Our original idea was to bring nature into the classroom. We thought the natural
materials, aesthetic appeal of each rock (so different
and unique from the next one), and open-ended nature of the garden
would resonate with our little group of preschoolers. We imagined the children
sitting in the garden creating all sorts of things. We couldn’t wait!
We set
up the garden. Nothing happened. Children spent a few minutes touching the
rocks, then lost interest. Until a day or two later…
Liam
(5) asked us the rock names all morning. He loved the story of how lava rocks
came to be.
At one point, Liam put the rock on his lap and said, "It is very still." Then he sat there, still as can be.
“This
one looks like a heart!”
-Samantha
(5)
Samantha
was one of the first to start making designs and patterns. She was so
respectful with the rocks, placing them carefully and deliberately on the wood.
We
moved the rock garden outside. That’s when it took on a life of its own.
“We
are building a fire here.” –Varun (4)
The
children piled rock on top of rock to build fires. They added sticks. Clean-up
was quite a chore, but the children were ecstatic.
“Lava
will be coming out soon from this volcano.” –Bryan (4)
Children
built a giant mountain of rocks. Lava rocks represented the lava exploding out
of their volcano.
“This
egg is about to hatch. See the crack? There is a dinosaur baby inside.”
-Ameya
(4)
Initiated by Rais, the story of the dinosaur egg unfolded, as children tended to their little egg, which was every day just on the brink of hatching. :)
“We
are looking for a treasure. It is a cave treasure hunt.”
The magical quality of the dolomite rocks, so shiny under the sunshine, and the smooth salmon bay rocks, inspired treasure hunts and full-scale excavations.
“It is
Minnie Mouse. These are her ears. Her eyes. Her nose. Her mouth.”
-Maitreyi
(4)
“That
is Minnie’s tail! And her hair and arms.”
-Natalie (4)
“And
her legs too.” -Diya R. (3)
The
rock depiction of Minnie Mouse, over the span of several weeks, got more and
more complex as the children added details. They created a full Minnie Mouse
body, complete with a mouse tail.
The
interest in creating with rocks inspired using other natural materials to create great
works of art.
Rais
(5) worked many days to get to this point: A depiction of Rais and his elder brother,
Imran, with swords.
Rais
independently collected varied materials, all natural, from our playscape. He
then thought about how to use them in creative ways. A lot of visual spatial
reasoning work, thinking about body proportions, etc. went into his
multiple-day creation.
We could go on and on and about the endless creativity the children showed, as well as the child-initiated collaborations and discussions that occurred. Rocks were even sorted and classified and their similarities and differences discussed. Oh, the discussions!...
