Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/toddlers-as-scientific-colorists-a-toddlers-story/5021754/
VIGNETTE:The toddler stood watching and waiting. She wrapped her chubby fingers around the playground’s chain link fence and as she pressed her forehead into the links, her long bangs fell over her eyes. Through wispy bangs she studied every movement of the children on the other side of the fence as they dipped their brushes into small round glass jars of watercolors. I wondered what she was thinking and if she would wait or wander off toward the swing.
The children at the table were taking their time dipping and painting. That was the point �" to give them the time
they needed to feel the glide of a wet brush across a good textural paper. A colleague of mine, Harriet Lefton, said, “You give children time until they are full up.” And that’s exactly what I intended to do.
It was a hot day, but the girl did not let go of her grip on the fence. I explained that other children were having a turn to paint, but that she was welcome to wait and watch. She remained patient, observing the progress of the others painting. When one child decided he had painted enough, I opened ...