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‘Paper is a versatile product that is created most often from wood pulp, usually derived from softwood coniferous trees such as pine’ (Edwards, 2023)

Paper is a material that offers a variety of uses, one can transform a simple piece of paper into many things.

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At the beginning of my investigation I was unsure as to what it was I wanted to transform my piece of paper into. When I came across a pair of scissors I was reminded of the paper cutting activities I used to enjoy when I was a kid. It consisted of folding the piece of paper four times and cutting around the edges or anywhere one wanted to cut the paper. When you would unfold the paper, the cutting you did earlier would result in the creation of a pattern.

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When I cut the paper, I did not have a specific pattern in mind. I just went with the flow and cut the paper however I felt like it. After unfolding the paper, the pattern reminded me of a butterfly and I began questioning myself:

What other aspects of paper can I explore?

What can I do to make my creation look reminiscent of a butterfly?

How can I incorporate colour and link it with my investigation of paper?

How are other ways I could have used paper to create a butterfly?

I realised that there was so much more I could do and that is when I brought in some colouring pencils and started drawing and colouring on the paper.

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The folding aspect of my investigation also prompted me to question what else I could create by folding paper. This reminded me of origami and I further investigated folding paper at home by creating an Origami heart.

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After spending time throughout the week learning about paper as a material and how one can interact with it, I came to realise that paper offers so much more than one may think. The possibilities with paper are endless, one can use a blank piece of paper to express themselves with words, with colours, with drawings, another could make a bowl out of paper mache. Paper is what you want it to be, it will become what you want it to become for you can ‘launch it, chew it, paste it, wear it, elevate it, wrap with it, read it, draw on it, flip it, collect it, paint it, propel it, drape it, colour it.’ (Pacini Ketchabaw, 2016, pp. 31). This is the movement of paper where it ‘flaps, floats, glides, hovers, soars, tears, rips, sways, flies, rolls, gathers, crumples, crimps, accepts, folds, bends, covers, swishes, flutters, pauses, bunches, scatters, yields’ (Pacini Ketchabaw, 2016, pp. 31). What I found interesting is how ‘Paper is regarded as a surface that we use to hold messages, lists, marks, meanings, drawings, paintings, stories, news’ (Pacini Ketchabaw, 2016, pp. 31) but paper is more than that, more than what it was intended to be used for. This idea was constantly reinforced during my investigation and creation with paper.

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The term, ‘Loose parts’ was created by architect Simon Nicholson, who defined the term as “materials that are variable, meaning they can be used in more than one way so that children can then experiment and invent through play” (Team, 2022). This theory was later on adapted and further developed by play experts and childhood educators “seeing in it a powerful tool to nurture not only creativity and imagination but also cognitive, sensory and physical learning”  (Team, 2022).

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There were a variety of items to choose from when it came to investigating loose parts, there were multiple items that caught my interest individually but I was struggling to make up my mind about how I could put them together.

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Eventually I narrowed it down to a few items that I wanted to make a tree with. Now when trying to make sense of how I would come to make a tree, I asked myself questions such as:

How can I wrap the string around the cardboard circle and make it look like a tree?

Would I need to stuff the cardboard circle with something to make a round looking, more believable tree?

How will I be able to wrap the string around to get it to stay that way without unravelling?

How will I be able to make the tree stand, if the tree stump is a long nail?

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After I had thought about what to do, I got to work. I started off by somehow forcing the nail into the cardboard circle with great difficulty. I then tried wrapping the string around the cardboard circle but soon realised it looked too flat and I wanted it to look bushy and more fuller. I then decided to scrunch up some paper I found and insert that into the cardboard circle and wrap the string around it. It took alot of string to cover it up entirely, once I was done I managed to tie the string so that it would not become loose. Although the end product did end up looking somewhat like a tree, I was unable to make it stand up straight since the string, paper and cardboard circle combined was too much weight for the nail to hold.

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Interacting with loose parts reinforced the idea that for creativity to flourish one does not need a particular set of items, something as simple as recyclable rubbish at home can be enough to allow creativity to be explored. After watching ‘The Land’ many things came to mind. Firstly I was reminded of my own childhood and how many times I would be very happy exploring in my own backyard or making do with things I found around the house. In fact it was much more entertaining to play with things such as shown in the video, as it allowed one to challenge themselves in the sense of their creativity and what they could do next. There is always something more to discover, what you came up with yesterday you could build on it and add a new aspect the next day or change it up entirely. This ties to how ‘it is necessary to go beyond what ateliers have progressively introduced into schools, such as the choice of materials and the use of certain techniques’ (Gandini, 2015, pp.19). Allowing a range of materials and a variety of techniques will be beneficial for all kids as this will allow them the freedom to practise their creativity in an array of ways.

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‘Clay is a special kind of earth which is made by the decomposition of rocks through the action of weathering’  (Mulder-Slater, 2017)

Although Clay is often known to be used for things such as pottery, clay is a material that can be manipulated in multiple ways.

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My investigation started off with becoming one with the clay, really understanding how it feels in my hands, the many ways I could make use of it. Some questions that came up in my head were:

Where does this particular clay come from?

What would happen if I kept adding water to the clay?

Why does the clay remain soft when I touch it but it become dry and almost brittle when I leave it alone for a while?

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The next stage of my investigation began when I had decided that I would be making a clay snowman. This process involved manipulating the clay in multiple ways where I would have to roll the clay in hands to make circles for the body, roll on the table to make arms and squish with my fingers to make the hat. I also ended up using a stick to try and smoothen out the clay.

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Spending time with clay and investigating it allowed me to understand the material as one that can do so much but at times can also be stubborn as ‘Clay responds to children’s movements as they work with it. Yet, sometimes it resists and refuses to stay still in one shape. It is impossible, though, to predict these resistances’ (Pacini Ketchabaw, 2016, pp. 72). Interacting with clay during multiple instances I realised I would constantly be playing with the clay regardless of if I knew what I would make or do with it. It was a material that I was constantly interacting with, even after I had created my snowman, because I could re use that clay to create something else. This relates to the idea that “Clay can be shaped back into one big lump and used again” (Ann Pelo, 2016, pp.94). As a future teacher and in my interventions in  “children’s work with clay” (Ann Pelo, pp.111), my “intention is to offer children the knowledge and skill that allows them to use clay with ease” (Ann Pelo, pp.111).

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‘Light is known 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’ (PennState Extension, n.d.)

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The first phase of my investigation took place at home where  I shone a flashlight on different items I found in my room to create shadows. It was difficult to do this alone, as I had to hold the flashlight and shine it on an object whilst also simultaneously taking a picture. I found that the shadows changed depending on how and from where I shone the flashlight. I found myself questioning 'Why does the shadow become bigger the farther the flashlight is from the object?'

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I also happened to find many sources of light as I went about my daily life. Many times I have come across light, but never really consciously considered it as a material that could so much more than make the world a brighter place.

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Before investigating light as a material and spending time creating with it, it did not occur to me that light could be used to form art. That it could be used to express oneself, one's imagination, one's ideas in a creative manner. Investigating with light helped me to understand, acknowledge and appreciate the fact that that art can be found in anything. Art is a way of “thinking, feeling, imagining, relating and expressing (Ann Pelo, 2016, pp.1). When going out and about in my daily life, there were instances when I found light “beautiful, or provocative, confronting or compelling” (Ann Pelo 2016, pp.1). An example of this could be the sun shining on a sunny day being both beautiful and confronting, the beauty being the brightness it adds to life and how warm and positive it makes one feel and confronting when the sun gets in your way whilst driving or when it gets too hot. As a future teacher I hope to engage children in light and the various way’s one can transform light into art as ‘the language of art invites thinking and expression that is divergent and complex, integrating multiple facets of knowing and wondering’ (Ann Pelo 2016, pp.3).