At Little Elms, we've been busy exploring Autumn throughout the nursery and in our creativity. Today the children looked at natural resources that we had collected such as leaves and pine cones and put them out for the children to explore with plasticine.
Each child looked and explored the natural resources in a different way. Exploring all of the different materials to see where their creativity would take them.
Some of the children looked at using the natural resources to make faces. After one child created a face, other children started to copy. Each making a leaf face of their own. Some of the children began creating their mummy or daddy, where as some of the children created their friends.
Lottie used a pine cone to make a nose for her leaf person and a stick for the mouth. "My daddy has a big nose"
Some of the children began sticking the leaves into the plasticine. One of the children noticed that when they stuck the leaves into the plasticine, it looked a bit like a tree. Some of the other children also noticed this, and joined in, making their own tree creations.
As the children manipulated and investigated, they communicated less as they lost themselves in their own explorations and thought processes. Each child seemed to have their own agenda that was unravelling before them.
Today saw the development of the children’s interest in manipulation as a form of risk taking to develop self confidence here at Pebbles. In preparation for the rapid arrival of Christmas the children were supported to use their own creativity to decorate salt dough to create decorations.
"These [shells] go on here so it can fly to the top of the tree" - Henry (42 Months)
Shells collected by the children during visits to the beach, provided interesting additions for the children to explore.
"The snail shell is the star!" - Earl (48 Months)
Shells collected by the children during visits to the beach, provided interesting additions for the children to explore.
"The snail shell is the star!" - Earl (48 Months)
Creating patterns using similar shells.
Some of the finished decorations, ready for baking.
Children developed fine motor skills as they arranged shells on their dough, recognising different patterns and texture.
“There's no crab living in here now" (referring to the hermit crabs we'd seen in some shells the week before when collecting them on the beach) - Ella (37 Months)
"I have the jingle bells for my cutter!" - Melsa (35 Months)
The sensation of the texture and temperature of the dough kept some children engaged for extended periods of time as their senses made new discoveries.
The sensation of the texture and temperature of the dough kept some children engaged for extended periods of time as their senses made new discoveries.
Today we explored clay as a way of developing confidence in creating something unique and spontaneous.
The children were provided with a chunk of clay each with a wide variety of natural and open ended resources and given the freedom to create.
Initially some of the children were tentative, and immediately recognised how cold it was which seemed to take them by surprise.
Some, however, enjoyed the anticipation that exploring a large portion of clay could bring.
“It is very soft” a child announced as he pinched the clay between his finger tips.
“It isn’t soft it is really hard, I can’t nearly roll mine!”
The exchange of observational language from the children was quite spontaneous and throughout the experimentation of the clay children’s language was minimal but relevant to their individual discoveries.
“I’m making holes”
One of the children fully immersed himself in the experience and spent the entire morning session collecting self chosen resources that he used to create different patterns in his evolving creation. He knew where to find specific resources that he wanted to use and although the experience was intended to be open ended with no specific agenda, he obviously had his own that occupied his mind for an extended period of time.
Providing freedom for children to explore making marks and challenging themselves to try new things develops an inner confidence that will ooze from them in other areas of their being. Understanding their own boundaries, pushing themselves to explore the unknown and try new ways of approaching things, opens their minds to a new way of thinking.
The children’s fascination was evident as they created patterns using different types of resources.
As the children manipulated and investigated more, they communicated less as they lost themselves in their own explorations and thought processes. Each child seemed to have their own agenda that was unravelling before them. It was clear to see the enjoyment of their evolving imaginations as they added their self chosen resources.
“I have made a snowman”
To continue our ‘Creative Me’ experiences our second session has seen the children exploring their individuality through the medium of clay.
The children used a selection of natural objects, including some they found on the beach, to add features to their clay faces.
One child chose to use a crab claw as a nose!
Each child created their own interpretation.
There was no expectation set for the children to meet so all the children could create what they wanted.
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