Reflections, Shadows and the Best Job in the world!

Children walk through a world of wonder.  They discover reflections in shiny holiday ornaments outside nearby stores and giggle as their images distort in the curved mirror  (this leads to a great talk about foreshortening).

They ask about the "life span" of a shadow and whether they stay put or move before disappearing at night.  

We use chalk to mark a trees shadow. On our way back we excitedly discover that it has MOVED.  Why?  The answers are varied but eventually we come to a consensus that shadows move "...because the sun moves... well no the earth really moves but it seems like the sun is moving... yeah because we are standing still! In the winter there are more shadows because it's colder... yeah the sun is getting tired...and the shadows are yawning."

Could I have given a more poetic description?  Nope.

Leave it to children to find the wonder inherent in ordinary things!  I'll say it again, "I have the best job in the world!"

Light and Shadows.

 Noticing natures artistry in light and shadow on our walk through Cherry Creek. One of the children remarked, "You have to have light in order to have shadows.  Shadows need light and light makes shadows."  A beautiful metaphor and noticing.

Painting Clay

The children have been in the studio painting clay works with Amy and the results are WONDERFUL!

Self representation continues

Self representation continues to be a point of interest in the studio!

The children carefully examine their features as they make artistic decisions on how best to interpret them on paper.

They are regularly telling and illustrating stories about their days and weeks to be added to their "story people".

We added new puzzles relating to the human body that are captivating the children's interest and often require 2-3 people working collaboratively to complete.

Stay tuned to see how this study develops in the weeks and months ahead.  

The toddler class has officially moved into the Studio

On Friday the toddlers joined me in the Studio!  Up until now I have been bringing the studio to them in their class.  It was a huge success! Here are some pictures from the day...