The Shelly Project

9/20/2022

We just found her. - Lily
She came from the school. Outside. - Frances
In the outdoor playground. - Lily

We would like to introduce you to Shelly!

Shelly was found by Lily, Frances, and Remy during the first week of school while playing together in the outdoor classroom. They spent the first few days of school caring for Shelly outdoors, often incorporating her into their dramatic play scenarios. They made her soft sponge beds to sleep on, took her to school, cooked her dinner, and gave her bubble baths. According to Lily, Shelly became their best friend. Initially, Shelly took on different roles in their family role play. Sometimes she was a sister, a baby, or even a pet. Shelly's role in the Tucker Room continues to develop as Lily, Frances, Remy, and other children in the classroom continue to invest their time and interest in this seashell's story.

We also learned that this is not the first Shelly to exist in the Tucker Room.
Jill shared some information with us about a previous Shelly that former TR children enjoyed caring for. They even built their Shelly a house which we still use in the outdoor classroom today!

Both Grace (Lily's older sister) and Louise (Frannie's older sister) were involved in the original Shelly work when they were in Tucker Room.

First Louise had her, but it looks different. - Frances
Theirs was purple. Grace said it was. With white. The prettiest. And it was glow in the dark. Their shell house.
- Lily
Jill talked about Shelly once, so we decided we wanted this shell to be Shelly too. But I've seen her in Brown Room before. That's when we found her. We hadn't seen her in a long time and then she just became our best friend. - Lily
And she's a mom now. - Frances

Bringing Shelly into the Classroom

After a suggestion from Frannie that Shelly should have everything that humans have, we decided to bring her into the classroom.

What types of human things should Shelly have?
Hair. - Lily
Googly eyes and the mouth. - Frances
A beach dress. - Remy
A dress with shells on it. - Frances
A fancy dress, ballet shoes, a fancy hat. - Lily
A crown. A tiara. It has to be all blue and golden because that's royal colors. - Frances

Rainbow Hair

Eyes, a Mouth, and Underwear

Per Lily's suggestion, the first thing that should be made for Shelly to wear was a pair of underwear.
Lily selected the fabric, traced the shape of Shelly's bottom, then sewed the two fabric pieces together, intentionally leaving a hole in the bottom where Shelly's "foot" (or sometimes named her butt) sticks out.
Frannie found googly eyes to create Shelly's face as well as gave her "lips" where they agreed her mouth should be.

Sketching Clothing Designs

Ideas for Dresses

"beach dress with shells on it" and "bunny slippers"

Remy makes a dress for Shelly

Remy took on the challenge of designing a fancy dress for Shelly. Her design was inspired by an illustrated book about Marie Antoinette. When finished, the dress unfortunately was too small for Shelly herself, but fits her smaller daughter shells nicely!

Frances insisted that Shelly needed a bunny slipper to wear at night.
She only has one "foot", so only one slipper was needed.
Frannie selected fabric that was so so so soft and comfy and added a fluffy bunny tail to the end.

Here are all of the clothing items in the Shelly Family wardrobe so far!

Dress by Remy, Underwear by Lily, Slipper by Frances

More About Shelly

Shelly's Growing Family

This week, other children have begun to show interest in the "Shelly project". A small group of children approached the Shelly work with the thought that there should be more shells involved in the project.
The following conversation highlights the discussion around the "Shelly Family".