Clay

As we end our fourth week of summer (yes it has been a whole month!!) we are beginning to see stronger bonds being built amongst the children and a sense of routine and confidence. The children are becoming more familiar with materials and with one another as they build on learning and inquire through weekly provocations. We as classroom facilitators have been intentionally building on a continuum of learning and have seen they children discover and make their own conclusions through the study of materials. 

Clay

For two weeks we have been exposing our children to clay. Clay gives us open ended opportunities for learning and inquiry. When introducing clay it is of the essence to build slowly. We started only with clay for an entire week and have observed children develop their own ideas and techniques to mold and change the clay. Clay gives us a diverse tool for exploring an ever changing material. It has been beautiful to watch each child explore the clay using their own personal interpretations. 

Young child exploring clay block.

Diversity

As we began the school year with an exploration of colors, textures, warmth, coolness and neutrality, we are now connecting these concepts to our self discovery provocations. We began self portraits and face painting exploration for a few weeks. We openly discussed our differences through literature and and similarities as people of an array of races and cultures. 

We through these diverse books began a conversation on skin tone. We all have an array of textures and shades, unique to each individual self. We moved on from bright colored face painting to actual skin tone face paint to increase awareness on how unique we truly are and yet very much the same. We are exploring and expanding on our knowledge of color and color theory concepts. 

Warmth and what makes colors warm, breaking down concepts even further for a more defined idea. Each child inquires, mixes, discovers and unfolds the layers of ones self. Truly an emergent concept that deeply develops new ideas, language and theories. We took this even a step further and discussed that through pigmentation we can truly be multiple colors, we used play dough in efforts to relate and explain this to our class. Through visuals we began a topic on how chemistry in our pigmentation can cause us to be an array of shades and textures. This is the essence of anti-bias curriculum and environments creating awareness and inclusivity in our classrooms culture. We are one race the “human race.”    

Color Mixing 

Toddler Provocations

What is a Provocation?

A provocation can be an endless array of items, materials, visuals; and or any object that provoke children to think, create, act, discuss and question their surrounding environment. Provocations are an open invitation for children to express themselves through the use of a diverse array of materials and intentional concepts. Some examples of provocations are; photographs of buildings next to blocks, loose parts such as rocks, leaves and sticks; these items are open ended materials that give space for children to create and build upon learning. Open ended materials are essential for setting up toddler provocations, they give children a diverse opportunity to explore their senses. 

How can I bring this into the home environment?

I often time get asked on my page, “how can I get started on doing this with my child at home?” “What do I need to buy?” When thinking about provocations we must remember that it is an invitation, it must spark your child’s interest, it also should be intentional. What does this mean? The format in which the idea is presented must engage or provoke your child to explore, and begin research. Amazon shipment boxes, paper rolls, and straws make for amazing materials to use to build, sort, count, and create with. Place a picture of a building next to these materials and you now have a provocation. The materials should not be limiting, they should flexible enough that they can be anything the child chooses and this is the art of provocations. When we tune in to our children’s interest and needs it allows us to give children mindful invitations that provoke creativity and self expression.  

Loose Parts Play

We use loose parts on a daily basis when setting up invitations for our students. What these essentially are “open-ended play materials and manipulatives that children can use in a variety of ways (Daly, L., & Beloglovsky, M. (2014).” Loose parts provide children with endless opportunities to build on play. Open ended materials make way for creativity to take place. Children are, counting, sorting, creating patterns and experiencing each objects shape, texture, color and size all the while creating their own concepts and ideas about each item. They are diverse and are not limiting, making way for children to engage in open ended play that do not interfere with a child’s creativity. 

Resources

Daly, L., & Beloglovsky, M. (2014). Loose parts: Inspiring play in young children. St. Paul, MN: Redleaf Press.

Heydon, R., Crocker, W., & Zhang, Z. (2014). Novels, Nests and Other Provocations: Emergent Literacy Curriculum