A Little Bit About Rats

"We're making another rat hole for the rats.
​Because we want to be nice to the rats! So they have a new home!" -Reed

"I'm thinking that they (rat houses) look like the inside of your ear
​because the inside of your ear is a maze.  Their home is the entire maze."   -Giacomo

It remains difficult to pinpoint when or why rats became the talk of Tucker Room. It seems as if it began with an awareness of holes or "rat holes" in the outdoor classroom. By January, the topic of rats had developed into a popular, even influential topic of our daily conversations. Little by little, the outdoor classroom (as is often the case with natural spaces) became an environment invigorating and fueling the imagination. 

"I don't want a rat to be in a hamster wheel... because they're too big! Rats are bigger and mice are smaller and mice like cheese and rats like bugs." -Nora

​"Rats can actually get way fatter than mouses! There tummy, their head, their tummy can get as big as a mouse." -Giacomo 

"Like it ate a mouse?!" Nora 
​
"The thing is that... I'm pretty sure that rats run slower because they're heavier. Heavier things make things go slow so, if I'm like just as big as my finger I can go fast!" -Giacomo

Eventually, the imagined rats were alive and well in the minds  of the children. The boundaries of the imagined rats had increased and what was imagined outside was influencing the play inside.  So, if you can't beat 'em join 'em is what we said.

As the play rats were getting more pretend play attention we activated clay as a language to explore the technique of scoring and slipping by means of sculpting clay rats. While we knew some children would express interest in this we did not fully anticipate that the majority of the children would want to make a clay rat. 

A sneak peak at the many clay rats
​ready to be glazed!

As influenced by the book The Pesky Rat, found in our library, by Ines, we collectively creatively drew and collaged our own rats. More to come with the rats! Consider this a teaser/trailer - we don't want to reveal the whole story!