Decorating: “Yeah, my pictures are friends”

Since we introduced sewing circles, their use has expanded dramatically (literally and figuratively)! This intersects with an interest in decorating the classroom and in dramatic play.

The children began by sewing a shoelace around and around
through a circle, just as we had demonstrated to them.

 

 

Then some children tried connecting two sewing circles.

A group of children was pretending the reading area was a haunted house/sleepover fort; Ellie explained that the pile of pillows was the babies’ nest so they can sleep. When the babies got sick, Stella offered, Excuse me. This is the decoration so our baby is feeling better, as she brought over sewing circles that she had attached together. She and Ellie tried to figure out how to put them up, using language like rope, tie it, and untangled.

On Thursday, Ellie and Livia grabbed sewing circles as Ellie exclaimed, We’re getting a decoration! Decoration! Decoration! She and Livia carried them around the room, trying to figure out where they might put up their decorations. A wall which was already decorated with paintings wasn’t doable, but around the corner, they spied the rope where the scarves hang: Or we can tie it here! Ellie proclaimed with excitement, and they got to work. Others came to join in or watch.

Both Johann and Stella have been interested in
decorating the room with drawings and paintings.

I want to hang this up.
I’m putting it up next to my other one, next to my friends. (Oh, so your pictures are friends?) Yeah, my pictures are friends.

But back to the sewing circles – they have also been used as . . . 

cribs (Lila) . . .

homes for bad guys (Wesley) . . .

a dead balloon (Stella) . . .

dogs on leashes (Kesler) . . .

places (a home) to put a bird (Jack, Jamie).
(after Jamie and Jack fed their birds at the table, Jamie set up placemats to make the area more homey for his bird, which flew back to its sleeping area in the blocks after being fed.)

Other possible evidence of decorating is Johann’s discovery that the colorful people can be lined up on the board by the reading area, which has interested others as well.

In response to the children’s interest in figuring out how to hang up decorations, we just introduced the children to how a clothespin works.

We’ll take another look at how clothespins work next week
before offering them for the children to use. (We have a plan!)