Calm music, artistic inspiration, dim lights, and a wall full of juicy words.
We set the stage to deepen our study into the artist Akaimi and creating our own self portraits. Taking some time away from our study allows us to come back fresh and motivated.
First we noticed.
What do you see?
Do you remember what makes this art special?
What part of this work makes your heart happy?
When you look in the mirror, what do you see?
Some friends moved to another space and continued their work, studying Akaimi and what makes her work special.
PS and JI sat together, taking turns to draw collaboratively.
JI, you are the master of dresses and shape.
PS, your ability to see details is inspiring.
As we move through the week, we will continue to add to our portraits. We will strengthen the details, thinking more about what juicy word really describes us.
We started our day with a belated birthday celebration for EM!
We are so happy you joined 5 year old, one whole hand club!
Thank you for sharing your birthday joy with us, and letting us celebrate your day!
Today our loose parts building table became a hub of activity.
Initially our friends were focused on video games and super heros. Fun and exciting to be sure, but we know the amazing brains and imaginations of our Birch friends are capable of so much more.
So we paused,
questioned
wondered
waited
And you began creating!
"I'm going to make a home for the squirrel." JA
That sounds amazing. What do you know about squirrel homes?
"They live in tall, tall trees!" JA
Hmmm...I notice your squirrel home is all spread out flat. You told me squirrels live in tall, tall trees. I wonder how you can change your home?
And you began once again and created so much more than just a squirrel home.
"This is his home and this is a diving board! He jumps off here and I'm going to make a swimming pool!" JA
Loose parts magic!
JL you were watching your friend create and you began stacking up your materials. One after another after another into a tall, straight, unified tower. I watched and then,
"It's a trampoline!" JL
I love it! You are thinking about the way your animals move and are both creating something fun and amazing for them to play with! Your rabbit would have SO much fun bouncing on a trampoline!
You weren't finished yet, though!
As others continued to come to this space the creativity also continued to grow!
"I made a playground!" CG
You told me what each and every piece of your structure symbolized. There was a fence all around your playground, three slides, and three things holding the slides up!
Then you found a tiny person to enjoy your creation.
I wondered if everyone might create some variation of play today.
I was most definitely wrong!
"I'm making doughnuts. Unicorn doughnuts!" MT
You assembled the most beautiful tiny creations! Your doughnuts looked as if they were decorated with jewels!
They reminded me of some amazing and beautiful chocolates your teachers received as a kindness gift. Those, too looked like jewels too precious to eat!
JI, you came over and silently began creating. You were SO focused I could tell you had a plan. You were looking at each and every loose part and placing them just exactly where you wanted them. Some pieces were laid flat. Some pieces were standing up tall. Some pieces were balancing precariously on their sides. Each and every one with purpose.
"It's a movie theater!" JI
Oh my goodness. I can see exactly what your vision had been.
You told me about all of the pieces were intended to be.
There was a snack bar, a movie screen, and a place up high where the movie comes on!
As is sometimes the case with these amazing creations, they get bumped or knocked. When your movie theater came toppling down there were tears and hugs, and then a smile as you committed to creating something even better than before!
After our Kindness celebration last week, we have sought for ways to keep our minds centered around all of those wonderful feelings we discovered.
Today for Think About it Thursday our friends were asked
What does it feel like to be kind?
"Loving" RM EM
"Helpful" CF JI
"Nice" JA
"Happy" CG
Then friends began to tell me what being kind LOOKS like!
"When people fall and I help them." LB
"Sharing and playing with everyone" JI
MS you told me being kind feels "silly", and you made a BIG smiley face. I notice your nose was all wrinkled up like a bunny, your shoulders curled up, your hands clasped together. Your face looked happy! We talked about a silly-happy feeling. Then you shared more.
"When someone is sad I make a silly face to cheer them up." MS
NOW I understand! Your kindness is making your friends feel better with a silly face.!
Kindness isn't just something for others. It makes US feel better inside too!
We headed outside for a bit today and it wasn't very long before we caught some friends showing us exactly what kindness can look like.
Our Sycamore friends were heading in and these Birch friends helped clean up their materials all on their own! Helping others is definitely kind!
As we came inside we set up invitations that allowed our friends to think more about kindness.
What does it feel like?
What words are kind?
What does it look like?
As we continue to be collectors of words today we focused our words on those that are kind.
"Love" MT
K, you spent a long time thinking about words that are kind. I can tell you were thinking about words that are kind to SAY and words that feel good when you hear them too!
"I love you"
Those are beautiful kind words!
"Ms L I have a new kind word, 'cute'!" CG
Giving a person a compliment is most certainly kind!
With all of our talk about kindness it was no wonder that our friends hearts were full of positive feelings
"My heart feels happy. Hearts and flowers make me happy." AD
AD you were at this table for a long time drawing and smiling the whole time. As we all talked together at the table we discussed how we were all feeling. I heard,
"Happy" AD
"Good" CW
"Happy" MT
I wondered aloud if your "happy" and "good" feelings were the same.
"I feel SO happy!" AD
"I'm just regular happy." MT
You are all telling me you are happy. I wonder, how can you tell when a friend is happy?
"You can see the smile." MT
"I'm happy to be at school. This is my happy smile!" AD
Then you rolled up the picture that you had created. The one filled to overflowing with images that bring you joy...butterflies, hearts, flowers, your name, and a person...and you gave it to me.
"This is for you." AD
And now, MY heart if happy!
Giving a gift feels kind and makes both of our hearts happy!
"A hug makes my heart happy." AD
And just like that, I got ANOTHER gift from you, the best hug ever!
AD, being at school makes your heart happy, and when you are at school MY heart is happy too!
While many friends came to this invitation intent on drawing, ESE you focused on a different aspect.
You picked up our "feelings balls" as some of our friends have called them and began telling me how those colors make you feel.
"I love the pink one, and the rainbow one." ESE
You were manipulating the colors in your hands and on your paper. I wondered how you might use the markers to show me how your heart was feeling.
I watched as you first put two colors on your paper and then traced around them with a matching marker. Then you gathered up the rest of the feelings balls and began placing them in groups inside the circles.
You are such a kind friend who enjoys playing with everyone. I imagine you are thinking about those beautiful colorful feelings faces as those of you and your friends. Being all together makes your heart happy, and that is just what you showed me!
As these friends played together I came and sat near them watching.
"We're playing family." HW
Wow, I wonder how your play shows me that? What do you do with your family?
"We play!" HW
How does playing with your family make you feel?
"Good" HW
I know you all love your families so much, and being with them fills your hearts with happiness.
Drawing our attentions to those feelings and making connections has such a positive impact on our play.
Kindness was everywhere today!
Check out the Sycamore and Magnolia blogs to see what else your child had the opportunity to do during capers today.
Today we spent the majority of our day outside. We rushed to the sand area thinking the rain was coming. The temps were warm, the wind was calm, and there was just enough sun to keep up smiling. We saw so many friends creating, running, using their imagination, climbing, jumping, and just being kids. It was a wonderful day full of joy!
