Storytelling and Other Magical Moments

When children have time to play on the light table I make sure to not say "What are you making?" but always ask, "Would you like to make a story on the light table?" or "What is your story about?" This way of simple questioning has created an environment that when students go to the light table they always tell a story, or create an image with a story.  I have collected loose parts from around the world, donated from friends, found at dollar stores, and quickly picked up things that were going to be thrown away and have created a beautiful space to share them, hoping that their beauty is equally part of the provocation... Loose Parts Light Table Images and Stories "This is that time when the leaves fall down and the people are playing in the leaves. (Fall)" "The lady bugs are in the middle of the beautiful place. They are eating. The flower is beautiful and the sun/stars are there." "This is the bea...

As we inquire into systems of organization in kindergarten we joined with our Primary Arts Specialist to look at how and why we can organize through art.  We thought about why artists make decisions about art, color, line and why they make decisions about their art. They created collaborative art pieces during their time with her and during this time she also introduced the book, Tidying Up Art , Ursus Werli. This made me think about out our collabroative EAL Story/Art, The House with Thirteen Stories.  (See blog post) I asked my students to go back to and look at our story, that was still hanging on the wall. I asked... How can we tidy up our art? Each child took their own personal "story" and cut each piece of their story. In my different EAL group lessons we began organizing the cut objects into categories.  Numbers. Windows. People. Stairs. Animals. Big Things. Things Inside the Home.  Snowflakes. etc... We cut and glued. Organized, ...

I wanted to use some of the new tools that we purchased for an open ended provocation at Outdoor Learning.  All I needed was broken electronics, some screw drivers and a place to organize all the cool pieces or loose parts. The focus, attention to detail and negotiations made with all the pieces that offered a fantastic opportunity to observe language, confidence and also fine motor skills. The group at the table are intently working and  sharing the materials. The foreground shows some of their thinking with the bigger parts. Gray. Silver. Black White. Clear. They chose to sort by color, material, size and texture. Asserting themselves at times in order to be heard and understood.                                   What do we do next with all these amazing Loose parts?