Using Hammers to Create Art

We had a fantastic donation from one of our families who cut some great wood into squares for us. We decided to use them to create yarn art.

The children chose how many nails to use and the design of the placement of the nails. They wore safety goggles from our workbench when  hammering, but they did use real hammers.

We helped them learn the technique of holding the nail in place with the non hammering hand, hammering lightly to get the nail started and then moving it away before hitting much harder.

I know the question will be asked about children hurting themselves while using real tools. We do use tools fairly frequently in our class and have a workbench in the room at all times.  There were just a few banged fingers and thumbs, but that is part of the learning involved in using a real hammer.  These resilient children were more focused on finishing the job of getting the nails in the wood, so they would shake it off and start again, much the way I do when I still occasionally miss:-)

 Once they has their nails placed the way they wanted them to be, they wound cut pieces of colorful yarn around and around the nails in their chosen arrangement.  We did not tie any of the yarn.  We wanted this to be a fairly self-sufficient activity.  The act of tying would have caused more frustration than was necessary for this activity.  We showed them how wrapped several times around one nail head and tucking it under, pretty much held the yarn in place and allowed them to move on to the next color of yarn.

We had very different styles of accomplishing this project.  Some children used a lot of nails and a lot of yarn, other had much more of a sparse approach.

This activity was left out for the week and several children chose to go back to their pieces and add more yarn or more nails as the week went on.  This is one of the main reasons we leave centers for the week. Children need time to process an activity and try it again, add more, and deepen their experience.  Some will only visit a center once, others will visit the same center each day for the week.  Knowing they have the ability to return lets them feel relaxed as they are exploring it and not rushed to try everything in one day.

I love how individual these pieces of art ended up.  They actual tell a great deal of each child's personality. 

Loose Parts Math Lesson

Given time, space, materials and the ability to take risks children will investigate a variety of topics on their own. 

 

This week the children discovered what I used to call a "seesaw"( I'm probably dating myself here). There  used to be one every playground when I was little.  These days it is rare to see one.  They must have been deemed too dangerous by some group. 

 

A few children in my class made their own by putting a very long 1x4 across a stump that was on its side.  It started off as a ramp with the children walking up the ramp and then balancing as their weight shifted the board down the other side and walking off.  The play of a couple of children attracted many more as soon a flock of children were all clamoring to try out the board at once. 

From this impatience came the balancing lesson.  Several children took turns standing or sitting on each end and noticing that the board would stay up or go down as the children changed.  If the board was up one side, the goal became getting that side down and children would call for help from their peers.  

Through their play they started talking about the concepts.  "This side is heavier."  "This side has less kids."  "We need more people over here to get it to go down."

Sometimes it became the girls vs. the boys, separated on each side by their own accord.  "We need more boys, we need to make it heavier."  

This activity mimicked a similar experience we had presented several months earlier inside with pan balances and different bags of materials.  The same concepts were being learned.  But somehow, the inside activity did not elicit the absolute squeals of delight, the repeated engagement, the problem solving and the passion to keep trying new combinations day after day.  

Was there risk involved?  Absolutely.  

Did children fall off? Yes.

Did anyone get hurt?  A few bumped knees and such which were met with a quick hug or brushed off with an "I'm okay, I'm getting back on."  

We were close by reminding them to check their support and to give warnings to others if they chose to get off suddenly throwing off the weight, but that was part of the excitement.  When the weight proportion shifted-there was a dramatic change.  So much more memorable than the pan balance inside.

  

We were there to remind them to "have your hands out and to be ready to fall"-our standard line to children to let them know that we value risk taking, we trust them, and we expect that they will take care to be as safe as they can.