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“Light,” in the Reggio Emilia Approach acknowledges light as a material children use, a language, a way for children to create new languages and possibilities.

I conducted a couple of experiments with, my niece. We started off with 'Draw yourself' by Placing mirrors. We drew from the observations that we saw in the mirror and not from memory ( I encouraged her to focus on parts of their face they don’t usually begin with, such as their nostrils. Ask, “Do you see the holes in your nose? How many are there?” ) It was really interesting to see self-reflections and the observations of a 4-year-old.

Bounce light off of different surfaces- We used a large plastic “baby” mirror, held freely and use mirrors to look behind themselves. “Catch” some sunshine and reflect it to another surface outside or inside.

Reflections of loose parts. Finally, we used a framed mirror as a tray for table-top sensory exploration. We gathered a variety of soft, textured, loose parts even materials from nature (leaves, twigs, feathers, and grass)

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Beautiful moon

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LED Candles

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Bedside lamp

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This is a poem I once wrote by a camping firepit. The warmth and light provided by the firepit inspired me to create a short melody.

Together we sit by the flaming fire

A bunch of laughing faces

The group of friends that hum

Jamming with the guitar they strum

The moon lights the dark sky

The campire lights the dark ground

Until the the white moon in the skies,

Goes down the sun rise
What could tomorrow bring?

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When I think of Light there are so many things that come into my mind. Especially the morning sun, I observe the dance of lights as my curtains move along to the wind. The shadows and reflections interwined.

I find Light to be one of the most intriguing elements of exploration and discovery with young children; a way to tap into emotion, beauty, vivid imagination, and concrete learning. Light sources can evoke feelings, and assist our work, living, and play.

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While I continue to ask questions and reflect, I realize the importance of my study and the significance it can have on other early childhood educators and myself in future teaching endeavors. I understand the role that materials play in curriculum development and investigations. This newfound knowledge, as a result of my teacher research, is something I will carry with me for the rest of my teaching career. The process of teacher research has greatly enhanced my abilities as a teacher and continues to significantly impact my daily teaching practices.

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As a child I used to get very excited by what I could create and, through my own process, start to see lots of possibilities for using clay to aid with my imaginary play.

Clay is a modelling tool so I think it allows children to … express their thoughts and ideas with others at the table” (D Pilay, 20 May 2014). In other words, helping them to make their thinking and learning visible.

1. Use of problem-solving skills that is required for complex clay pieces provides stimulating and creative challenges for children
2.  Use of rich language with children when discussing their clay work, such as: coiling, modelling, sculpting, wedging, pinching, poking
3. Using clay can connect children to an important natural resource

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Mud Clay investigations ( Resources for teaching )

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Mud Clay investigations ( Resources for teaching )

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https://artinearlychildhood.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Can-I-make-it-with-mud-clay.pdf

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Clay is very fine particles of dirt which float in a stream or river and then sink to the bottom, where they press on each other and stick together.

Malleability~

What is so cool about clay (besides that it is easy and cheap to get) is that it is squishy when it is wet, so you can make it any shape you like, and then it dries hard in the sun, pretty fast, as the water evaporates out.
If you dry clay in the sun you can make it soft again just by throwing it in a bucket of water and waiting a week or two.

History~
People first began to fire clay in China and Japan about 14000 BC (Quatr.us 2021). A little later, people in Iraq and Brazil and Mississippi and Peru and other places also started to make pottery. People have invented pottery many times in many different places. People used clay for statues too. The Etruscans and people from China and West Africa But potters also used fired clay to make dishes and plates and cups and cookpots.

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For someone who was accustomed to city life I was quite intimidating to get soil/dirt on my hands...with all its critters and buzzing insects. I thought about how mom used to say " Cleanliness is next to godliness".   So no surprise I wasn't fond of clay either... but I decided to give it a go!

It was strange at first, almost like a sensory toy that I could squeeze and bend and tear apart. My mind started to wonder. How can I test out the limits of this piece of clay? I rolled it, poked it, squished and squeezed it with my fingers, smelt it, and looked at what it did to mu hands. It turned them brown!

The clay was definitely harder and messier than playdough and became “muddy” when I added a little water as it was too dry.

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I thought it would be interesting to introduce clay to my niece after our self-portrait session. The clay was hard and not easy to manipulate, so we added water to the clay to soften it. When we reintroduced more malleable clay during the investigation, I noticed that my niece still wanted to add water to it, despite the fact that it was softer and easier to manipulate. We talked about the processes of creating a self portrait, expressions, and facial features and began talking about flattening my clay so I could “draw” on it. We use a rolling pin to flatten the pieces. We used a cookie cutter to give it some flair. My niece began to draw the same face I was drawing. We discussed the shape of noses and how to draw them. She added nostrils, something I had not added. We Created a silly face out of her flat piece of clay.

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“The wider the range of possibilities we offer children, the more intense will be their motivations and the richer their experiences.”

-Loris Malaguzzi, Founder of the Reggio Emilia Approach

Loris Malaguzzi suggests that children have a hundred languages in which to explore, create and express themselves; open-ended resources such as these encourage children to do exactly that. For example- Through construction, children could use rocks, shells, coloured stones and more to add depth, balance and imagination to their designs and extend and build upon mathematical concepts.
- They are opportunities for creative expression
- This support the Reggio Emilia philosophy that art should not necessarily have a defined end but instead be open-ended to encourage children to experiment and explore the possibilities of art.

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I feel like I grew up on junk modelling; it was the go-to activity for just about every club I ever attended in my early years and primary school days.

From Sunday school to summer club, everywhere I went had a huge box full of junk and every parent that dropped their kids off would be weighed down with even more donations. Cardboard tubes, old cartons, lengths of material, cardboard boxes, bags of dried leaves and scraps of waste.

I remember making vehicles, rockets and space stations out of Junk. We had adventures in outer space, were cops and robbers, or mechanics carefully repairing cars. We made houses with rooms and furniture for pretend play.

Benefits
Junk modelling, loose parts play support a greater degree of flexible behavior and as such support innovation,  creativity,  develop self-confidence, self-concept and identity. Even skills such as sequencing, hypothesis testing, analysis and evaluation.

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Kensington Adventure Playground- ‘The Venny’

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Kensington Adventure Playground- ‘The Venny’

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Since I live in Kensington I had the opportunity to visit The Venny before lockdown.  It has an indoor and outdoor area and everything is designed and built sustainably. The indoor facility includes a kitchen, bathrooms and indoor play equipment such as foosball and table tennis tables.
Part of the grounds area is set up for construction sites on which children can build forts or huts as well as furniture for them. They also build challenging play equipment such as tire swings or rope climbers. Other areas are set aside for garden plots where the children can grow flowers or vegetables.
There is a rocket to climb, bunkers to hide in and hills to roll down. The kids don't want to leave!

But why ?
Children are learning whenever they play. In order to promote cognitive play, children need a wide range of play opportunities.  In order to foster development of children to their full potential as adults there is a need to design environments better suited to the play needs of children.  Unlike traditional play areas which provide only for the physical aspects of play, these adventure playgrounds, under the guidance of a play leader, allow children free rein to explore, create, and cooperate with others.

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One Person's Junk is a Teacher's Treasure

What are they?- Loose parts are open-ended materials such as boxes, crates, sheets, pipes, log rounds, buckets, blocks and rocks that children can adapt, move, design and transform in many different ways. They can be moved, combined, redesigned, lined up, taken apart and put back together in multiple ways (DET). A loose part may be a recycled item or something you purchase new at a hardware store, it can be small or large, natural or manufactured. Ultimately, loose parts encourage a variety of types of play to unfold, such as dramatic, constructive, artistic or physical and can be used with all age groups and children of all abilities

Limitations- when it comes to using loose parts is that they do not necessarily work for certain age groups. For example, toddler teachers seemingly always worry about dumping or choking and school-age teachers consistently worry children will not know what to do with loose parts. Although children may need practice and scaffolding when it comes to using loose parts, they are often a favorable material for all age groups.

Opportunities-  As seen Mini Maddern Square loose parts seems to invite and encourage children to play and construct, and also how the materials invite children and practitioners to play and learn on more equal terms. It appears that the material itself does not discriminate in that it gives all children equal opportunities regardless of their gender, culture, age, disability, language, ethnic background or history.

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Paper plates

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Bubble wrap

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Paper has made me think about the power of observation, problem solving, cause and effect, and making comparisons. Papers present a wonderful learning opportunity for children — the perfect learning tool. Paper is so accessible as we use it daily in so many ways — that it's easy to explore its value and versatility. We all are already familiar with paper from a young age because we use it to draw pictures and practice writing our name. But by simply looking more closely around the house, we can see the many other forms that paper can take: a newspaper, which communicates important ideas and events; a card from Grandma, sharing her caring words; a paper cup for drinking; a label on a jar; or a tissue for blowing noses.

Through my observations I noticed the different properties of paper and through hands-on explorations, I became involved in the process of cause and effect ;how different papers respond to specific situations. I engaged myself with scientific investigation by thinking about how many ways we can change paper: cutting, tearing, folding, gluing, crumpling, soaking, and so on. What do these processes do to the paper?

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I decided to do my investigations with my 4-year old niece. We used colored pencils and paper to create self-portraits while looking into handheld mirrors, drawing basic facial features such as eyes, mouths, and hair. We extended by creating faces that expressed different emotions. I used materials like magazines cut-outs, scissors, glue, construction paper, crayons, yarn, mirrors etc. My idea turned into a spontaneous cut-out puzzle of my self-portrait which my niece loved playing with!

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Children use play to drive their own learning. And when young children are allowed and actively encouraged to explore and follow their own interests, they develop understanding from their actions. So, when children explore and experiment with objects such as boxes, paper and ribbons, they are using both their sensory and physical senses to extend their thinking (The Conversation 2016). And engagement in self-directed play helps to aid learning and supports the development of language as well as mathematical, scientific, creative, personal and social concepts that actually help children to learn about who they are and the world around them. Through the sensory and physical exploration children become sensitised and motivated to further their explorations, allowing more complex thoughts and understanding to develop.

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Culture, history, my relationship with paper

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Culture, history, my relationship with paper

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Historical sources credit the invention of paper to Cai Lun, a dignitary serving the imperial Chinese court who, in AD 105, began producing sheets of paper from scraps of old rags, tree bark and fishing nets (Pixartprinting 2019) Later the Japanese  learned papermaking techniques and began using pulp derived from mulberry bark  which was aided by an abundance of hemp and linen, two high-quality raw materials perfect for making paper, production spread to other cities in Asia, particularly Baghdad and Damascus.  In the 11th century that paper arrived in Europe, with the Arab conquest of Sicily and Spain and to the rest of the world. At the end of the 15th century, with the invention of movable-type printing and hence Paper became means of mass communication, leading to an explosion of literacy among the middle classes. My relationship with paper has always been interesting. I’ve always shown a keen interest in reading and loved the smell of paper in new books. Even now, it makes me nostalgic. I also loved making origami, folding and coloring to make my favorite Pokémon characters with my siblings. We had an abundance of newsprint at home which I would find so many ways to get creative with. Paper reminds me of childhood memories and happiness.

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My inspiration for Stop Motion- Paper Plane

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My inspiration for Stop Motion- Paper Plane