Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/the-joys-of-our-studio/5027356/
*Photos can be found in the pdf version of this article.
I start my day by walking into a happy, bustling, active classroom. Kids are on the climber, going up the ladder and sliding down the slide. I notice a mom and daughter playing with balls and ramps. Some classmates notice this game too and want to join in. This gives me an idea—take the energy, the physicality of the slide, the exploration of the ball and ramp game and make a new offering in our art studio.
I tilt each studio table so they become ramps. I cover one table in pink, one in black paper, and place a catch pan at the bottom of the table. I want to invite a collaborative art piece, by offering the children a change in perspective on the existing ball and ramp game, incorporating the physicality that I saw on the slide earlier in the classroom. Using the action of rolling a marble covered in paint down the ramp, kids would create unpredictable lines down the paper. In this process, they would notice the differences and see the contrast in how the same color of paint looked on the pink vs the black.
As I ...