Celebrating Seon's Birthday

12/16/2021

Learning About Our Friend Seon

The Committee's work began when we interviewed Seon at morning meeting to find out a bit more about her. We learned about a few of Seon's favorites...
Favorite Colors: Red and Green
Favorite Animal: Donkey

Birthday Committee Day 1

Continuing with our theme of using wood in birthday gifts, we used pieces of wood and bark, along with leaves to make a print for Seon’s birthday gift. On the first day, we tried out printing with different types of paint and ink, as well as different types of wood. We used unfinished natural wood with bark, as well as wood that was finished more like lumber for our prints. We also tried out using different types of leaves with various shapes. On the first day of our birthday committee work, Ellie and Emma teamed up and Bailee and Mimi joined forces to practice printing using ink, sponges and brayers.

Ellie and Emma
Karen: Can you cover that whole piece of bark Emma? We’re just practicing today.
Emma: Just practicing.
Karen: Ready? Squish, squish, squish.
Ellie: I cover all the gift (piece of bark)!
Karen: Ellie let see what happens.
Ellie: Wow! Ah!

Mimi and Bailee
Mimi: I need more ink. And now I do this?
Bailee looked at her sponge and laughed: It’s all red! (laughing).

A Few of the Birthday Committee's First Attempts at Printing

Birthday Committee Day 2

Ellie and Emma were eager to show Isabelle and Ragnar what they had practiced on the first day of the Birthday Committee's Work.

Ellie and Isabelle
Ellie: We need to print it! Me want red. (The green jar of ink was in front of her).
Isabelle: I want green (The red jar of ink was closest to her).
Karen: Do you want to trade places?
Ellie and Isabelle traded places at the table and eagerly began to look at the materials and tools in front of them.
Isabelle: It a ginkgo leaf (picking up a ginkgo leaf with from the tray of materials on the table).

Emma and Ragnar
Karen: Where do you want to place your leaf this time Emma?
Emma: Here. Right here.
Karen: And what do we do next?
Emma: Smooth it, smooth it (describing how she presses the inked leaf onto the printing paper with the back of the wooden spoon).
Karen: Ragnar, are you ready?
Ragnar: Let's do it!
Karen: Did you cover your whole leaf?
Ragnar: Yes! I did!

The birthday committee used a variety of wood pieces and leaves to create their prints for Seon's birthday gift.

Birthday Committee Day 3

On the final day of Seon's birthday committee, Mimi and Fay worked together in the atelier. As they collaged the prints of wood and leaves onto a larger piece of black paper, they narrated their own work:
Mimi: I gonna get more glue. Because her favorite colors are white, red and green.
Fay: I like this one. I want this to be on top and this to be right there if we are making a someone. We are bringing a gift to her, for Seon. On top of the other ones. That’s a big piece.
Karen: Where are you going to place it?
Fay: Right there!

Celebrating Seon with her Family

On Thursday, Seon shared a special birthday treat with her friends of Cacao Dream Cake and a white cake with strawberries which was decorated for the holiday season.

Seon's family, Jinmyung and Youngil joined us on the front lawn to continue the celebration. They shared two of Seon's favorite storybooks and then joined her in walking around the birthday candle three times to signify her three turns around the sun thus far. She enthusiastically blew out the birthday candle and then her friends sang the Brown Room's birthday song, "It's Your Birthday and You Know It." To conclude her celebration, she was presented with her gift by members of her birthday committee.