Continuing the exploration of natural materials that I offered last week, I set up a provocation this week based on rocks and minerals. I brought in some pieces from my own collection: amethyst, amber, ocean jasper, petrified wood, and unknown beautiful mineral. I asked the kiddos to look at the pieces closely with a magnifying glass (“Look! There’s stuff inside!”), draw what they saw, and then add liquid watercolor to finish their work.
When children are practicing drawing, they can sometimes get discouraged that they “can’t do it.” Their work doesn't look the way they think it should and they will often ask us a) to do it for them or b) how they should do it. In these moments I usually help kiddos by asking them to think about the object they are hoping to draw, name different elements, and then ask them what should come first; then I’ll sit with them as they draw bit by bit. While I think our k/1’s were a bit intimidated about how to draw these specimens, they didn’t let on. But, with the exception of Jake, none of the other four kiddos drew based on what they saw – they traced instead! “Look, I made a rock! I did lots of different kinds of rocks!” Once they began painting their work, they (unsurprisingly) became just as interested in the water used to wash their brush as in their work itself. “Wow, it’s turning black!” The liquid nature and vibrancy of the paint interested them as well. “It’s bleeding!” “My rock is bleeding!” “Rocks don’t bleed.” “I’m just pretending.” Sequoia took a break after tracing his specimen to play with the water table, but returned once the paints were brought out. He worked to paint his picture and then became engaged with pouring the dirty water from one jar to another, ultimately combining three jars of water into two. He was quite proud of this feat – it was as if he knew that the water would fit into two jars.
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