La Cabane à Sucre

This spring, the maple trees have an abundance of "extra" sap to give to those who are willing to put in the long hours of collecting, boiling and bottling. The children have been coming to school telling us tales about their weekend visits to local sugar shacks, and spending time with family and friends who continue the tradition of tapping sugar maples. It is an exciting time of year, marked by the warm days and cold nights that ensure a steady flow of sap.

At school, we have turned our water table into a maple syrup evaporator. Our sap pail hangs within reach, as the children count to 40 and little hands steadily fill the bucket, only to dump it into the evaporator again. It takes a whopping 40 containers of sap to boil down to 1 container of syrup. 40:1

We explored the spile, that gets hammered into the tree. We were curious ....

How does the sap get in the spile?  Ahhh. There is a hole.

Why is the hole on the bottom?

The children turned to their neighbour to "talk" and share ideas. We never underestimate the critical reasoning of a 4 year old. The sap rises up from the bottom of the tree! Ask them to demonstrate! (*early concept development of xylem and phloem - highschool biology!)

And since the children can never get enough of the block centre, we took a look at the design of a few sugar shacks. What do they have in common? We spoke about the difference between smoke and steam. Because there is so much evaporation that happens, the steam needs to escape the shack. The children broke into 'focus groups' and designed their own sugar shacks, keeping in mind the need for a vent, to allow steam to escape.

And of course, if you give a JK some maple syrup, chances are, they'll want some food to go with it. 

We brainstormed ideas for the kitchen, and we're impressed with their culinary skills! 

We love to see their creativity at play.

Thanks for stopping by the atelier!

Dino - might!

A few weeks back, we were able to take part in a workshop offered by Scientists in the Schools. Our Parent Council has been generously supporting this endeavour for a few years now, and we are very appreciative. This year, our workshop was titled, "I Can Be A Scientist". The children tried their hands at being Astronomers, Chemists, and Paleontologists.

While talking about our (then upcoming) field trip and exhibits at the Canadian Museum of Nature, the children renewed their interest in dinosaurs again, and the Paleontologists got to "work" with loose parts.

                                     

A stegosaurus footprint became the focus one morning, and we took advantage of the opportunity to revisit "tally marks" and "area" and "data management".

A display offered inspiration for the children to search and match characteristics of specific dinosaurs. The attributes of these different types were described, and oral communication was embellished with lots of adjectives. These detailed conversations will only enhance their writing down the road.

The dinosaur "exhibit" continues to be a hit...

... and encourages creativity.

Thanks for stopping by the atelier!

Fabric Fun

   Daily, the children inspire us to exercise creativity. During 'loose parts' one morning, a gigantic bag of fabric scraps was spread out over the carpet. Fabric is a wonderful medium in the classroom - the pattern, the texture, the nature in which it can be rolled, smoothed and folded, adds to the whole sensory experience.

We wondered what would happen if we added dolls to the mix. We rummaged through the cupboards for extra dolls, and borrowed from neighbouring classes. We sat back and watched the magic happen, as the children were free ...

To play.

To explore.

To observe.

To create.

Fine motor skills were utilized as the children wrapped and tied the fabric to create diapers and wardrobes for the dolls.

The dolls were dressed, and nurtured.

The children shared stories about taking care of their baby brothers, sisters, cousins.

They shared resources, and collaborated on plans.

When the curriculum expectations begin to unfold, and there is a buzz of excitement in the room, it is a tremendous experience. As this activity picked up in enthusiasm, we were inspired to print up some paper dolls, and prepare for another activity.

A talented, scrapbooking parent generously donated some terrific art materials last year. We still had some beautiful paper leftover, so we set the stage for the children to engage in creativity, exercise spatial sense, and practice cutting & fine motor skills.

Creativity was abound, and the morning passed by so quickly! Recently, I have been reading more journal articles related to the development of creativity in children. There is increasingly more value given to creativity, and research into the different subcomponents of creative development, which are closely related to general cognitive development. I feel very strongly, that when the children are provided open ended opportunities, deep learning is taking place. We feel very lucky to work with these little people, as they taking their learning to the next level.

Thank you for visiting the atelier!

Loose Parts - Fifth Edition

More natural materials were used in this version of "loose parts". Corks and small wood cubes were distributed in a haphazard fashion, across the carpet. There is an element of surprise now, when the children enter the classroom, and we hear it in their voices.

 

Presently, the children are eager to create and want to have a picture taken of every design they come up with. We value each of them, and are encouraging the children to explain more about why they are proud of their creation. As much as we want to preserve each piece, I feel we also want to move towards letting go, resilience, being in the present moment. We want the children to recognize the feelings that accompany taking a risk and creating a piece that reflects their interpretation, in the moment. 

Balance and placement were important here.

Organic shapes flowing.

 

Spatial sense revisited.

Colours of the rainbow.

"It's a Disney castle."

This child liked that this piece would start to roll, and

challenged themselves to make it taller.

Simplistic beauty.

 

We find that children are deciding to work alone, beside somebody, or collaboratively -- depending on the day. Perhaps, depending on the materials presented? And sometimes, depending on the moment.

 

There is much collaboration that takes place. The children have to share the resources -- not "hoard". They are encouraged to take from the pile as inspiration leads them. We hear that they are asking a friend to pass them an item, or asking if they could use something in particular when finished. And when our time has passed and it's time to clean up, more skills are exercised. Bins are placed in the centre of the carpet, sorting occurs, and they move like waves in the ocean --  ebb and flow. This allows for more continuous movement and a relatively quick clean up.

 

We took a risk and embarked on a new project. We are so glad we did! There is so much to be gained through this open-ended exercise. The children love it, and everyday we discover more reasons to continue with this initiative.

 

Thank you for visiting our atelier.

Loose Parts - Fourth Edition

Who can resist the texture of beautiful fabric? Years ago, there used to be a group of parents who would quilt in the front foyer of our school. Their beautiful creation would be sold, via raffle tickets, and a lucky family would go home, the recipient of a stunning quilt, made with love. Somehow, I acquired a bag of scrap materials from this group of quilters. I vaguely remember using these batiq fabric scraps in some creative work with the kinders. But alas, this scrap material ran out. And since the tradition of quilt making at Castor Valley seems to have taken a hiatus, I have been searching for a new line on scrap fabric. This spring, we scored! My mother joined a quilting group -- never having quilted before in her life! Aside from being so proud of her (these quilts are made for patients undergoing cancer treatment) I was also eager to find out if there would be any fabric scraps to donate. I am very grateful for the donations we receive, and there have been numerous art projects that have made use of these scraps.

While brainstorming open ended materials that could be used for our "loose parts" project, the notion of adding fabric to mix, seemed to fit.



Fabric, alphabet letters and dinosaurs. Oh my!

What the children had to say about the fabric:

"It was soft."

"It was flat."

"The fabric can be folded."

This child appeared to enjoy the process of placing

the fabric on in layers.

This collaborative effort required 

communication and teamwork.

Exploring letters in this "title" 

This child was using fine motor skills,

rolling up rugs.

This "pile of laundry" was weighted down.

I'm sure there was a story evolving here!

Fitting pieces together, to make a quilt or mosaic.

Simplistic beauty.

The use of fabric in this edition of "loose parts" reminded me again of the versatility of materials. When I'm at the hardware store, or a yard sale, I'm looking at items with new eyes. Our collections of seemingly random pieces are spurring creativity and wonderful social interactions in kindergarten. 

Thank you for stopping by the atelier.