Shadow Screen

Our shadow screen project just popped into my head out of the blue. I’ve been trying to cook up an idea for a shadow screen so that the kids can trace shadows without having the shadow of their own hand interfere with the outline of the image they are tracing. I also wanted something upright and small enough so that the children could work on the project independently. The idea for the shadow screen has been flittering around in the peripheral of my imagination for at least a year now but something else always comes along and snatches my attention away before I can piece the thing together.

This morning while we were at breakfast Sam and I were talking about how he wanted to draw a dinosaur. He’s become quite obsessed with drawing over the last few days, all the other kids have been inspired by his work. As Sam works he sometimes asks me to draw pictures for him. I remind him that if I draw the picture it’s my picture but if he draws it it’s his. We’ve worked out a system in which I ask Sam questions about the object he is drawing to help him think about it as he works. For instance he wanted me to draw him a shark so I asked him “What do you know about sharks?” “Where are their eyes?” “How do they get around in the water?” “What do sharks eat?”

Our little drawing project drew quite a crowd, the other children wanted to see what Sam was drawing and they wanted share ideas they had about sharks. 

Sam came up with this image.

Both boys had a difficult time figuring out how to draw the oval for the shark's body. Jackson is just learning to put cuves and lines together to make picture so I demonstrated the process by tracing shapes slowly with my finger as he watched. Jackson replicated the motions on his paper to make the sky, waves and shark body.

Once he was done with his shark scene, Jackson wanted to draw one too. He asked me how to draw a shark and I encouraged him to look at Sam’s picture for ideas. We had a discussion about what Jackson knows about sharks and what he saw Sam do when he was drawing his picture. Everyone watched as Jackson showed us his ideas and he was pretty proud of his picture. 

After our experience I was trying to conjure up some way to help the kids get a more detailed outline of their pictures so we decided on using dinosaur models since Sam wanted to know how to draw them. I had three or four ideas rumbling around in my head but then all of a sudden all of the bits of the shadow screen had finally come together.

I immediately put down my breakfast ran out into the snow and frozen mud to get the Ikea chair frame we used from our summer painting projects.

The rest of our screen was made from the following materials: a diffusing light panel (made from an old storm window), the Ikea chair legs, packing tape and a spotlight.

(Believe it or not that old Ikea chair leg has been a fantastic find, we’ve used it for at least five different things, and to think someone was going to toss it in a landfill!)

I taped the light diffusing panel onto the Ikea leg frame with packing tape positioned a spotlight behind the panel and voila! A shadow screen was born. 

Working with the shadow screen had the added benefit of helping the children further their understanding of light and shadow. Our previous light / shadow projects involved simply projecting light onto a wall so as the children moved closer to the wall, shadows the shadows changed size and shape. Working with our new screen the shadows only changed on one side of the screen, regardless of how close they were to it.

It was a lot of work for the children to figure out how to position the dinosaurs properly in the ring of light. Everyone had ALOT of ideas. They set their dinosaurs on the floor and were perplexed as to why we couldn’t see a shadow on the other side so they tried different dinosaurs, lots of dinosaurs and less dinosaurs. Some of the children became bored so they experimented with the light by putting their hands behind the screen. Through their finger play they realized the object needed to be in the ring of light to cast a shadow, not just on the same side of the screen as the light. 

They realized the dinosaur needed to be higher. 

As they worked they tried several things to get the dinosaur to the proper height. Bins were too tippy and books were not stable enough either. Finally they tried cardboard blocks. They worked together to stack the blocks up so that the dinosaur would be in the ring of light. They also discovered different dinosaurs were better than others for casting a dinosaur shaped shadow. They also learned that the dinosaurs positioned so that they were facing the screen head on did not yield an outline that looked like a dinosaur; it just looked like a bumpy blob so they positioned the dinosaurs in a side profile.

Yoli decided to draw an outline of her doll :)

Spotlight Shadow Play

Invitation to Explore a Projectors:

We are fortunate enough to have have come across three different kinds of projectors and the kids love checking them out. Our first investigation of a projector was opening up the old school projector and taking a look inside, if you want to check out that project here it is.

Our second projector is a handy little view master projector that the kids LOVE to work with on their own. They like to set up "movies" in the building area with the Disney reels or create shadow puppet shows with some hand puppet tricks Josh taught them.

Today we are exploring a third projector on loan to us from Lori. This projector is the kind you can stake out in the yard to project holiday themed images on the side of the garage. It's pretty handy for making a large spotlight on the wall and it's perfect for shadow play.

Before starting our spotlight project we took the projector apart to examine its parts. The children noticed there was a magnifying glass, a light bulb and a small transparent disk with an image mounted inside of the projector. We discussed how the light moves through the transparent image and the magnifying glass to cast a larger image on the wall. After examining all the parts of the inside of the projector we plugged it in to see how it worked.

While investigating the projector I positioned it in front of the magnetic board to create a makeshift screen. We slid the projector back and forth across the floor, as it moved the children noticed that the image became larger or smaller depending on it’s proximity to the screen. They also noticed that we slid it too far or too close to the screen, the image became distorted and difficult to identify.  

Materials for Spotlight Shadow Play:

Spotlight, color paddles, transparent letters, small acrylic mirrors and large acrylic magnifying glass

After seeing how the projector worked with the transparent disks we decided to experiment with the projector as a spotlight. The children shadow danced and experimented with size by making their shadows larger or smaller. They looked for the letters of their names in the transparent letter collection and cast colored shadows on various different objects with the color paddles. They noticed that the colored shadows showed up better on lighter images and that they colored shadows disappeared completely on black surfaces.

We experimented by bouncing light off of mirrors, passing light through magnifying glasses and creating colored shadows different surfaces.

They noticed a prism effect on the magnifying glasses as light shown through them and they moved their rainbows around the room.

Funky Fun Foto Booth

A few weeks back we read a story about some kids who were going to a party dressed in their party clothes and a few of my little ones have been obsessed with “party clothes” ever since. Well today the twins were brave enough to come to daycare dressed in their party clothes. I took it as a message from the universe to finally do that funky foto booth and try to capture them in their super cute outfits. 

All of the items for this project were collected for one of our parties a while back. I found some great things at Party City, The Dollar Store and the bottom of the dress up bin. Sadly the project never came to fruition because I was too busy jaw jacking with all the parents to shoot the kids. (Funny how I always get a creative itch that requires LOTS of adult set up when I have ALL the kiddies and NO extra adults. Seriously I couldn’t have chosen either of the two days this week when I had extra help?) 

Anyhoo the kids were super patient while I got everything set up and they were awesome about not knocking down the studio lights or the teetery backdrop. They couldn’t wait to play with all the dress up items and check out the new photography gear. They wanted to know how the lights worked, why I used a reflector and what diffusers do. They wanted to pose and see pictures of themselves so they could repose themselves or switch up their costumes. 

After they satisfied their curiosity we cranked up the music, played dress up, took turns jumping with pointy things and dumped EVERY BIN in daycareland. It was a super fun time and totally worth it! Look how cute they are?!?

After we cleaned everything up, they explored diffusing light with flashlights and the sheer fabric on the backdrop while I made lunch. I didn’t manage to get that super cute shot of the twins in their party clothes but we still had a great time.

It's All About The Process

Watching the children work yesterday I thought I would share this little exchange between two of my little ones. All of the kids were working on a mixed media project consisting of: Foam trays, Tin Foil, Scotch Tape, Foil Squares and Pipe Cleaners. Scotch tape is pretty new for this group but Addie and most of the other children had worked with it the day before. As far as I know Yoli was having her first experience with the sticky stuff and she wasn’t quite sure how it worked. 

The day before, I had shown the children how to cut tape and keep it from tangling by attaching it to the table, then dangling it roll side down so that it would stay straight instead of curling up and sticking to itself. The children were delighted with the project and wanted to work with tape again. Yoli hadn’t seen the process so she wanted to know: How does tape work? 

This is how she learned...

Yoli worked with the tape for several minutes trying to adhere it to the table but it kept slipping because she had positioned it sticky side up. As she worked, she got her fingers all tangled up in it then looked confused because she noticed Addie’s tape was sticking to the table. Yoli made several unsuccessful attempts at fixing the problem by moving her fingers on top of the tape (still sticky side up). She stoped for a moment; looked at her tape then looked at Addie’s tape, and repositioned her fingers several times but the tape still did not stick to the table. 

I allowed her some time to trouble shoot in her own way. She patiently continued to work and after some time I show her how to position it properly on the table. I explained to Yoli that the sticky side of the tape is the part that keeps it from sliding off the table and that the adhesive needed to be touching the table. Yoli studied the tape for a few minutes, feeling both sides as it hung there. 

She picked up the scissors then opened then shut them, watching as the blades moved back and forth. She looked at Addie as she cut strips of tape, placed them on the table, then repositioned the roll again. She looked from Addie's workspace to her own and appeared to be confused. I asked Addie to explain how to cut the tape so Yoli would know what to do. 

Addie said “Like this Yoli.” Then she moved to the side so that Yoli could see. She snipped the dangling tape roll, put the tape on the table and repositions it again. Yoli followed her lead and sucessfully cut the tape. 

The two worked side by side and Addie offered help by repositioning Yoli’s tape when it got too tangled in the scissors. Yoli cut several strands of tape then lined them up on the table next to Addie's. The two worked on the process of cutting and repositioning tape for twenty minutes giggling as they linded up the tape strips.

Valentine's Day Writing Table

For our Valentine’s day project we are working with homemade bottle top stampers, paper, markers and hole punches on pink and blue paper. The children made the stampers the other day with foam stickers and milk jug tops, aren’t they cute? We found using bingo dabbers to load the stampers was much more effective than using the stamp pads we usually use because you can really load em’ up with paint. 

As the kids worked on their individual writing projects, Logan decided he wanted to make his paper longer so he asked for some tape. Usually I offer the kids masking tape because it’s a little easier to manipulate but this time I decided to switch it up and offer scotch tape instead. First I demonstrated several times how to pull out just the right amount of tape then tear it off by twisting and pulling downward. 

It took the kids several tries to get some tape off without getting it tangled up. Pretty soon everybody had fallen in love with the challenge of the new tape and wanted a turn to try it. Working with the tape was tricky and the turn taking process was SLOW. They had to be very patient until the tape made it’s way to their workspace. In the meantime the children did lots of peer mentoring and sharing of ideas as they worked with the other materials. 

(Logan's finished attempt at writing his name is in the bottom corner :)

Peer mentoring

• Addie had pulled off a length of tape and as she worked it picked up bits of hole punch snowflakes. She was delighted with the effect and picked up a few more. Will watched her then scouted around the table for some of his own.

• Sam watched Logan work and waited patiently for his own turn with the tape. As he watched Logan, he noticed Logan’s name on his paper so Sam asked for a sticker with Logan’s name on it. I watched him as he looked closely and carefully at each letter then he reproduced them on his paper. Logan saw that Sam was writing his name and traded his tape for a marker so he could give it a try. 

• Logan wasn’t sure how to form one of the letters in his name and he asked me if I could write it for him. I reminded Logan that it was his project and that he needed to figure it out on his own, then I suggested he watch Sam. Sam demonstrated how to make the letter and talked Logan through the process, then Logan did it on his own.  

• Carmen watched the other children working with tape and wanted to add some to her project too. She also had trouble getting the lids off of her bingo stampers so she asked for help. Sam and Addie helped her by showing her how to twist the lid the correct way. When they had moved on Carmen practiced twisting the lids on and off. 

• Yoli was working with one of the hole punches. As she worked she kept trying to slip the paper into the back of the punch. The paper crumpled. I demonstrated how to turn the paper around and slip it in the slot. Yoli moved the stamper to several different places on her paper, positioning it correctly each time she punched a hole. Later she made the same mistake so she watched Will and figured out how to turn the hole punch around correctly.

By allowing the children the time and space to work on Valentine's projects in their own way, they learned how to develop their own ideas and look to each other for help. They also learned to be patient while they waited for turns and worked with new materials.

Glow Hockey

Glow hockey is a super fun game that was inspired by one of our little visitors a few weeks ago. Within minutes of seeing the light table and some crystal climbers Clara joyfully rallied us all together to play a game of glow hockey. Pretty smart for a seven year old! Clara’s idea was to use the small cylinders for puck launchers and the disks for pucks. The only flaw in her game was the fact that the cylinders made a horrid screeching sound as the launchers moved across the table. To remedy the problem I came up with this solution:

Materials: Four round cylinders, rubber bands, felt and four flat disks.

Puck launchers: I cut the felt into squares to fit the cylinders then attached them with several rubber bands and voila! no squeaky sound. 

Our play: This was the first time we were experimenting with this game and we had plenty of things to figure out. It was tricky for the kids to launch the pucks all the way across the table so our work mostly consisted of learning how to use enough force to launch the pucks. Once we figured that out, we had to come up with some rules for fair play but I wanted this to be the kids game so I left that part up to them. 

As we played some problems and disputes arose that inspired the rules for our game such as:

1.) No keeping all the pucks to yourself because everyone else wants to play too. (Logan)

2.) Keep your hands off the table while other people are playing or your fingers will get smashed. (Will)

3.) Do not launch pucks at each other’s faces because taking a puck to the face hurts. (Sam)

4.) It’s not nice to call other people “losers” because it can hurt their feelings, besides we don’t have any points yet so nobody can lose. (Ms. Geraldine)

Things we learned through play:

Visual tracking

Fine motor skills

Hand / eye coordination

Impulse control / turn taking

Innovative use of materials

Creative problem solving

How to develop rules so everyone can have fun

Salt Trays on the Light Table

Like moths to a flame our little ones were drawn to this brilliant math and writing project. You may remember the other day I posted about the perspective taking table that Mark Bachle made for us, well he has just finished the second part of his masterpiece and we now have a huge light table! We are thrilled beyond words to have the extra space so that everyone can participate in light projects at the same time. Anything on the light table is sure to be a big hit with the kids, being able to include everyone at the same time instead of taking turns is pretty awesome.  

The inspiration for our salt tray, magnetic number and number card investigation came from a friend’s post on Facebook. Her daughter seemed to have so much fun imagining a snowy day scene that we decided to give it a whirl on the light table. The kids really enjoyed watching their drawings become illuminated as they worked. Each time they finished a work of art, they used the edge of a number card to smooth out the salt before beginning again. They experimented by pressing numbers in the salt, matching numbers to cards and writing with their fingers.

All of the children seemed to be particularly mesmerized by calming sensation of the salt running through their fingers onto the tray in little white mounds. As they worked we discussed the texture, temperature and movement of the salt. We also learned that salt is made up of tiny balls called “granules” then we compared salt to other white powdery substances that we have worked in the past with like sugar, four and snow. 

Some observations the children discussed and participated in while working:

“Ooo it’s silky!” - Addie 

"A circle goes round and round, I made an oval" - Will

Sam looked for matches between the cards and magnetic numbers. After matching several cards he drew some letters in the salt. 

Logan worked at the light table for a long time. As he worked he focused intently on the movement of his hands through the salt and he joined in on the conversation intermittently. After a while he decided to take a break from his project to work in the building area. He returned every few minutes to run his fingers through the salt, match some numbers to cards or just check out what everyone else was doing.

Addie scooped the salt over her hands over and over again. She watched as it ran through her fingers onto various objects below. She buried her hands, the cards and the magnetic numbers to seemingly facinated by the glowing effect of the light shining through.

Jackson pretended his salt was soap. He filled his hands several times as he went through the motion of washing his hands laughing and singing a song he made up. Later he experimented with hiding the cards under the salt as he watched some of the other children do.

Carmen worked with the salt for several minutes deliberately drawing lines in it with one finger as if she were writing. When she was finished she pointed to her drawing, stepped back, smiled proudly and announced it was her mommy.