Grey Ghost

Rolling with the child directed pumpkin theme this fall, we watched a video on the life cycle of a pumpkin. Different varieties of pumpkins were featured, and the grey and blue pumpkin fascinated the children. I made another trip to a local market and brought in a special pumpkin for exploration. And then I set up the provovocation...

To play.

To explore.

To observe.

To create. 

"Grey Ghost" Pumpkin Provocation

Each day the centre was set out, I would discover the pumpkin was decorated with paint. From what I understand from the snippets I heard when passing by, they were trying to find the right match of grey. How clever. And each afternoon, the little Grey Ghost would have a bath and make itself ready for the next bunch of curious still life artists :)

 

Once again, I left no instructions on "how" to use the materials before them. The children were faced with the pumpkin, a brush and a paper plate palette featuring a glob of white paint, and glob of black. Interestingly enough, I was not consulted this time. I let them talk amongst themselves and I listened in...

 

"Can we paint it?"

 

"How do we paint it? We only have black."

 

"....I have black and white."

 

"What are we supposed to do?"

 

 

"Do we paint the pumpkin?"

 

(...and they did! They painted directly on the pumpkin!)

 

"That is too much black."

 

"Let's put white on."

 

(...wait for it....)

 

"Hey!  We made grey!"

 

And the experience continued. They added white to the pumpkin. They added more black. Back and forth they went. Until the pumpkin was quite literally dripping with tempera. At this point, I did step in and casually suggest putting some of the paint on the paper in front of them.

 

This blog is a one method of documenting the learning that is taking place in our atelier. It is one method of communicating to you, as parents. But for me, it has also developed into part of my reflective practice. As I upload these pictures (am I uploading or downloading? I don't know - there is a learning curve here) and write this post, I am truly delighting in the fact that I am facing assumptions I made. As much as I would like to admit that I carefully planned this lesson on mixing black and white to create grey, it was incidental. It is a gift for me witness the learning experiences of these little people, and when I take the time to document these little scenarios, I am overwhelmed with the beauty of their creations. My living room is currently sprawled with their work, as I assemble their October Lap Book which will make their way home to you shortly. These lap books celebrate their accomplishments and document their learning throughout the year.

 

As always, thank you for visiting our atelier!