This was a special studio visit for me. It had been a while since I had been there and since I had worked with clay with the children. They have been making so many developmental gains lately, and having just reflected as a team on our year and how our curriculum had water woven throughout it, I was excited to see what might unfold if we explored clay accompanied by a soundtrack of water on our portable speakers - not to mention with the view of the Charles River just outside the window.
Nina was interested in all the beautiful materials on the shelves around the table with the clay, and having never worked with our children in the back of the studio before, I will admit this frustrated me a bit, because it seemed all of these objects were a distraction to her. Instead of insisting that the children only use what was on the table, I met Nina and Oscar near the natural materials on a low shelf, and invited them each to choose one type of material to add to the table. They each chose one of two bowls of acorns/acorn parts, so we added them to the clay and tools.
Nina and Oscar created their own game with the acorns, repeating a process several times: Nina picked up a few acorns from her bowl and handed them to Oscar or placed them on the table between them, and then Oscar scooped as many acorns as he could up with both his hands and placed them carefully into his (almost full) bowl. I now realize his technique reminds me of the way he has been gathering several seemingly unrelated materials to carry around the classroom and work with for long periods of time. He always seems determined to hold each object and not have to make two trips from Point A to Point B in his movement about the classroom; is this practice related to the way he gathered the acorns? I think Oscar finds great value in each material he chooses and wants to hold onto them, perhaps knowing a friend may come across something if he leaves it behind. I am interested in observing what he does with these “collections” more closely and wonder if he also values efficiency and accuracy in his work, such as by not dropping any of the acorns or objects. I also wonder, What if I had said, “No,” to the children when Nina was interested in the other materials in the studio?
Oscar also seemed quite proud to show me his careful work with that particular knife tool. He said, as he stirred his bowl of acorns, “Oscar using knife, Oscar using big knife, Oscar using big knife, Slinky [Christina], then put it down!” I acknowledged his work and the fact that he had invited me to share the moment with him by saying, “I see, you put it down so carefully. What’s next?”
After a while, Nate joined us in the studio. He had just come in from playing in the sprinkler in the yard, and quickly pointed to the speakers playing sounds of rushing water, and said, “Carwash.” I found out later that the children had just been pretending the sprinkler was a carwash for scooters with Amara outside, but not knowing this yet, I asked Nate questions about his experience outside of school with carwashes, and he enthusiastically answered each one. My favorite part was when I asked him what he needed besides water to wash a car, and his face lit up as he exclaimed, “Soap!” followed by my question of, “Anything else?” to which he replied, “Towel!” I have so enjoyed witnessing Nate’s palpable joy as he shares more and more of his thoughts and ideas with us!
Eventually, we ended up adding two spray bottles into our work with the clay. I was so impressed by Oscar remembering to ask if he could spray my face and his compliance with sticking to just my arms and hands, and by Nate’s determination to squeeze the lever over and over for several minutes as we played, despite his efforts yielding only a dribble of water at a time. Their two styles of spraying resulted in giggles shared across the table as they wet the clay and also one another, sometimes surprisingly! We studied one very wet blob of clay after a few minutes, noting how easy it was to create an indentation in it with our fingers, in contrast to with a harder, more dry clump. As I reflected aloud that the water-filled marks we made reminded me of the river, and tried to roll an acorn down the slippery clay “hill,” Oscar named the indentation a “little path.” Where had he heard that before? I find myself wondering that often as I listen to Oscar speak! This moment, along with so many others during our time in the studio, reminded me how mature our children are becoming and left me thirsting for more time to hear their ideas and reflect on their growth as well as my own.
With love and care,
Christina for Toddler 1 South
