate the fabric from the cellophane which he then tries to get on his head several times in the next video. In the meantime, Theo is still exploring the velcro and Zadie moves onto a new piece of fabric (and again checks in with mom). Sebastien finds some silky ribbon to feel inside his mouth.

As the children begin to lose interest in the fabric exploration, it is quickly revitalized by a game of peek-a-boo. Watch as Theo helps uncover Xavier.

My favorite moments from this week's explorations not captured in videos:

Xavier finds Theo's shirt and head the most interesting textile.

Theo rolls around in the fabric and the takes a break on mom.

Zadie tastes some colorful yarn and then raspberries it out of her mouth.

Xavier enthusiastically pulls and waves different textiles.

Textiles

For our second playgroup session I chose textiles as the objects to explore. With fabric, ribbon, yarn and the scratchy side of velcro I was able to present the babies with many different textures to touch, taste, see and hear. Each child could discover the properties of soft, silky, bumpy, smooth, and all the variations in between. On the backside of three pieces of fabric I sewed cellophane to add both an element of surprise and familiarity from the previous experience. My vision for this experience was to have cascading fabric descend into a mountain of textures in the middle of the children and the babies would "dive" (not actually dive but lean into) the fabric and roll in it and fling it in the air, like a child finding a big pile of fresh laundry and just can't help jumping into it. I realized very quickly with the Thursday group that the cascading and mountain of fabric was a little overwhelming and there were too many pieces to choose from. With the Friday group I put out a smaller amount of options which seemed to help the children focus their exploration.

The fabric exploration was, in general, not as flashy of an experience for the children, differing in it's initial impact. The cellophane had that "wow" factor and the fabric had a scavenger feel to it, where the children had to search for a piece that interested them. The fabric allowed for a different type of interaction, one where feeling differences brought more exploration through touch and taste. Also the varying colors allowed children to be specific in their search for a material. Both the Thursday and Friday groups really enjoyed finding the fabric with cellophane and even the two children who came for the first time and had never played with the cellophane were intrigued by the material.

Using the Blog with your Child

The purpose of documenting children's explorations is to benefit of both the parent and the child. I encourage families to look at and talk about the children's experiences at the playgroup, not just what I write about but also your own recollections of the time together. The basis for documenting is that the latest brain research talks about 'autobiographical memory' (that is the memory of an episode or experience - think the story of your life as seen in your mind) and that most young children have "childhood amnesia" and are not able to recall the early times in their lives (this goes for most of us). However, these experiences are not lost in the minds of our babies and the research is finding that the more a child sees, is talked to about, and is having similar experiences over and over the more likely they are to remember (encode in their brains) the experience and be able to draw new thoughts, theories, and feelings about and from the experience for future use.

Cellophane - Friday Group

Choosing large size pieces of cellophane for the first exploration was intentional on my part. The bigger the piece the more it begs for interaction between children. Whether a piece slides by you or is waved in the air, the cellophane grabs your attention. This was the case for an interaction between Kaia and Sebastien. Kaia and Sebastien spend a lot of time together and Kaia usually likes to have whatever Sebastien is playing with and Sebastien is quite agreeable (most of the time) to her requests. In the following pictures the cellophane allows both children to play with one piece at the same time.

Sebastien and Kaia are each independently playing with a piece of cellophane.

Kaia catches Sebastien's yellow piece and lets go of the blue.

Kaia munches on the yellow while Sebastien still has a good grip.

Not pictured is the two of them shaking the yellow cellophane together for some time before Sebastien moved on to another piece. Another great aspect of the large sized pieces is that even if they move out of reach, a few pieces on the ground cover a large area so that a child might be motivated to move to a piece but not frustrated by having to go a good distance to get to the material. As most of the children are just becoming mobile the cellophane becomes an enticing object to reach. This is where Isa found her inspiration but not in the way you would expect. She explored the cellophane as most did, with her hands and mouth but once the novelty wore off she very quickly found the other two children in the group to be far more interesting and she was determined to be near them as they explored the material. Isa was very clever in that she used the cellophane as a guise in which to get close to either Kaia or Sebastien so it would appear that she was exploring the cellophane but she was actually gauging how to interact with the other two children.

Kaia's exploration of the cellophane was especially interesting because Kasey (Kaia's mom) recognized that she was using the new cellophane material to play a familiar game. Whenever Kaia places an item by her ear or the side of her head she is hiding and those who know Kaia usually respond "where's Kaia". The properties of cellophane make it wonderful prop for peek-a-boo. It is light, airy, and see through yet distorts reality enough so that the child can believe that they are actually hidden from sight. So the material allows her to explore the concepts of object permanence in a safe and reassuring context. For Kaia, this is important as she is really experimenting with the idea of hiding and then reappearing. The reenactment of the "where is Kaia" game came after Kaia spent a good deal of time exploring the cellophane but once it started she practiced again and again and not just with one piece of cellophane.

Since Kasey noticed Kaia's game, she was able to expand Kaia's exploration and knowledge of the material. This interaction highlights the connection between relationships and materials. The relationship between the parents and children in the playgroup will enhance the experiences we will have together.

Cellophane - Thursday Group

Thursday was the first experience for the Materials Playgroup. As with most first experiences children first try to orient themselves to the environment. Then the materials becomes the common exploration in which each child can explore their surroundings and each other. The first material we explored was cellophane. This is a fantastic material for young children as it makes a lot of noise and is very responsive to each touch, both in the material's movement and sound.

Sebastien was perhaps the most vigorous explorer as he squeezed, pulled apart, and shook the cellophane. This could be from his previous exposure to the material and he was in his home. He also explored the material with his mouth while Theo and Xavier did not. Xavier used his hands to manipulate the cellophane over and over. He would crinkle it and then release.

Xavier really tuned into Sebastien and watched him as he used the cellophane. Xavier was extremely focused and interested in the material, concentrating a great deal as he felt the cellophane between his hands. While Sebastien was more into big impact, big sound, and big movement. Xavier’s movements were subtle at first and grew more exaggerated as he became more familiar with the material.

Theo joined the group in the midst of the exploration as he was napping but had no problems jumping right in. Theo played an interesting game of catch and release with the cellophane and also moved it back and forth on the ground over and over again. He was the only one to grab two pieces, one in each hand, and bring them together.

Why a materials playgroup?

Materials are just one of the many tools children have to express their ideas. In the Reggio Approach there is a strong belief that children have hundreds of ways of expressing themselves. It is our job (as educators, parents, humans) to give children opportunities to become familiar with varying types of materials that allow each child to discover new ways of communicating and expressing ideas, theories, and feelings. Very early on children begin to manipulate materials/toys in an attempt to convey meaning. Take for example a young baby using a piece of fabric to play peek-a-boo. The fabric becomes a language to play with the idea of separating and rejoining. Then there is the child who uses food to paint all over his or her highchair tray, thus expressing interest in texture or signaling the meal is over. These are just a few examples of how materials become modes of expression.



I am particularly interested in the art of presenting children with provocations using different art materials ranging from fabric to clay to paint to wire (just a few of my favorite materials). By forming a playgroup I could focus on exploring materials and the interactions between the babies and their parents. Sessions together would begin with materials as the backdrop to getting to know the environment and each other. Babies could explore the materials at their own pace and interact with the material if they choose or any of the other items available. Each session would build on previous experiences . By continuing to offer materials that we explore in previous sessions the children will have time to explore materials to their fullest and then be able to access the material for deeper explorations as they grow and change.

Hundred Langugages of Children

No way. The hundred is there.

The child
is made of one hundred.
The child has a hundred languages
a hundred hands
a hundred thoughts
a hundred ways of thinking
of playing, of speaking.
A hundred always a hundred
ways of listening
of marvelling, of loving
a hundred joys
for singing and understanding
a hundred worlds
to discover
a hundred worlds
to invent
a hundred worlds
to dream.
The child has
a hundred languages
(and a hundred hundred hundred more)
but they steal ninety-nine.
The school and the culture
separate the head from the body.
They tell the child:
to think without hands
to do without head
to listen and not to speak
to understand without joy
to love and to marvel
only at Easter and at Christmas.
They tell the child:
to discover the world already there
and of the hundred
they steal ninety-nine.
They tell the child:
that work and play
reality and fantasy
science and imagination
sky and earth
reason and dream
are things
that do not belong together.
And thus they tell the child
that the hundred is not there.
The child says:
No way. The hundred is there.

Loris Malaguzzi
(translated by Lella Gandini)