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Week 3, Warm and bright yellow. Yellow chicks. | Being & Belonging
2012-12-08

Week 3, Warm and bright yellow. Yellow chicks.

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First we played with yellow feathers I brought out in a big bowl. Tickling, blowing, watching them float down. Then we got busy with gluing. For some, the process of painting glue onto the card was the most interesting part and the idea of sticking the feathers was less interesting. I encourage the children to pursue what interests them with the materials rather than push for any particular result but with activities like this parents can sometimes feel frustrated when their child won’t continue onto the next step. After a couple of weeks with these kind of workshops though, generally they soon are happy just to see and encourage their child in what they choose to do. It’s so clear that the kids know what they need to do and when they are ready they will enjoy moving on to try the next new thing. After this activity we sat in a circle to sing a song together. I like to include some kind of music in all the workshops. Sometimes it is movement accompanied by percussion instruments I bring. The movements are always connected to the story and grow out of my telling of the story, into them being part of the story. I also use a sound system for classical or sometimes west african music to accompany activities with paint. Other weeks we sit together and sing a song. The tunes are simple and the the words repetitive so the children, (and parents) find it easy to join in. The songs again are connected to the story and are often variations of nursery rhymes. This week the song was about five yellow chicks. I’ve noticed that the kids enjoy songs where I use their names...for example one week we sang a version of ’ Two Little Dickie Birds’. Instead of Peter and Paul I used two of their own names with each verse.