The two five year olds have initiated a block garden activity. It originally began on November 10th when they used blocks to create poppies for Remembrance Day. They were joined by the some of the other children and soon had a whole “Flanders Field” full of poppies under the loft. I unfortunately was not quick enough with the camera to get a picture.
Since then they have been experimenting with other shapes and colors. Each day following afternoon snack they ‘build’ flowers. They are very creative and can tell me the specific variety – poppy, blue bell, sunflower etc.
The younger children have been assisting by selecting the appropriate blocks from the bin when the builders need a specific color. Their flower design was two dimensional so I attempted to expand on the activity by demonstrating how they could make their basic flower design into a three dimensional flower. They seemed indifferent and did not attempt to recreate it – they did however like to pretend my flower was a trampoline and built small people to jump on it. I quit playing since apparently I was disrupting their game and should go back to observing.
The following day they added veggies to the garden – red peppers, carrots, eggplant and more. They were excited and I was captivated by their creativity. Then I realized that this was not really a block building activity – it was mosaic art. They were using the various colors of square blocks to create pictures.
I just returned from the library with several books on mosaics. I have begun to gather some possible supplies to add to the art area. I am inspired by the possibilities and I hope they will be too.
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