Pastels

Our persimmon observations have introduced the idea of color, blending colors, and color gradients.  The persimmon, and even the black and white areas, offers us an opportunity to stop and truly observe color.  What is color? What are the shades/tints/tones of color? How does color change? What is the process of that change? How can we see the change? How do these questions apply to the persimmon and other areas of interest? These processes are wonderful scientific inquiries, and also require exploration of a variety of tools and languages for us to use as we observe and recreate the color changing process of the persimmon. 

A few weeks ago, the children used large paper and alcohol based markers to represent the {then current] gradient of one of the persimmons that we have in the classroom. 
**there will be more about this process in classroom stories

"I'm going to put a line how deep this [green section] should go." - C.C., 5.0 years

Pastels

While this first iteration was thoughtful, beautiful, and a wonderful opportunity for collaborative work, the clear division of colors gave us reason to stop and think about how we can better represent the blending of the colors on the persimmon.  Which tool might offer a better study in blending the colors of the persimmon as they continue to change.

​We decided to present pastels to the children because we knew that they would offer the opportunity for blending and mixing. 

​We started with large white paper covering the entire "low table" with  a selection of pastels in the middle.  The excitement and enthusiasm were high.  

"I made sea green." - Nora, 5.0 years

"Light blue and yellow make light green." - Lochie, 4.11 years

[Above]: "It's rainbow fingers." - Lochie, 4.11 years

[Right]: "One is green and one is blue." - C.C., 5.0 years 
She said this just before she blended them together, which is represented in this photo.

Comparing to the ginkgo

Adding complexity

To add complexity to their exploration of pastels and blending, we provided some textured surfaces on top of the white butcher paper.  They spent time layering the colors and textures, noticing the blends, and wondering "what will  happen next". 

“So there’s like a bump thing under, and I put a paper on it, and you hold it.  Then you rub some stuff over it.  Then you look at it, and the impression came up.” - Lucia, 4.5 years 

“You have to do it really hard for the impression to come up.” - Elle, 4.10 years

“I thought, should I rub [with the pastel] it in the paper or mix it [with her finger]?” - Nora, 5.0 years
What did you decide?  - Elyse
“To rub it in.” - Nora

Papers for creating impressions; we also provided black tissue paper. 

"I moved the paper to a different place to remake the flower." - Nora, 5.0  describing her process of moving the page around to make impressions on different parts of her paper.

What comes next?

As we reflected on this work as a group, Nora was sharing her process, and then suggested that we should look at the paper on the light table.  

"Whoa! The colors don't really show. It's like fracting into the thing, so we can't really see the colors." - Lochie, 4.11 years 

Tomorrow, we will have some of these papers available at the light table for exploration and observation. 
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