Jumping Off Each Other's Ideas

I put out some airplanes with the wooden blocks. "I" and "J2" were ready to jump into this activity. They immediately built an airport, a long rectangular structure with lots of open space in the middle for taking off and landing. The airport also had a handy gate that opened on the side. Planes could land in the field beside the airport and taxi into the airport.

"J2" had a plane that kept having trouble landing. In fact, it endured several spectacular crashes and would limp into the airport for repairs. After a couple of crash incidents, "I" decided that the airport needed a repair shop. So he created a circular area at the back of the airport. "J2" would take his plane to the repair area for a while and then would take to the skies again. Soon the plane could land with a few bumps, but no more crashes.

Here's the completed airport in action.

This is a good shot of the repair area.

See the wedges on this end? That's to help take-off.

You can see the gates in this one.

I was intrigued by this interplay. Together the boys decided to create an airport. One boy peppered his play with crashes. The other boy took that idea and jumped to the need for a repair area. The first boy began using the new area as part of his play. They did not discuss what should happen or how to expand their own play. They just listened to the other's ideas and adapted their own play to accommodate or fit the evolving ideas.

Preschool teachers seem to be the same. Someone posts an idea on a blog; another tries it and builds on it; someone else expands it; another takes it in a whole new direction. And together we all benefit. So many parts of the adult world compete and defend when it comes to ideas. I'm glad I can be a part of a community who shares willingly, helps unselfishly, and celebrates together. Thanks for the gifts you share with me each week.

Break Out the Tools

I'm always encouraging my kids to experiment and try things, to use materials or tools that they haven't or to try using them in new ways. Now it's time to take that advice myself. Teacher Tom's recent post just reaffirmed my thinking about launching into building and see what happens. (Maybe my spectacular failure will happen outside the classroom instead of inside.)

I've also encountered some projects that are just begging me to break out the tools and try some new things. 

Play kitchen (via Kindergarten's 3 Rs)

Michaele posted about repurposing an old entertainment center into a play kitchen. She posted several links of these wonderful transformations. Sutton Grace has some specific how-tos on doing this. Here's a picture from that blog.

from Sutton Grace

Others can be seen at Kelly and Her Kiddie Kalliope and Giggleberry Creations. This is a terrific idea and certainly caused my building genes to kick in. I want to try this for sure!

Tree Construction Set (from Teacher Tom)

from Teacher Tom

Tom must be the most creative preschool teacher I've run across in a while. He is always building and constructing and experimenting. This looks like a great idea. I've seen similar "tree builders" in catalogs but his seems much more cool. I have some branches in the back that are just begging for this treatment.

Cookie Tree (Teacher Tom again!)

from Teacher Tom

Again, my branches are calling for this kind of treatment. And I'm sure my kids would enjoy experimenting with the "cookies," rearranging them on this tree. 

I am so glad for the inspiration of my blog friends. I'm dragging out the tools I can find, and buying some new ones if needed, so I can create. Expect pictures. Even of the failures!

Canvas Painting, the Sequel

We took our group painting on canvas from last week.

Added practice golf balls, paint (different colors than last week), and straws.

We tried blowing. It worked sometimes, but not as much as we wanted.

So we used the straws as small bats to move the balls around the canvas.

Things got a little crazy a few times, and I had to redirect them so we wouldn't get totally out of hand.

The results were nice.

The last kids dropped their straws onto the painting and went to wash up. J decided to do more than just drop his straw. He began smoothing out some of the bigger globs of paint. (These globs sometimes happened when I put the paint-covered balls into play.)

My first thought was "He messed up the painting." But, then, I remembered that the painting was theirs, not mine. (See Teacher Tom's volcano for his thoughts about this.) And I felt that the result gave the painting a focal point. Here's the final work.

I will enjoy looking at this painting in my office each day. And I'll really enjoy remembering the fun, smiles, and the mess that we made doing it. And that focal point will always remind me of J and his inventive thinking.

Fantasy Play

I love learning what other people have to say about teaching preschoolers and kindergartners. I have read a couple of books by Vivian Gussin Paley. She has dedicated herself to learning about the fantasy play of children and how that impacts their learning and growth. 


Recently I completed reading A Child's Work: The Importance of Fantasy Play. Paley again features scenarios and quotes from children's play. I am so fascinated by her experiences and her conclusions. Here are some of my favorite quotes from this book.

"The mind that has been freely associating with playful imagery is primed to tackle new ideas. Fantasy play, rather than being a distraction, helps children achieve the goal of having an open mind, whether in the service of further storytelling or in formal lessons."

"Anyone who spends time with young children quickly recognizes their passionate attachment to fantasy and their need to alter time and place in rapid scene changes. Put any group of children together and they will make up stories that run alongside our own."

"Play is the model for the life-long practice of trying out new ideas. Pretending is the most open-ended of all activities, providing the opportunity to escape the limitations of established rituals. Pretending enables us to ask 'What if?'"

"In dramatic play, language becomes more vivid and spontaneous, enabling young children to connect, with greater fluency and curiosity, the words and phrases they know to new ideas."

"Though fantasy propels the child to heights over and above his ordinary level and was considered the original pathway to literacy, it is now perceived by some as an obstacle to learning. We are allowed to nourish play only so long as it initiates reading, writing, and computing."

"Play may be the work of children, but we, the teachers sometimes lost patience with what happens when the characters become too 'heroic.' In theory such play is fine, but the dramas that erupt can be loud and messy."

"We removed the element--time--that enabled play to be effective, then blamed the children when their play skills did not meet our expectations."


"We continue to call play the work of young children while reducing its appearance to brief interludes."

I agree that in many classrooms, the spontaneous "work" of the child is being diminished and supplanted with "academics." Paley says that the culprit is not the addition of academic elements but the reduction of time in fantasy and pretend play. 


If nothing else, Paley continues to reinforce that offering this type of play helps children become competent learners. I want to continue to offer these types of learning experiences as much as possible. It's fun, develops social skills, and lays foundations for future learning. Let's pretend!

I'm Still Smiling

I'm still smiling from our experience this week. A few weeks ago I saw super-sized marble painting on Let the Children Play. Immediately I thought, "We're doing that." So, today, we did it.

I purchased a large canvas (not as large as Jenny's but large enough). And attached some cardboard around the edges to form the wall. Now, at this point, I thought this would be my failure for the year. My stapler didn't have staples long enough to attach the cardboard to the canvas. So I used tape loops and tape strips. It wasn't pretty but I thought it would work.

And work it did. Here it is in action.

We used regular marbles and some textured marbles from the floral department. Then we used some "diamond" shapes marbles and a suction-cup ball.

The kids had to work together to move the marbles around the canvas. I heard lots of good conversation about how to get things done and what to do to work together. Also, comments about colors to use and where to place the paint.

Here's what the painting looked like at the end of the session.

The kids loved it. And I did, too. It's the most excited I've been about an activity in a long time. Except maybe next week. Next week we're adding to our painting. We're going to use a variation of Teacher Tom's Boy Art.

I'm smiling at the thought of that, too.

I've linked this post with other painting ideas on PreK + K Sharing blog.

More Places for Thought and Inspiration

I think I'm becoming a blog junkie. I love to read what teachers are doing in their classrooms...and what moms and dads are doing with their kids. I love reading about innovations or new ideas or musings about what could become innovations or new ideas.

The blogs listed in the right column are my old favorites, the blogs that I return to again and again for inspiration. But lately I've found myself following a few other blogs. These four blogs have become regular places to visit.

Spencer's Scratch Pad - John is a middle school teacher who muses on a variety of education topics. And he draws pictures, too. He stimulates my thinking and challenges my assumptions, as a citizen, a supporter of public education, and an educator. His post about the Most Dangerous Show on TV made me think. (I am reading John's book, Teaching Unmasked, right now. I haven't been able to devote a lot of time to it, but it has also stimulated my thinking. I'm sure you'll see a post or two in the future about this book.)

Made by Joel - Joel is a dad who makes great stuff for his kids. Some use repurposed or recycled items. Many are doable, even for someone like me who can be dangerous with power tools! The marble run and the aquarium were the two things that caused me to begin to read Joel's blog regularly. But I love all of his stuff.

No Time for Flash Cards - Allison (with her contributors) posts fun, easy, engaging ideas for kids to do; her activities related to a variety of topics. I'm always interested to see what her household is doing each day - and the lists of books, videos of songs, and other extras keep me coming back. I especially enjoyed the Fine Art Activities that ran recently.

Frugal Family Fun - Valerie shares her family's adventures in arts and crafts, cooking, traveling, playing, and living. Her Solar-Powered Lunch was almost magical to me. She is the queen of repurposing and recycling materials for art or just fun.

I'm always interested in reading and learning more. What blogs have you discovered lately?


Photo from Flickr.com
Photographer: John Biehler

My Agenda, Their Agenda

Recently Teacher Tom wrote about his plans for what the kids would do and what they actually did. I often have this experience. I provide materials and plans for one thing and the kids take it in an entirely different direction. (For an example from my life, check out what happened when I put out materials for counters.)

As I read Tom's post, my mind drifted back a couple of years...to L. She was (and still is) a wonderful girl, a born artist if I've ever encountered one. I was always interested to see what she would create. She would take the basic materials on a table or in the room and create elaborate projects.

Here she is in action:

I provided triangle paper and collage materials to create "mountain pictures." L created a river and meadow on her mountain. She drew a man. In this picture, she is cutting out a shirt for the man to wear. Here's a closer look. (Yes, she did make pants and a hat for him, too.)

What I remember most about L is the question she always asked: "What are we supposed to do here?" I'm a strong advocate for kids following their own ideas, so my answer to this question was something like: "When I put these materials out I thought you could [make a mountain picture or whatever]. But you can do something else if you choose."

L would always make one of whatever I suggested. (It was almost as if she did it just to humor me.) Then she would usually launch into more elaborate creations. One day I watched her create a hat from scrap paper and tape.

As I continue to think about L, I evaluate what I do. Am I pushing my agenda on kids? I never require a child to do things in a way I planned. I encourage them to think and create using their own ideas. But, in the intervening years, I've noticed some subtle shifts in the way I talk about my ideas vs. their ideas.

I try to engage their thoughts before interjecting my own. "What do you think we could do with these materials?" I'll ask in response to their "what do we do" question. Usually they will mention an idea similar to my thinking among their other thoughts. If they don't, I'll include my idea among their own - but I'll try hard not to imply that my idea is the "right" one or somehow better than theirs. 

It's a delicate balance. I want to stretch their thinking or nudge them beyond their own perhaps limited (because of their years) ideas. But I don't want to impose my ideas on them or crush their own thinking. And usually, my ideas get tossed into the mix and somehow made better. 

Wait a minute. Just who is the teacher and who is the learner here! : )