Friday Group - More Colored Sand

The colored sand was back by popular demand. Growing ever smarter (although I can never quite keep up with these little ones) I taped up all but three flowing holes in which sand can pour out. Hannah and Sebastien continued their eplorations right where they left off. Hannah again carefully poured the sand, moving the shaker along, and switching colors as she goes. She also brought with her the tube filled with a green colored oil/water mixture. As it looks similar to the shakers she tests to see if it too will yield something to add to the sand collage.

The feeling of sand on Sebastien's fingers led to long stretches of time where sand was flowing out of the shaker. Once he would have a decent pile he would enthusiastically spread it on the contact paper. Recently, Sebastien has been really into identifying colors and yellow happens to be a favorite. He seeks out the yellow to add to the green sand he has already spread around on the contact paper. If you listen to what's happening in the background you will her Kaia's mother, talking her through what the children are doing and encouraging her to give it a try. Kaia is watching everything her friends are doing.



Kaia wasn't too sure about the sand and contact paper. When she first approached it, she simply circled the table taking it all in. When she did pick up one of the shakers (by the top) and turned it over, she unexpectedly found sand on her hand and ceased her exploration. From her mother's side she watched and after some observing she began her own exploration. She started by simply feeling the sand, back and forth similar to Sebastien's movements when he would spread the sand. She slowly moved on to pouring and used different colors during her exploration, like Hannah she is attentive to the shaker and the placement of the sand. She even conducts her own test of the tube that is still sitting on the table.



Max tests out pouring with both his left and right hand, switching as he watches the sand flow out of the shaker. He likes what he sees so much that he asks himself for "more". He also verbally labels the blue sand as he watches it pour out.



Bryce came to the table after most of the sand was emptied from the shakers (they were refilled shortly thereafter). He wasn't nearly as impressed with the pouring this time. He had a case of "the grass is always greener" as he would watch his friends pour and want the shaker they had.

Wednesday Group - Colored Sand Collage

With some strategically placed tape to slow down the onslaught of sand the Wednesday group had its chance to experience the colored sand and contact paper. As the boys began their exploration a calm concentration overtook them. Theo, Sebastien, and Caleb all had a favorite way of interacting with the sand and yet they all watched each other carefully. They would try out each other's techniques but return again to their preferred method of dispensing the sand. Theo was the experienced chef, dramatically moving the shaker and then mixing us what came out.

Sebastien loved the feel waterfall of sand as it poured on to his hand.



Caleb was careful and calculated as he intermittently used different colors of sand and watched as the sand poured out of the shaker.

Friday Group - Colored Sand Collage

One definition of Collage is "a combination or collection of various things" usually arranged and stuck to a backing. The word collage came from the French word that means literally to glue. What does this have to do with sand? Sand is yet another art medium that can be used in myriad of ways. I wanted to show the children that many different objects work in conjunction with the contact paper. Sand is an item that the children experience on playgrounds, that can be dumped, poured, dug into, patted down, and so on. Sand in shakers can have another use. When I tested the sand and contact paper with only Sebastien I realized very quickly that the holes in the shaker let the sand simply pour through. Wanting the children to have to make more deliberate actions to get the sand out I covered the holes with tape and poked just a few to make the sand come out much slower. Although Sebastien found this shaking to be fun, when I presented it to the group it held their interest for about 30 seconds before the table was deserted. Below is the ho-hum reception the shakers received from Max and Sebastien. However, Max did find the sound the shakers made against the table somewhat interesting.

I realized very quickly that the sand needed to have more of an impact, a wow factor to draw the children back in. So, I took off the tape and let the sand flow and boy did sand flow all over my house! Bryce was delighted by the sand pouring out of the shakers and wanted to empty every one of the colorful jars.



Once the sand was poured into a pile, spreading and mixing it all around became the popular activity. Not only did if feel neat to move it around, it also made an intriguing sound.



Hannah approached the sand differently. She was very careful in her pouring and placement of the sand. She even switched colors before a shaker was emptied of the sand. For her it wasn't about just pouring an moving the sand, it was about placement and slow movements. Watch as she is very intentional in her motions, creating her own masterpiece.



Once we began to clean up and sweep up the excess sand Max returned to the sand and contact paper but his exploration took another route. He first explores the table and the sounds the sand/contact paper surface can produce using different items. Then he finds a bucket full of sand and thus starts a whole new exploration.


Next week's challenge is to find the right balance of letting the sand flow but less overall sand scattered around the house!

Wednesday Group - Picture Collage

Wednesday Group turned out to be small and intimate yet again. It was Zadie's first time back in over two months and we were so happy to see her. This was also Zadie's first time with the collage materials. Like many of the children her first explorations revolved mostly around examining and bringing the pictures to her mother. Although she noticed the stickiness of the contact paper it didn't pull her attention away from exploring the collage pictures.

Since Sebastien usually gets a double dose of playgroup each week it is always interesting to see how he adjusts his exploration. This week the containers that held the pictures changed and Sebastien spent most of his time practicing collecting and transferring the collage pictures into and out of the containers. He was also more vocal in identifying animals in the pictures.

After some time Sebastien decided to take some of the small cut out pictures of the children over to his train table and load them onto a cargo train. Zadie found this very intriguing and joined him to find out what he was up to. There are two trains that have slots for "mail" and Sebastien and I talk about the mail trains picking up and delivering mail. He tries to load some pictures in the mail cars but it is harder as the slot is small and the pictures not as sturdy as the other "mail" that came with the trains. Sebastien, in this instance, was able to take the idea of transporting the "mail" and apply it to an item that reminded him of the "mail" used with trains. Young children are constantly making these small connections in their brains which enhances the development of their imaginary play. At around 18 months toddlers are beginning to fantasize and role-play. Their behaviors are also more purposeful and connect to previous experiences. A picture isn't just a picture, according to Sebastien it can be a piece of mail or cargo for a train.

After group was over Caleb and Niko stopped by to say hello. Sebastien didn't waste any time reacquainting Caleb with the play space. He also was happy to have another friend to ride his bike and play trains with. Sebastien didn't hesitate to climb on behind Caleb and hitch a ride to the trains.

Friday Group - Picture Collage

This week on our journey with collage I presented the children with various pictures to "stick" on the contact paper. I had photo cut outs of each child, animals, and other objects. Using the contact paper as the surface on which to "glue" items I am really trying to draw the children's attention first to the properties of the contact paper and then to the visual (this week) and textural (last week) qualities of the materials presented. As I reflect back on children's explorations this week I notice that the there are a few particular actions that all the children are using with the materials. There is the exploration of the actual containers, the motions of placing and removing items from the contact paper, transferring and collecting the materials, and identifying the what is on the collage items. The following videos highlight these collage experiences.

Container Exploration

Much of the container exploration involves dumping. Bryce is very intrigued by the acrylic container, moving it, trying to get pictures out of it, and all his hard work led to the demise of the container, but all for a good cause.

Identifying Pictures

This was a fun discovery for the children whether it was recognizing a friend or animal or asking a question, the participation of the adults proved crucial in this exploration. I love how Amy, Max's mom, reads Max's fish lip movements to know that he is identifying the fish he sees. Then as Kaia finds the fish she pauses at a picture and stares at it for a long time. I notice her interest and realize she is looking at a picture of Hannah. I mention this to her and she looks away from the picture to the real life Hannah playing elsewhere in the room.



Collecting and Transferring

This action involved the children taking the pictures out of a container (sometimes giving them to another person) and then putting them back into a container. Sometimes the pictures were collected and deposited one at a time or grouped together as a bunch.



Placing and Removing
While much of the placing of the pictures was accidental the removal was much more challenging. Hannah spent some time trying to remove pictures and then place them back into a container. Even as she is distracted by the departure of Kaia she continues to work hard.

Wednesday Group - Collage

The Wednesday Group was small and intimate again, with just Theo and Sebastien. I continued with the contact paper and same materials I presented last week. I did add a new item into the mix, small cut out photos of all the children who attend playgroup. This really caught the attention of Theo. He would look at each photo with intensity and concentration. Sebastien was more intrigued with identifying his friends. The following video is longer than I normally post but stick with it. There is a wonderful interchange between Theo and Sebastien's exploration of the materials. Watch as Sebastien's initial discovery of the photos prompts interest from Theo. Then Theo is still intrigued by the stickiness of the contact paper which leads to Sebastien testing the contact paper as well. The back and forth of one making a discovery and then the other making a similar discovery allows Sebastien and Theo to exchange ideas and their understanding of the material with one another. Theo also finds out that once you stick the photos down they are not that easy to get back. Once he gets up the photo in question Sebastien says, "stick" as if to remind him it's sticky.

Friday Group - Reacquainting and Collage

With four toddlers playgroup felt like it was back in full swing. Each child approached and experienced the contact paper and materials that stick on it differently. Four different perspectives experiencing the same materials and yet all getting what each needs to fully understand the materials. I can't wait to see how their experiences evolve as we spend more time with the collage materials. Theo concentrated on the stickiness of the contact paper and although he did briefly explore the other materials he kept coming back to feel the "sticky" paper.

Sebastien continued his exploration of sticking items to the contact paper. He was more purposeful in his placement of the paper cut outs and mylar during this playgroup.

Kaia wasn't too sure of the contact paper so she concentrated on the collage materials. If you watch the very beginning of the above video again, you'll see Kaia collecting the tissue paper pieces and giving them to her mother. When she did touch the contact paper she would make an unsure face and go back to the other materials. In the following video, Kaia returns to the table to discover the cellophane which she again shares with her mother. Kasey names the material for her as she expresses some intrigue with it. Kaia is expressing herself verbally with such astute understanding of the world. This makes her exploration more transparent in it's intention. As she tries to remove another piece of cellophane from the contact paper it rips creating a little piece which she gives to her mother. Again, Kasey observes and states what Kaia has done, "did you get a little piece?". Kaia goes back to get the rest and when she does she states "big piece". Wow! Not only does she understand the concept of opposites but that subtracting a small piece from a whole piece leaves one with a bigger piece.

In true Bryce fashion he came to the contact paper after he had explored the rest of the room and like Kaia, he focused his attention on the collage items. The cellophane and paper cut outs were of particular interest. Bryce took the time to get to know the materials more closely by not only touching but by pulling and dropping them as well.

Wednesday Group - Reacquainting and Collage

Knowing it had been a month and a half since the children have been at playgroup I thought it would be nice to return to some familiar materials and begin to use them in new ways. When the children were about 8 months old we explored contact paper sticky side up. At that time the experience was more geared toward understanding the material with one's whole body. During this next 5 week session we will be exploring collage first through using contact paper and later through glue. I presented the children with some materials to stick on the contact paper that were familiar (cellophane, strips of ribbon and mylar) and a few new materials (tissue paper and pre-cut paper shapes). I displayed the materials in clear containers with them each grouped together by type of material.

With the addition of some fun, new Christmas gifts I thought the environment might engage the children's interest more than the collage experience. This was the case for Max, while Sebastien, who lives in the playgroup space, spent some time working with the collage materials. Sebastien also made an surprising connection while sticking the materials on the contact paper. In the beginning he was content to stick the different materials down, even practicing the word "stick" with each piece of mylar he put on the contact paper.

After a few minutes, it was like a light bulb went off and he walked, very purposefully, over to his easel which is also magnetic. He then picked out one of his magnets, brought it over to the contact paper and stuck it down. He did this several times. Of all the items in his play space to choose from I wonder why he chose the magnets? Did he make the connection that magnets also stick to certain surfaces?

The exploding language development and daily development of new skills makes working with toddlers fascinating. One of the skills toddlers are developing is the art of negotiation. In the next video clip you will see Sebastien ask Max to push him in the stroller simply by saying Max's name and patting the handle of the stroller. Max isn't so sure so he offers him a ball. Then Max gets a chance to explore the stroller by himself. A little while later he does give Sebastien a short ride but Max decides he wants a turn of his own.