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One thing that we've been discussing quite a bit this year is that plans can change; artists can change or alter their work for meany reasons. Perhaps they have a new idea, or the want to enhance the original piece. The work doesn't ever have to be complete. When one direction for something doesn't work out, it's good to come back together, discuss it, and try new things and ideas. The interview and first planLochie's committee (Elle, Giacomo, Sylvie, C.C., and Reed) already knew a few things about him by the time we sat down to interview him. "His favorite color is blue, and his favorite animal is a giraffe." - Elle, 4.10 years But, we still had questions and plenty of things to learn about Lochie that would help us plan his birthday gift. "So, do you like dolphins?" - Giacomo, 4.11 years "No, I only like the message center. I also like giraffes." - Lochie, 4.11 years Do you have a favorite kind of paper? "The heavy...not the thin paper. I like the heavier paper." - Lochie, 4.11 years What's your favorite thing to do with paper? "Fold them into paper airplanes, and swirls." - Lochie, 4.11 years "We could make a sculpture." - Elle, 4.10 years "We could make swirls with them." - C.C., 5.0 years "I'm not that interested in structures. I don't like structures because they're so tall. I don't like tall things. I like flat things. I don't really like anything medium [sized] or like towers. I just like things made flat. I like something pointy. Like something spiky." - Lochie, 4.11 years This information led us to our first plan: “Maybe we can make him a message!” - Elle, 4.11 years “That is on small paper.” - C.C., 5.0 years He also used the word “pointy”. “So, pointy paper.” - C.C., 5.0 years First step: Pointy/Spiky paperWhat is pointy or spiky paper? How do we make it? "You could get flat paper and spike it." - C.C., 5.0 years "Then shape it like a triangle." - Giacomo, 4.11 years "You cut it, like this [begins cutting the edges of the paper]." - Sylvie, 4.9 years
Step 2: The first plan The first plan was a set of beautifully collaged message that would be flat with pointy/spiky paper that they started working on the day before.. For this next part of the process, the children measured our collage base (the corrugated cardboard), created small/medium/large pieces for our collage by cutting from our blue palette, and considered how we might arrange them.
Step 3: Revising the planOne of our goals is for the children to find joy in the work that they do, and while there was initial excitement around creating pieces for a collage and layering them for a message, the enthusiasm was not sustained. After observing them throughout this process the day before, we discussed what questions we might bring to them that would open us up to new ideas. Knowing that we would be using paper and collaging (including the pieces that they had cut) for a message, combined with the fact that we have some excellent story-tellers in the Tucker Room, we asked the questions: What if we use our collage to tell a story for Lochie? What if it is a message that tells a story? What story would we tell? "Maybe we take the spiky paper to tell the story of a dinosaur because the teeth can be spiky." - Sylvie, 4.10 years “It could have Lochie in it [collage] and the T-rex.” - C.C., 5.0 years “And it could pop up.” - Elle, 4.10 years “The dinosaur should be eating Lochie.” - Sylvie “Ahh...it’s just gonna scare Lochie.” - Elle “Lochie could have a sword to cut it and get out of the dino.” - C.C. "All of us has ideas, so we could each make our ideas. Maybe we could be on teams." - Sylvie The children spent time looking through our paper drawers (seen below) for additional pieces that they might need for the collage; this is where they discovered the hedgehog paper that inspired part of the story. We also needed some spikes for the dinosaur's back, which they all agreed to cut into triangles. Sylvie cut the shape of the dinosaur head, while Elle searched for eyes. As they were working, the idea was brought up once more about how Lochie needed to feel safe, and so C.C. began to create the sword using transparency paper, silver paper, and some paper we found in Tucker closet that has wire in it. She layered it together with a golden handle to create Lochie's sword.
On this day, the committee also expressed the idea that we should use photos of Lochie instead of trying to make a "collage Lochie". So, we printed some to bring to our work the next day. Step 4: The Story Expands and the pieces are created“The story is that Lochie was walking around, and then the dinosaur ate him, and he had a sword to cut him. I mean, he was riding on his hedgehog, and then he fell off his hedgehog. Then a dinosaur ate him, and then he had a sword so he could cut out of the dinosaur. And the smile on his face is like, ‘I’m safe’. Then, the one where he’s like “this [moves eyes]’ is...is him looking at the dinosaur.” - C.C., 5.0 years Step 5: Creating the background and adding the pieces
As part of the discussion about the background on the previous day, Giacomo and Sylvie decided that it should be the ground and the sky. They each cut strips in shades of brown and blue for these. When Reed joined the committee, she had the idea that a tree should be planted in the ground ("A gingko tree. We know it's St. John's because of the gingko tree." - Reed), and Elle added that there should be flowers (roses). Elle searched through the paper drawers to find the colors she wanted, while Reed chose materials from our classroom message center for her tree. [above, Reed is collaging her tree, Elle is creating flowers, C.C. is designing the dinosaur body, and Giacomo is in search of the adhesives for our collage; he was choosing them from the shelves].
"Since we have so many (strips and story pieces), we can layer. " - Elle, 4.10 years
 hav"On the message, we might need to write Lochie's name and our names." - Sylvie, 4.9 years Our final steps were to add all of the pieces, attach velcro to the back to hold the sword (it was simply too large and mighty to fit on the front), and write their names (and have the children shrink them on the copier). "It's going to be incredible." - Elle, 4.10 years  
A celebration!Celebrating Lochie was so sweet! Katherine, Lochie's mom brought some fun photos of Lochie (from when he was a baby all the way until Tucker Room). She also shared two books that Lochie had chosen, and they brought cupcakes (with fun purple icing). Once the committee presented him with his gift, and Katherine kindly read one more story (The "Lochie getting eaten and freed" story), Lochie walked around the candle five times and we sang happy birthday! It is truly such a joy to celebrate each of the children! Happy Birthday Lochie!
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