Wednesday, January 3

Happy New Year!

It was great to get the gang back together today!  Throughout the classroom, children enjoyed working and playing together.  One table was devoted to small building with animals.  Some children built and pretended here for well over an hour.  
   Lila - We're playing animals, but they're bad.
   Carl - There are good guys and bad guys. 
Later the scenario moved from land to sea, which of course called for boats.
   Willa - They're on boats because they're in the water.  And this house is under water.

In the studio, another big idea called for collaboration.   Rose and Hadley worked to create a clay duck.  Hadley was able to transfer some of her clay animal expertise as she had previously made a clay pig in the Tucker Room.  Working together isn't always easy and there were some disagreements along the way.  The girls soon realized they had different skills and by working to their strengths, they could accomplish the goal.  As Rose observed, "Sometimes people are goober at some things."  After they made the duck, they went on to individual work.   Although they were now working on discreet projects, they continued to help each other.   At one point, Rose said to Hadley, "Can I help you?  I'll listen to your ideas." 

Did you know that hot glue is one of our favorite materials?   Today's other studio experience  was creating designs with a different types of hot glue and then adding paint.   The glue provides some texture (and sometimes sparkle) to the finished work.  The rest of our day included playing outside, writing  messages, and talking about highlights from our winter break.