Steiner supplies
In the weekend I got hold of some beeswax modeling compound and block crayons (a la Steiner). We tried them out yesterday (crayons) and today (compound and crayons).
The crayons are in several lovely colours - many are just so slightly different from each other it is hard to tell the colours apart.
The children got to work and made some creations. Isabelle said that night that it was the best thing about the day.
And where there are blocks - there are block constructions! Here is a control tower. Later on we had a full military airport in operation, complete with jets and neighbouring houses.
Next came the modeling compound. I was quite keen to play with this myself, having never had the opportunity before (at least, not that I could remember). It smelt pleasant, but was very hard.
We chose our colours and got to work. It was an interesting creative exercise - I had no idea what I was "supposed" to do, so it was totally up to us to experiment and discover. We kneaded with our fingers, rolled, flattened and twisted. I experimentally heated some in the microwave. It was actually quite hard work for the fingers, especially when compared with playdough or clay. I imagine that it is very difficult for the very small - both Aidan and Isabelle could cope, but Orla could do nothing more than hold it (wondering perhaps if this was something to eat - and if so, why was no-one else eating it?). This contrasts with the other two media, which Orla can use. It was quite difficult to press two parts of the wax together in a way that they would stay stuck.
Our first creations: an orange penguin (Isabelle), red and black table (me), snail twisting in its shell (Aidan) and wriggling worm (Aidan, foreground).
Next, Isabelle went multi-media and created: "A house, with little babies, toddlers and kids [drawn in crayon with beeswax figures], a penguin, a moon [top right], lots of little fish [red groups in foreground], and a Daddy sea lion coming home [black and red]". This is a bi-species family.
Aidan picked up her idea of using paper and made "snakes in Antarctica" (visited by alien bug, my contribution and an extension of "table").
In an experiment on the side, initially I worked with the children (a la Playcentre), rolling sausages, pressing, but not creating adult models. They happily went about their business. They were aware of what I was doing, and certainly took my lead at some points. I drew their attention to anything I found particularly interesting (such as when I flattened the beeswax so much, it became transparent). Aidan also took inspiration from what Isabelle was doing, specifically in creating a paper back drop for his models. (It was no accident that his snakes ate penguins...). I then made alien bug - an adult creation (sort of, in that it was not exactly artistic, but used techniques that were beyond their small fingers). As if he had just read Magic Places , Aidan immediately requested that I make an alien bug for him.
Orla took the opportunity to de-lid all of Aidan's felt pens and scattered them on the floor.
Aidan has a lot of felt pens.
The crayons are in several lovely colours - many are just so slightly different from each other it is hard to tell the colours apart.
The children got to work and made some creations. Isabelle said that night that it was the best thing about the day.
And where there are blocks - there are block constructions! Here is a control tower. Later on we had a full military airport in operation, complete with jets and neighbouring houses. Next came the modeling compound. I was quite keen to play with this myself, having never had the opportunity before (at least, not that I could remember). It smelt pleasant, but was very hard.
We chose our colours and got to work. It was an interesting creative exercise - I had no idea what I was "supposed" to do, so it was totally up to us to experiment and discover. We kneaded with our fingers, rolled, flattened and twisted. I experimentally heated some in the microwave. It was actually quite hard work for the fingers, especially when compared with playdough or clay. I imagine that it is very difficult for the very small - both Aidan and Isabelle could cope, but Orla could do nothing more than hold it (wondering perhaps if this was something to eat - and if so, why was no-one else eating it?). This contrasts with the other two media, which Orla can use. It was quite difficult to press two parts of the wax together in a way that they would stay stuck.
Our first creations: an orange penguin (Isabelle), red and black table (me), snail twisting in its shell (Aidan) and wriggling worm (Aidan, foreground). Next, Isabelle went multi-media and created: "A house, with little babies, toddlers and kids [drawn in crayon with beeswax figures], a penguin, a moon [top right], lots of little fish [red groups in foreground], and a Daddy sea lion coming home [black and red]". This is a bi-species family.
Aidan picked up her idea of using paper and made "snakes in Antarctica" (visited by alien bug, my contribution and an extension of "table"). In an experiment on the side, initially I worked with the children (a la Playcentre), rolling sausages, pressing, but not creating adult models. They happily went about their business. They were aware of what I was doing, and certainly took my lead at some points. I drew their attention to anything I found particularly interesting (such as when I flattened the beeswax so much, it became transparent). Aidan also took inspiration from what Isabelle was doing, specifically in creating a paper back drop for his models. (It was no accident that his snakes ate penguins...). I then made alien bug - an adult creation (sort of, in that it was not exactly artistic, but used techniques that were beyond their small fingers). As if he had just read Magic Places , Aidan immediately requested that I make an alien bug for him.
Orla took the opportunity to de-lid all of Aidan's felt pens and scattered them on the floor.
Aidan has a lot of felt pens.
posted by Mary at 8:10 pm
3 Comments:
Interesting post, I lvoe the crayon block tower. I have never played with the beeswax, I believe in kindy the kids hold it in their hands while singing a song and this makes it pliable- and they use it for older preschoolers - we don't get it for playgroup. Although I think the adults should get some to play with! Interesting about the alien bug.
Oooo, you must have a try yourself!
It makes sense that they would sing to give time for the beeswax to become more malleable - Brendon had a go in the evening and it got flexible in his big man-hands very fast!
It really is a very interesting thing to work with.
The alien bug thing is interesting, but on the other hand it's not surprising that a Playcentre child would react in that way. For example, when a child is used to the problem-solving behavioural guidance technique, they are more likely to respond well to it. Children who have never problem-solved before may well be quite taken aback and may find it difficult to do.
Back to modeling compound - they had another go today after breakfast, but it was more dramatic play with the creatures they had created than more modeling. And alien bug got dissected....
very cool creatures!
heh heh the crayons have become one of my favourite take-out-toys because they double as block blocks lol..
kwym about the modelling beeswax tho, i got it mostly for me luckily, cos it's too complicated for alexis.. so she just had fun breaking our four blocks into tiny pieces on the carpet..
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