This week the children were presented with both markers and colored pencils. Kaia noticed the difference between the two utensils right away as she commented that Sebastien was using a pencil. She was paying close attention to the movements and actions of her friends. As she practiced her spiral shapes she noticed Sebastien moving his marker very fast back and forth and tried the movement out for herself.
Hannah's movements and use of the marks and pencils reminded me of how an adult would use the same instruments to write. Sometimes her movements are loopy and slow while other times they are short and quick. She even holds the marker like you would if you were writing and stops to tell me a few things mid writing.
Bryce had to figure out the mechanics of the utensils and spent his time exploring the physical properties of the markers and pencils. Taking lids on and off, putting the markers in and out of the container, and placing the pencils in and out of the holes in the holder were his primary focus.
Watching Bryce actually influenced how I set out the same experience for the Wednesday group. Instead of having the holder be the main focus (many children spent time trying to figure it out), I decided to place the holder with half the pencils at the easel so the children could still experiment with putting them in and out. The remaining pencils where placed in a container on the table with purpose being to bring the attention back to highlighting the difference between markers and pencils.
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