Calapoole: "It means that you feel like there’s something growing inside." - Margaret

There has been so much interest recently in the buds on the trees, we decided to offer children an opportunity first to closely observe a variety of buds from nearby trees, then to imagine and depict what is inside of each. Children were asked to notice, describe, and draw one bud. Then we paused to share ideas about what might be inside the buds. Next children were given a sheet of transparency paper to layer over the initial drawing; on this sheet they were invited to draw or paint what they thought was inside.  

Kian first said, “I think there’s a seed in there. But later after carefully drawing his bud, he decided it had butterflies inside; he painted them in white and gold, explaining “There are butterflies going all over the place.”

Charlie paid careful attention to the shape of the bud as well as the color, selecting gray and gold to sketch the fuzzy exterior. He decided that inside of his bud there was cocoa. He drew it carefully with a brown paint marker, explaining that the cocoa "tastes like marshmallows." ​

Sally said, “I think butterflies are gonna hatch out.” Then she whispered, “I don’t wanna wake it up.” She then thought a  bit and said, “Or a golden shell can be in there. Or a silver shell.” ​

Jossie shared, “I think there’s a flower.” Then she asked Lisa, “Remember when we saw the flower?” She was recalling a day in December that we peeled open buds we had found in the outdoor classroom.  She also noticed that Lou Lou's bud was different, saying "This one has a flower, but that one is from a different tree." Lou Lou speculated, “Maybe there’s a mushroom in it.”  Then she and Jossie discussed which mushrooms were okay to eat and which were poison mushrooms. ​

Leigh thought that there may be wood inside her bud, and she carefully studied and reproduced the shape and color of the bud on its stem. ​

Margaret carefully drew a bud with a scalloped flower-like pattern around the base. Inside was a "calapoole." What is a calapoole? Margaret explains, “It means that you feel like there’s something growing inside. There’s a plant growing inside." 

Grace spent a very long time noticing her buds--their shape, color, and texture--before drawing them. As she drew them, she checked frequently to make sure that she was capturing the shapes. After she began coloring in the fuzzy texture, she noticed lines and added them in green and orange. When she was satisfied with her rendering of the outside, she began to speculate about what was inside, saying she thought it was "one tiny seed." Adding her second layer, she began with one seed, then carefully added a few more. As grace became more familiar and involved with her subject, it was easy to see the relationship develop between them. We're excited to explore more tree buds and the mysteries they contain.