Hey everyone! Welcome to our very first E@M blog post for the year 2023! Our very first topic was to promote the incorporation of nature indoors and we explored the use of natural loose materials such as twigs and leaves. We utilised these materials as concrete learning resources to integrate the wonders of nature into different learning domains.
The learning domains that we had focused our exploration, discovery and investigations on were Discovery of the World (DOW) and Aesthetics and Creative Expression (A&CE)!
Read on more to find out the immense fun that we had exploring!
In this activity, twigs of diverse shapes, girths and lengths are our main mediums of construction. In addition to the twigs provided, adhesive materials such as masking tape, blue-tack, glue and play-dough, and even uncommon ones such as pipe cleaners and string were distributed. And our main question of inquiry? To see what would be needed to build the most stable twig structure without compromising its design! Some of us built ours on horizontal surfaces, while some constructed them vertically. During the process of construction, we discovered a fair amount of interesting concepts such as the conception of gravity, weight and balance.
Adhesive materials were the first step to constructing. We realised how masking tape worked the best in attaching the twigs together. However, the time required for young children to manipulate the masking tape was an area of concern. As such, we used play-dough, but quickly noticed that certain types of play-dough would not work as they do not cling firmly to the surface of the twigs. Next, in order for our structures to maintain an equilibrium, we discovered that strong and well-distributed bases built with thicker twigs, were optimal for our structures to balance on flat surfaces, be steadily suspended in the air and support heavier objects. This lead to our next topic of discussion, if our twig structures could handle weight! We conducted a stress test by stacking heavy objects on our structures, such as wooden blocks and even phones! Some were strong, while others almost crumbled under the pressure…
This activity enlightened us on how versatile natural materials are in opening more opportunities for discovery and learning during simple explorations! It emphasized how open-ended resources fosters children’s critical-thinking and reflective thinking skills. It is also important for educators to take note of the risks of natural materials by incorporating resources that are developmentally appropriate for the age group. All in all, unstructured resources and experiences are the key to developing children’s autonomy and creativity, and we feel that this is an engaging way to do so!
Next, we explored and engaged ourselves in the leaf stamping activity. Our materials included various leaves of different colours and textures, colour paints and drawing blocks as our blank canvas. As we began to explore the different techniques of leaf stamping, some of us came up with unexpected ideas. One ventured to the recyclables corner and crafted a unique paintbrush out of a long wooden paper roll and a cluster of leaves! Another took a small cardboard and carefully pasted leaves onto them, turning them into little stamps. One even took a step further and wondered what the result of stamping of leaves would be like if we dropped them from a height while the leaves were attached to wooden blocks.
Through the different techniques, we learn that various textures of leaves have different purposes. If we want to turn the leaves into a ‘paintbrush’, it is useful to utilise the leaves with smooth surface. If we want to use them for stamping purposes, using veiny leaves is encouraged.
It was also inspiring to learn about the different types of edible/non-edible plants shared by one of our participants, Sandra! In our discussion, we realised that it is actually important for professionals like you and I to learn about some types of plants so that we can impart this knowledge to our children. However, if you are not a plant expert, fret not! There is also an online app called ‘PictureThis- Plant Identifier’ where we can simply snap photos of the leaves/flowers and information would be given to us on that particular plant.
Our last key takeaway various skills that children can hone through this leaf stamping activity. They include creativity skills which allow children to think out of the box, collaborating with friends which is an important disposition for them to have as they grow older and fine motor skills where children use the different fingers or parts of their hand to handle the leaves carefully while utilising them to paint. Overall, we feel that it is a well-rounded experience for children!
Thank you to everyone who came and participated in this E@M: Nature Edition. We hope that you guys had a fruitful time. To the rest, we hope to see more of you guys in our future E@M sessions!
Love,
COL-laborators team