How might relationships begin to grow from a series of art
classes with children in Gan Yeladim, Yeladim, and Bet
Preschool ? Tickets to a puppet show at the end of
November provided the inspiration to use the well-known
story of The Very Hungry Caterpillar as a catalyst for
connecting through the creative process.
Susan Hoppenfeld
Gan Yeladim and Yeladim Daycares and Bet Preschool came up to the art room for 30 minutes each, revisiting the first sentence of the story and then to responding to it creatively. In the light of the moon, a little egg lay on a leaf. I’m reminded of a your children, so full of potential.
Nov. 6, 2014
In the light of the moon, a little egg lay on a leaf.
We revisited the first sentence of the story and children responded to it
creatively. They used their bodies to illustrate the moon, the leaf and the egg.
Then each egg was named and carefully placed on an enormous leaf. Was
Eric Carle thinking about children, so full of potential, when he began his
story?
The art activity is layered, “First think
about the moon using white oil pastel,
then think about the night sky with
green and blue paint.” It’s all just paper
scraps and repurposed materials. “Now
the leaf, a branch and the little egg.”
I’m inviting children to think
symbolically.
With laughter and enthusiasm, sensory
learners cover their hands with paint,
organized collage makers create patterns
and diligent gluers watch the drops fall
from the paddle to the paper.
“ Look, it’s the night sky!”
“ The moon is shining through.”
Jacob Kollin
Miri
Alexander Seb
Navah
Nov. 13, 2014
One Sunday morning the warm sun came up and pop,
out of the egg came a tiny and a very hungry caterpillar.
He started to look for some food.
Many children have memorized the story and say it out loud
before I have a chance to begin. It’s become part of their daily
daycare life. Children who rarely come near the art table in the
room are focussed and excited in this special place. Enthusiasm ripples through the
room. “What are we going to do
today?” A scrap of coloured paper
with holes punched in. Just right
for the hungry caterpillar to
chomp his way through. “We’re
sewing,” one child said,
identifying that wonderful time
in childhood where fantasy and
reality can be interchangeable.
“Look closely at Eric Carle’s sun, yellow, red and orange.” There are fluffy clouds
of cotton batting, oils pastel skies, green sushi grass and so much food for the
caterpillar to eat.
Again the fascination with the slow drip of glue, but this time a story to go with it.
“ You know the caterpillar ate a lot of different kinds of food and some of it wasn’t
very healthy.” Was Carle thinking about the choices we make in life?
Photos, coloured scraps and a surprise, a
paper cone waiting to be filled with tissue paper
ice cream. “I want strawberry.” “I like chocolate.”
“I just want green.” At lunch conversations
erupted as children shared their experience
with the teachers who were not there.
Kayla
Guy Kai
Maks
Liam Bayla
At the entrance to the Child Development Centre, children stop and show their
parents the work they have done. Parents read aloud, revisiting their child’s
experience with them. “ What a bright sunny day you made.”
Nov. 20, 2014
He wasn't a little caterpillar any more. He was a big fat caterpillar.
Children find a spot on the green tape on the floor. Lining up they become a big
fat caterpillar together. They stamp with found objects and draw with oil pastels
to create their caterpillar part. We talk about the difference between the thorax
and the abdomen, the throat and the stomach. The floor provides ample space
for everyone to stretch out.
An intrinsic sense of pattern and design is coupled with the need to play. “Do
caterpillars talk?” “Yes, but only to each other.”
Stuffed, stapled, and velcroed together by the collaborative work of sixty
children, the caterpillars enjoy snacks of pomegranate, grapes, figs and a little bit
of matzah. He is a Jewish caterpillar.
Nov. 27, 2014
He was a beautiful butterfly!
“Look closely at Eric Carle’s butterfly. What do you see?”
“I see the rainbow and stripes and dots and he still has a red head.”
Children painted one side of their butterfly wings, unfolded and refolded the paper,
rubbed and rubbed and then opened it up.
Looks of awe and delight and giggles of surprise followed as they
continued to embellish their wings with oil pastels.
Billie Max
Jacob
Dan Noam
Ella
The Very Hungry Caterpillar took flight in each room. Children made food so
the caterpillar wouldn’t be hungry. They improvised music so the butterflies
could dance.
Corinne shared the story in French and children learned the French names of
the foods that they liked.
The Very Hungry (Jewish) Caterpillar lived in Tel Aviv and spoke Hebrew.
Very Hungry Caterpillar Puppet Show
Sleepless nights filled with excitement preceded the
puppet show. Sitting in the dark and watching
enormous puppets tell Eric Carle’s stories was
the culmination of four weeks of conversation, play,
and creativity but it is not the end.
The Very Hungry Caterpillar brought us together
as a community, kehillah.
Reflections
This experience reminded me of the importance of an atelier when doing an art
project with the children. We prepare art activities daily in our room, yet several
children are too busy playing and reluctant to try out the activities. Yet, when
they came upstairs for art, they were eager and enthusiastic.
It also inspired me to explore some of the children's favourite books and stories
in a very concrete and meaningful way, dissecting key pages of the book
through art activities. It also made me eager and enthusiastic too!
The story was played out throughout the room (the Jewish Caterpillar story at
the easel and laminated at a table, the hanging story on a shelf), but what
appeared to be the favourite was the large butterfly wings. The children wore
them all day long, and even went dancing with them through the JCC.
Corinne O’Reilly
It was so refreshing and inspiring for me to participate in your classes and
enjoy how you've orchestrated telling a story with the children's participation,
finger play songs, and using multiple art mediums all together to produce an
exciting experience for the children as a group.
Your classes had a huge impact on the children and more so for Shawn whose
English is just beginning to come. Yet he called out, "Caterpillar!" after making a
painting on Monday. After he finished painting, Shawn made a long chain with
plastic links and called it “caterpillar," and then he took it to the small blocks to
create a "caterpillar house". He looked so proud and excited about his
"caterpillar." Caren Rivas
I have noticed the preschool children sharing their thoughts and ideas on their
art experiences and the story of The Very Hungry Caterpillar particularly during
snack and lunch time. It seems to be a fitting time while they eat, to retell parts
of the story. As I think about this, I realize that what they are during is doing their
own self-reflecting that is concrete and meaningful. Jen Polsky
One of the most exciting moments was when the children discovered that
caterpillars had 12 eyes and 6 feet.
It was very interesting to see how they came up with different creative ideas for
making caterpillars. We used q-tips, round stickers and very open-ended
materials that they first explored.
In dramatic play, in art, and at the water table, although children were so familiar
with the story, they developed their own versions, each deciding what the
caterpillar ate based on their own preferences such as challah, spaghetti, grapes
etc. Diana Toscano
I think that by using yet another language for experiencing this story, it brings
the story that much more alive for the children. I felt that because the children
knew that they were going for a special art time with Susan, they were curious
and more open to learning about the opportunities available to them.
Once in the art room, unlike the classroom, there is comparatively little to take
away their interest from the task at hand. Each child became so engaged and
focused in their own work and by Susan gradually providing new and
interesting materials, they continued to create and express themselves in their
own personal way. How wonderful to see so many children engaged in art,
when sometimes that is something that they steer away from.
During Hebrew circles I invited the children to become ha'zachal ha'raehv, the
hungry caterpillar. They were eager to participate over and over again. I've
watched their enthusiasm and I've loved seeing how this story has come alive
for the children on an ongoing basis. Debbie Lewin
Meaning Making
There seems to be a rich possibility for meaning making in revisiting The Very
Hungry Caterpillar so many times and in so many ways. Each time children
explore the story they have a chance to rethink and revise their theories with
others. In this way children are not only finding meaning in relation to others they
have a chance to find meaning in relation to their past theories and ideas.
Children expressed these meanings through their artwork, through their
dramatization, and through their oral languages.
One particular moment that seems to illustrate this idea was during one of
the Hebrew circles. As Debbie retold the story in Hebrew, our children who speak
Hebrew at home shared in the language they felt comfortable with. As we
explored this line of thought, however, some children, who speak Russian at
home, started to share vocabulary about the story in their own language. In this
context The Hungry Very Caterpillar becomes a richer story, full of
possibility beyond days of the week, counting fruit, etc.
Image of the Child
There are hundreds of different images of the child. Each one of you has inside yourself an
image of the child that directs you as you begin to relate to a child. This theory within you
pushes you to behave in certain ways; it orients you as you talk to the child, listen to the
child, observe the child. It is very difficult for you to act contrary to this internal image. For
example, if your image is that boys and girls are very different from one another, you will
behave differently in your interactions with each of them. (Malaguzzi, L. (1994). Your image
of the child: Where teaching begins. Exchange Vol. 3.)
Reading through the PN I thought of how our image of the child can open up
possibilities for our practice. What is possible when we see children as being
capable of expressing themselves artistically? What is possible when we
believe that children can deeply explore a subject? The atelier is a room that is
only possible if we see children as being competent and capable in all these
areas. If we did not believe that children were capable of being artists, of
making meaning, of exploring deeply then we would not have tried bringing
them to this special space over multiple times to explore a single subject. From
this perspective, theory and practice are intimately bound in that our practice
with children reveals our true theories of what we believe our children are
capable of.
More than Human World
Over the course of exploring The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Eric Carle draws our
attention to the life of a single Caterpillar and the food that he eats. Yet, as I
watch the children explore the story dramatically, artistically, through play, and
in story I can't help but wonder a child’s relationship to the more than human
world? This is not only how children engage the subject of the caterpillar as he
searches for food but how the children engage the art materials as subjects
with agency of their own. What are the children learning about the caterpillar
as they put on antennae and eat food in Debbie’s Hebrew circles? What do
they think about the dreams and desires of the caterpillar as they curl up and
pretend to be butterflies as they slowly emerge from their cocoons? What do
they learn about glue as it seems to drip and dribble on its own accord?
What knowledge is found in the delight of a pastel moon shining through
watercolour? Daniel Lindskog Wilson
Perhaps early childhood is a bit like the Carle’s cocoon, nourishing and safe. At the
same time, butterflies are being born daily as children show us who they are, how
they feel and what they are excited about.
These precious moments with children have reconnected me with what I enjoy
about this work. Our emerging relationships are now grounded in their creativity
and critical thinking skills. We have something to talk about that is meaningful.
Conversations with parents too are grounded in the time I’ve spent with their
children. What better way to build relationships!
I have a renewed appreciation for what the teachers do every day, encouraging
creativity by asking open-ended questions, eliciting stories about what often
appears to be abstract work. As they continue, extending and enriching the
children’s experience of The Very Hungry Caterpillar, I remain part of the
conversation. It feels good to be included. Susan Hoppenfeld
