Friday, February 11, 2022

2/11/2022

A Tranformer Trip!

KW's neighborhood explorations continued this week with a visit to the Transformer statues near the Georgetown Campus. As children checked out these metal masterpieces they made the following observations:
   Giacomo - I've never seen them before.
   Marley - There's a lot of metal pieces.
   Lochie - The stopped working.
  Sylvie - (Indicating the yellow one). This one is called "Bumblebee."
  Jack - I've seen these before on the way to my dad's office.
   George - They could go in my house. They are SO big!

On our neighborhood walks, the journey can be as interesting as the destination. Children took time to look at the old call boxes along our route. They also noticed American and DC flags, Holy Trinity school, the wave mural, and Mr. Fox.

Many thanks to Audrey for taking this trip with us!

When we arrived back at school, children got to work drawing their ideas. During the trip, some children were impressed with details they noticed in the sculpture. Lochie focused on drawing a spring he remembered.

Building a Transformer

The children were eager to capture their transformer ideas with building materials today.
   C.C. - We're building Bumblebee.
Giacomo - I'm not sure we can reach. (We quickly found a stool!)
   C.C. - I'm not sure how we can do the arms.
Giacomo - I have an idea. These can be the arms (boards).
   C.C. - And these can be the fingers (unit blocks).
   Giacomo - That's what I thought.
   Jack - How will we attache them?
   Reed - I know... maybe if we lift up some of those big blocks, we can stick them in there.

The children worked well together, exchanging ideas and trying different strategies. Eventually some tape was used to attach some of the smaller loose parts.

More Materials

Not everyone wanted to build a transformer. Children helped to gather interesting images and materials for collages that could be a robot, a monster, an animal, or any sort of creature. Today, Elle, Marley, and Lochie worked on this. Sometimes their ideas changed as they were presented with different materials.
   Elle - (Initially drawn to images of jewelry) I'm trying to make a fancy mummy.
   Violet - I'm making a cat. I'm making him look beautiful.
   Lochie - This is a leaf robot. with leaf hands and a leaf shaped head.
   Violet - I'm making this kitty a pretty dress.
   Elle - (Laughing) My kitty has a corn body.
   Lochie - I want to draw the body. (Violet incorporated a lot of drawing in her collage as well.)
   Lochie - (Starting his second collage). The body for this is a big flower.
   Violet - (With a heart image) This is a pillow for the kitty. I'll add another heart and make it more beautiful.