Exploring portraits: Why do we have a face?

Recently some of our children engaged in a self-portrait activity. Set up on a table was a mirror, some paper and black pens. I invited them to carefully look at their face in the mirror at all their beautiful features. After having a good look they then started to draw what they could see.

All the children started by drawing a large circle for their face and then they moved onto the eyes, nose, ears, mouth and their hair. We talked about some of the finer details that they could see, like their eye brows and eye lashes, and they then proceeded to draw these. The children were very proud of their portraits, as was I. They concentrated really hard during this activity and thought a lot about all the details and how they could add these to their portrait.

 

It was really interesting observing the different features that stood out to the individual children. Lali was very focused on her freckles while Toby made sure that he drew all his teeth. Mila thought carefully about drawing her top knot, leaving it till last to do. Penni-May observed that she had lovely nostrils, Franchi was sure she needed to draw ‘kissy’ lips while Aurelia concentrated on her pig tails.

As the children drew their pictures I asked them the same question, ‘Why do we have a face?’
This provoked their thinking and the responses were delightful and real. They all had similar themes as to why we have a face.

“We need a face so we can eat with our sharp teeth. It can look at people because people need a face so we can use our eyes to see Joel and Puss Puss and Inca and Juno and me. We have lips to put lip balm and lipstick on.” (Franchi) 

“We have a face so we can talk and we talk to our Dad’s because we have to laugh at Dad. This bit (she touches the top of her head) is our brains. We have lips so we can kiss and we have a nose so we can sneeze.” (Mila)

“Otherwise we won’t see where we are going and we have ears so we can hear people. Our teeth chew food because then we will get healthy, but no junk food. That’s bad for us so our mouths shouldn’t eat that.” (Toby)

“We have a face so we can breathe and eat. When I look at my face I can see little spots, look I have one freckle! Our faces are all different. Mine has one freckle, but yours (Zair’s) has so many, they are all over your face!” (Lali)

“You use your face to look. If you don’t have eyes you might trip over. A nose smells. You have ears to listen. Everyone’s face is different.” (Penni-May)

“I like to look with my face at my bunk bed and at my clothes. I like to use my ears to listen to music, Elsa and Anna music. I also like to see sparkly shoes with my eyes. I like to eat cake with my mouth and teeth. My face does quite a lot of things.” (Aurelia)

“These self-portraits are windows into the children’s identities. Their details tell us how the children see themselves and what they choose to emphasis in their drawings about themselves.”
-Ann Pelo-

A few days later I invited the group of children to make a clay model of their self-portraits as an extension of this experience. I had a copy of their drawing to look at during this process. They all carefully moulded a ball of clay till it was the shape of a head. When it came to using the clay to make different features of their faces I offered ideas and role modelled different techniques. Some of the fiddly bits like lips and eye brows challenged them, however they kept on trying till they managed to get them how they wanted them to look. The children also thought a lot about what the side and back of their heads would look like. Using clay as an extension of this activity helped them transfer their thoughts and ideas around their self-portraits from 2D to 3D which is an interesting concept to contemplate.

“Clay work can be a language for exploring and communicating ideas. Like drawing, clay work enables children to make their ideas visible – but in three dimensions”
-Ursula Koble-

Now their wonderful works of art are on display in Kindergarten. They are of great interest to others and have already inspired other children to explore the concept of portrait drawing and clay modelling. The children are very proud of their work and so they should be.

-Penni-May-

-Aurelia-

-Franchi-

-Mila-

-Toby-

-Lali-

Noho ora mai rā,

Zair

The wonders of hay

Recently at kindergarten we had a delivery of some hay bales which came as a surprise to many of our children.  We were all excited and keen, especially the teachers to see how the children would respond to the hay; how their play might develop around it, guide it or even how they may perhaps incorporate it into their play.

Open ended resources are highly valued items at kindergarten, this includes many ‘loose parts’ for example, sticks, stumps, bones, ropes, rocks, sand and shells to name a few.  The hay bales are also what we would classify as ‘loose parts’ as they are moveable, however they provide endless play and learning opportunities.

“When children have access to loose parts, it frees their creativity and imagination to change the world around them in infinite ways.  The more flexible are the materials in their environment, the greater the level of creativity and inventiveness they express.”  Polly Neill, 2013

The hay setup included a tunnel and initially the children explored the hay through lots of physical energy using their large motor skills to balance, climb, crawl and jump off the hay.

It was interesting to see the high energy physical play move aside when the children started to use their imaginations to think of different ways to use the hay in their play. Through using their imagination the children were able to transform some bales of hay to create endless play opportunities including a princess castle that had enough room for the kings and princes, a barn and also a pet food shop.

“The presence of loose parts also promotes a wide variety of play: exploratory, constructive, and dramatic play as well as games with rules.  Loose parts lend themselves to innovation and a sense of unique that will encourage more symbolic play – a higher level of play.”  Polly Neill, 2013

With the addition of fabrics and cushions the hay bales have been useful to create a lovely outdoor retreat, somewhere to relax, take in a deep breath or a place to enjoy a book.

Something else I noticed about the hay is how it seemed to be a great conversation starter and a topic to discuss with each other about where it comes from and what it can be used for.  Here are some of the children’s comments:

Kaden:  “We have hay, we have round ones and square ones at the run off.”
Tanner:  “I have hay in my big trailer we feed it to our calves.”
Amaya:  “Mmmmmm it could be a bouncy castle.”
Ben:  “I’ve seen lots of people feed hay to horses.”
Ruby:  “Sometimes my dad feeds hay to the chickens.”
Mercia and Nethra:  “Let’s make a princess castle.”
Ahmad:  “Smell the hay Max.”
Max:  “It smells like strawberries.”
Ahmad “Nah it smells like hay, or is it straw?”

I’m looking forward to seeing how the play continues to evolve around the hay bales, I’m sure it will continue to spark the children’s curiosity and their imaginations.  Oh the wonders of hay.

Mā te wā
Susie