Wednesday, April 14th

Paper Mache 

Today we introduced and explored a new material. Paper mâché! You will more than likely notice some remnants of our exploration on your child's clothing today.
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During morning meeting we shared a small sample of the mixture with the children so that they would be aware of what to expect when working with paper mâché as well as to familiarize themselves with the ideal consistency of the mixture. 
It looks like pancake mix! - Jade
It smells like oatmeal. - Remy
We also shared an example of what happens when the material is used around a base and left to dry. 

The "Recipe"

To create the paper mâché mixture, we needed to mix together two ingredients - flour and water.
Children used measuring cups to measure equal parts of both ingredients to create a mixture with a 1:1 ratio.  

Cape sniffs the air to "smell" the mixture as Wilder stirs it.

Choosing a "Base" and the Addition of Newspaper 

Next, children browsed a collection of recyclable materials as well as balloons to use as the base or foundation for their work. We then began exploring the process of dipping strips of newspaper into the mixture to then layer onto our chosen bases. 

Frannie compared the consistency of the paste mixture to that of a face mask (a skincare sheet mask) which she sometimes uses at home. 

Using balloons was both intriguing and challenging.
The balloons provided a round three-dimensional surface to work on.
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While planning our dragon costume, we collectively decided that the shape of the dragons head should be a sphere. We plan to paper mache the head for our dragon, so exploring this process on balloons was an excellent opportunity to become familiar using this material on a round surface!

I love paper mache. I love getting messy! I love to do clay, play dough, and paper mache. I want to do it again now. - Lucas

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We also participated in Chapel today. We were formerly in charge of leading the song "This Little Light of Mine", but now have a new responsibility. Our new song is called, "Peace Like a River". 
We always begin chapel with one classroom leading the ringing of the bells which signals the start of a moment of silence.
​Today, we followed the lead of our friends in Rainey Room by ringing our own bells to begin chapel. 
Wow! It's beautiful. - Wilder
The bells really are a beautiful way to bring everyone together. 

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Fortunately, a little rain didn't stop us from welcoming an exciting mystery reader guest into Blake Hall to end our day! Thanks to Lucas's dad, Dan, for joining us and even bringing a dragon book. Brown Room friends do love dragons.