Preparing for our next birthday celebration

What's your favorite color, Lucas?

Before each birthday celebration, Brown Room children have become accustomed to asking the question - what's your favorite color? This question kick starts the birthday excitement and informs the birthday committee's work and planning process. 

We have been working hard in the classroom this week concentrating on our weaving skills.
There are different types of looms of different sizes available throughout the environment as well as a variety of pliable materials to use for weaving. 
We are also continuing to discover that there are examples of weaving throughout our school as well! 

While using the bathroom this week, children's eyes were directed towards the ceiling where this beautiful piece of art is hung on display ... 

Weaving piece created by a past KW class, now hung in the children's restroom.

​You can use this as a birthday present! - Hugh
​
Hugh had a wonderful idea!
We could create a weaving project to use for our next birthday gift. 

There is not only a strong understanding of the birthday celebration process in the BR, but also an enjoyment in demonstrating our current interests in the creation of a birthday gift. 

Creating a loom for Lucas

If we are going to make Lucas a birthday gift based on our new found interest in weaving, we need a loom to work on. Yesterday, the birthday committee was tasked with creating a loom that represented Lucas.
​Therefore, it needed to be RED.

​Using Red, White, and Black paint,  ​Daniel and Luke got to work mixing different shades to create a red color palette for painting the base of our loom for Lucas's birthday gift. 

Color mixing is a very interesting process that takes a good deal of experimentation and learning through trial and error.
​How did the white and black paints alter the shade of red?

Throughout the mixing process, Daniel narrated his findings to his friend Luke... 

Ohhh! That's a pretty color! It's like brown red. 
We need a tiny more white and more redder. 
Let's see what happens!

Ahhh! When you mix it on the black it's mixing purple!
Like purple! - Luke

Let's see the book.
(Daniel is referring to "Artist's Color Manual", a book used to research different colors and shades.)
Ok. I'll do the light red. So let's get more white. 
And now more red. 
And ... Ohh! This looks like a dinosaur red!
 - Daniel 

When finished, Daniel and Luke chose 4 of their newly created shades of red to keep and use in the creation of the birthday gift. Each shade was given a name.

The new shades of paint were applied to a cardboard base. Now we have a red loom to weave on!

Weaving

Today, additional members of the birthday committee were asked to collect items that would be suitable for weaving (pliable, flexible, bendable materials).
Keeping in mind Lucas's favorite color, committee members took a trip to the Tucker closet and were really successful in our findings! 

Here! Here! I see some red here! - Michael 

​The children collected red paper, fabric, yarn, ribbon, straws, and plastic transparency sheets.

All materials were tested to observe their pliability before deciding that they could be used for weaving. 
​

After returning to the classroom with our findings, Cape, Michael, and Luke worked on cutting the different materials into smaller sizes pieces to fit onto the loom. 

Then they got to work weaving the materials and the birthday gift started to come to life. 

A story began to evolve throughout the weaving process ... what was being created with the materials as they were added onto the loom?

We will save that story for our celebration for Lucas on Friday!