puppets and jelly fish

The studio environment has shifted in response to our recent parent night.  Parent’s night in the studio is an annual event, when the parents are invited into the studio (without their children) to experience art and expression consistent with their child’s experience and contribute to the ongoing creative dialog in the studio.  This year the classrooms added ideas garnered from child interest in large undersea animals and measurement as a provocation for the parents.  The challenge was to create something that might stimulate conversation, generate questions and otherwise inspire the children.  In one night the parents transformed the studio into an undersea extravaganza complete with a large jellyfish and a life sized orca whale (which the parents left unpainted and the children decided to paint later).These new additions to the studio have generated a lot of conversations.  Several children have chosen to draw/paint/color the jelly fish and all the while they talk about what a jellyfish is, what it does, how it moves, what it eats, how it eats and more.I have been recording these conversations to look for common points of interest, questions and understanding.  I will post some snippets soon.

Additionally, the thread of puppetry continues unabated.  We have children who have begun making interesting paper finger puppetsWhile others are using found objects to create “funny puppets”This interest continues to evolve and we now have a great deal more sewing going on, with sewn finger puppets, hand puppets and now, stuffed creations which serve the dual purpose of acting as both a puppet and cuddly companion.

I keep listening to the children and observing their interests and continue to be inspired by the elegance of communication that is going on, just beneath the surface of their discoveries and expression.