"Materials are truly important in the moment they become a language that is owned by the children and not just a technique that has to be learned or used in only one way. Materials should become languages to give voice to children's thoughts, mental images, and sense of possibility about entering into relationships with the other children. Through materials, children have a chance to collaborate, cooperate, and exchange knowledge with each other" (Bambini, pg. 64)
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.
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 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.
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.
