Farewell Giant...

Giant, you arrived when Stockholm was covered in snow, and it had been for quite some time. There was plenty of time for sledging, building snowmen and snow forts

when the ice and snow began to melt it gave us the chance to play in the very cold mud, although sometimes we had to crack the ice to get to the muddy puddles underneath

we have experimented with ice indoors too - freezing things inside the ice,  coloured ice and experimenting with how it melts and the feel of water

we have collected ice outside and created ice exhibitions...

but most fun was the water underneath the ice - after so many frozen months it was so exciting to play with water outside and to be able to mix it with sand and mud...

we made a sensory table - as we loved exploring the world through our senses and we wanted more opportunities to experiment and feel...

we have made art with spaghetti so that we could feel the long spaghetti squish between out fingers and also create art TOGETHER

we have explored mixing different mediums together to create new textures and experiment with different sizes

we have had the chance to explore sensory materials with all our body...

and have laughed a lot

we have even shared our sensory experiences with our parents at the parent evening ... it was a chance for Giant to meet all the grown-ups!

we have explored bendaroos...

but a firm favourite has been the sensory experience of paint

many many times our hands have taken on a new colour

we have shown you, Giant how we celebrate Easter in Sweden - when it is still cold and icy outside, Easter brings the promise of spring

rolling Easter Eggs as a collaborative artwork 

as spring arrived we went to the forest more often - looking for flowers and for nature waking up after its long winter sleep

sometimes we just ran and ran and laughed and laughed

and finally those signs of spring appeared... slowly at first

it made going to the forest even more exciting

building small houses, running between trees, jumping from stone to stone... so much to discover and to play

you have counted with us - learning how to count in Swedish and we have learned how to count in English

we have done art activities that have been a part of philosophy - learning about understanding how we all can have different perspectives of them same thing. Giant, you have listened to many philosophical dialogues... and this has just been the beginning of our philosophical journey...

we have played and played with so many different materials

and we have shared our traditions - Walpurgis Night with the big bonfires to sing in spring.

Förskolans Dag (National Preschool Day) where we took lots of water experiments out into the square

Swedish Midsummer - singing songs and celebrating the warmth of summer and all the greenness

International Mud Day - lots of muddy fun on the square

Summer picnic with the parents and kite-flying... sadly the weather did not want to put its summer side on!!

you have come out to play with us - watch us pretend to plant seeds

feel the new sand with your feet

watched fires being put out in the forest

and explored the rain with all our senses...

the rain brought out the snails - and from that day on the garden became known as "The Snail Park" - we return to it again and again and have marveled at how it has grown and changed.

it might be small - but we have discovered so much here... about nature and about our own capabilities

we have interacted with art, traveling across town to get there

we have created our own art and interacted with that...

we have interacted with nature - both outdoors and indoors, discovering things we never knew before - like that red rose petals create purple marks on paper...

we celebrated July 4th in your honour, learning a little more about USA

Giant we hope you have had a wonderful 4 months with us - and we wish you a wonderful journey back home to USA. Thank you for staying with us and allowing us to find out more about where you come from...

the start of a new atelier

so the large space has ben divided off with two sets of Ikea shelving, with boarding put on the back of the lower shelves - as on the other side is a little "library" and we don't want a whole load of paint squeezed onto the books

access to water - child's height. We will need to fix some sort of shelving or containers for paint brushes to dry and also to ease the process of taking care of material/tools. Behind the yellow gate/door is a room for sensory exploration and experiments. The premises used to be the post office, so we are slowly converting it after the needs of the children, the shower spaces can offer all sorts of potential, not least for cleaning up messy children covered in paint!! The other shower with a door could be used as storage?

view from the yellow gate/door - more shelving (which is going to be painted white)  with board behind - on the other side is the rest of the room, with four tables and a construction area

the division between the library and the atelier...

Now the fun will start - filling the spaces and making them more in tune with the children's needs, and our needs to meet the children in their play and learning... chatting with colleagues today about how a shelf-unit can be moved from here to there and how it could be fixed to change its entire use, well exciting does not even come close...
Now we are closed for the summer - so time to think on those ideas and time to collect and find materials...

Making flags - USA

This was a quick activity to help the children become more familiar with the flag from United States of America - since its Independence Day tomorrow...

to make the stripes we took a roller with stripes on it (OK they were a little wriggly) and rolled it across the page... the aim was to do this in rows - but this is not always so easy for the younger children as its more about just rolling... so it was left as a process for them to listen and do if they wanted otherwise open to interpretation so to speak

a flag had been made before to give them an idea of what the American flag looks like

the stamps were made from bottle tops with 3D star stickers stuck on, simple but rather effective

there were different methods for making the stars - holing the edges of the lids or as this 2 year old worked out putting the lid down and then pressing the middle to get the pressure right to create a star (the red dot on the star came from his fingers tracing the red lines and then pointing to his stars - plenty "twinkle twinkle" being sung here...

Hands off...

When we are playing outside I try to have a hands off approach - to give the children a chance to test out their own abilities, to give the children the power to understand their own capabilities and their own limitations and to take pride in all their achievements... it also encourages them to try out new things, collaborate with friends to work out how to get up/across/under/over etc... it can also mean that those children who sit and want to be pushed on the swing all the time actually are more active - either off the swing or on the swing...

...it does make me feel a bit mean at times when I refuse to lift children up on playground equipment or when we are in the woods... and sometimes I am aware of strange looks from onlooking parents... I got one the other day and found myself explaining...

... strange because a little doubt does sneak in...

But lucky for me I got to film the very next day why I feel it is such a good approach giving me the strength to push out those doubts. I filmed and filmed a 2 year old trying to get up on the longer slide... he kept looking at me and wanting me to lift him up - I gently explained that I would not that he needed to work it out for himself. He tried and tried and tried. Frustrated huffs and puffs and the odd look back at me for help... and then all of a sudden he did it... he managed to get up. His face became one GIANT smile, his whole body exuded pride. He went down the slide and came back.

But then he could not get up again. He looked at me for help and I simply answered "But I know you can do it". He tried and tried and tried. And yes he did it again.

I have a total of 15 short films ... showing the struggle, the determination and the pride of one child's journey to be a more competent climber...

baby birds...

I sat on the platform, waiting for my train to arrive to take me home... suddenly a pigeon flew by and revealed the fact that there was a nest hidden up on the roofing that covers half the platform... I watched as the pigeon fed its young...

There were two chicks - but only one got any food - it made sure it got in the way and blocked the parent from trying to feed the other chick, so that it got another portion. The parent made another attempt to feed the other chick and was again blocked... on the third attempt the parent gave up and flew away...

It got me thinking

... this sharing business amongst the very young... maybe its not a very natural thing at all... maybe it goes against survival instincts in the very young. Maybe there are the basic animal instincts that we just have to conquer to understand that once we grow up we need to share in able to survive, that we need to be a part of a community (sure there are exceptions - there are to just about every rule...)

... it got me thinking about how children can hoard toys and hold them like dragons guarding treasure - totally unable to play with the very toys so desirable to play with because all the focus is on ensuring no-one else plays with them...

it got me thinking about that this process of learning to share must be much more complex than we could ever imagine...

I look back and try to remember how I learnt to share, and I just don't remember. I remember learning to read, I remember getting the alphabet right and being told I could get my first reading book (aged 4), I remember learning to read with ITA and thinking that some of the letters were really hard to write (especially that ae connected together) - I remember when I worked out that weekday names repeated and were not just new random names everyday (I had always wondered who chose the names all the time - as I wanted to choose a name for a day) - I have no idea how young I was but it was before I started school... I simply do not remember how I learned to share - and yet my mum tells me that it was not easy getting a baby sister and learning to share my mother and my things - at first that was NOT an easy thing for me to do... yet I have no memory of it at all... I have no memory of my sister coming home when I was 2.5 years old, (although I do remember her pram being stolen when she was a few months old and being dragged up and down the beach looking for it, I spent the rest of my life thinking it had been my fault as I could feel my parents anger - it was first when I was in my mid-twenties when I asked my mother about the incident that I discovered the whole story and that it had nothing to do with me except having to run with my little legs after their giant steps as they hoped to find the pram).

So my memories - OK so it cannot have been too traumatic to HAVE to learn to share - even though I didn't like it. Interesting that I DID remember one of the only times my parents were really angry/upset/frustrated and that I had picked it up and carried it with me from being 2 years old - I can STILL feel that feeling, weird, eh? But it has left a big impression on me that my behaviour does leave an imprint - that it is OK to set limits and expectations of reasonable behaviour, but that it is important to do that with respect.

Sharing is one of those things that we do need to learn... to learn when its OK to do something/keep something for yourself and when its not/or can hurt other's feelings... and also to learn that sharing has its benefits as then others will want to share with you...

also you can't play much if you are guarding the toys like dragons round gold... and if that means sharing, then surely that must be a better option than just saying "mine"...

I pointed that out to a three year old yesterday... clinging onto 4 cars, doubled over so that she would not drop one and let someone else play with it... she sat down, bending over her treasure saying "no" every time another child came close... I asked if she wanted to play with the cars. Yes was the answer. I  pointed out that everyone else was busy playing and that maybe if she was happy to share her four cars with the others who only had one each then maybe she would have more time to play. She looked at me in silence. She watched the other children. She looked at the cars - and then offered two to another child and commenced to play... she laughed and played. She then looked at me "I shared the cars and now I can play" she turned away and brummed her car across the mat...

What is beauty anyway...?

This photograph had got me thinking deeper about something that has been simmering for a while... in fact the whole album by Svane Frode of the Adventure Playground FORCKI in Berlin is filled with images of a different kind of beauty... 

I totally get the whole idea of wanting to make children's play and learning spaces beautiful - but from whose perspective are we making them beautiful - are we making them beautiful in the eyes of the child or in the eyes of the adults
I like organisation in a preschool setting - it helps the children know where things are when they need/want them - especially when there are many sharing the same space there is a need to have a place for everything otherwise so much time would be spent looking for things rather than playing... BUT one could argue it could also open up opportunities to find and discover new things... (but having said that I have to admit that I get really irritated when shops change their layout and when they re-position products so that we "discover" new things - I always feel that if I want to start exploring then I will - I don't need someone else to "explore" for me... but suggestions - like posters on the wall, (documentation in preschools) can encourage to discover or rediscover  items/play).

 " Beauty is a characteristic of a person, animal, place, object, or idea that provides a perceptual experience of    pleasure or satisfaction." Wikipedia

 I think we need to focus on the words pleasure or satisfaction - children have obviously been part of the creation in the above photograph - there will be the pleasure and satisfaction of creating the construction, making a booby-trap at the entrance and a method of climbing onto the roof - they will stand back and admire their work - there is obvious beauty in that. BUT at first glance I have to admit I saw a mess... it was first by taking a step from my adult perceptions of beauty I could see the real beauty of this image...

As a child tidying up was NEVER a priority in my life... my own children at home do not have that priority either - their rooms are chaotic - but show their play, their interests and the beauty of their lives - and once a week they need to sort the floor space at least so we can vacuum clean - and every once in a while we work together to sort out their rooms...

I remember as a child I LOVED when we did the BIG CLEAN UP (well maybe not that bit so much - although it was a chance for rediscovery) - but the short time afterwards when everything had its place - all the surfaces and floor were clear and ready for play - it was like having a new room - but it never lasted long - the play took over and chaos reigned once again...

In a way that is how I see myself as a teacher... supplying children with the space to play - the space to learn - and yes they need to learn about responsibility of putting things away so they can find them, and about cooperation and helping - but I still feel that it is my work to ensure the environment supports their play...

... and this is where it becomes tricky - how beautiful does it have to be? And what kind of beautiful? Its is like the word play - when we have started using the word work to give children's play status - but its PLAY and should have status and value (work and play, elevating the status of play)... the same I feel is for beauty - how children view it should have the same value as how adults view it... 

...and providing children with settings that are deemed beautiful from an adult perspective with the aim that we value children so much that we are creating these "wonderful" spaces,  is really not giving children value - in a way it is reducing them further - as we are not listening to the children, we are not taking the time to see beauty through their eyes... 

I have yet to meet a child that does not spread out their toys, coating enormous spaces in their play (I have lego scars on my feet to remind me) - so why are so many spaces for children being created looking almost sterile?

As the environment is the third teacher according to the Reggio Emilia Approach we need to really think about what the layout of the setting is telling the children... does it say "we listen to you" or is it saying "we know what you need"? (and I do think design needs to contain elements of both - but the child does need to feel heard... "listened to" means we hear all the children's voices... all their languages)

mud kitchens are also beautiful - and come in many forms - but so much play, so much pleasure and so much satisfaction = beauty

I am not simply going to give up on what I think is beautiful - but I do think its worth considering children's view of beauty when we are designing places of play and learning... it needs to be a mix - as its a learning space for both adults and children and therefore does need to meet the needs of all involved (as well as including lots of practical details that just make life simpler ie more time for play...)

what really got me started thinking about beauty and how differently children perceive beauty is when I was collecting pine cones with the children during spring... Of course I was just collecting the "beautiful" ones - the whole ones with symmetry and a few quirky ones - the children were collecting any old cone (from my perspective) - ones that were eaten by squirrels, ones that were damp and half mushed... we put them together and we counted them and we talked about which ones we wanted to take back to the preschool ... (OK OK I was secretly hoping that just the whole beautiful ones would make it back) - but no - the children had their own agenda - they were filled with pleasure and satisfaction by the cones they had collected - their cones were beautiful, so all the cones were brought back to the preschool.  
We create artwork with half eaten cones in our loose-play - BEAUTIFUL artwork ... and while I sit and wonder at the children using these half eaten cones - they are perfectly satisfied and look at me with gleaming faces, proud of their creations - and so I glow with a new sense of beauty... awakened to all the new potentials... and grateful that I work with children so I can learn more and more about what the world is REALLY about...

This is just an initial reaction post... I want to dig deeper into beauty... 

Making mud inspired art...

it started with used cooled coffee grinds, red, yellow, green black and brown paint

and the idea was to have a "mud-play" with the paint. This was to be the background for our International Mud Day sign.

It certainly was messy like mud - and the coffee grinds added a great texture

the children loved making patterns with their fingers...

which was quite magical in places where there was still traces of original colour that had absorbed into the paper before it all got mixed into brown...

the finished sign - the words were painted before it was fully dry - to add a sort of mixing-mess look...
It dried well and it had a great structure and an almost sandpaper like feel to it.

the sign in the window today as we celebrated International Mud Day one day early so we could play with mud with our preschoolers.