Dear Studio Red,
Throughout our year together you have been noticing rocks. We have discovered them on our playgrounds, through the park and in our woods. We have brought many back into the studio and created a collection together!
In the studio we carefully observed them under the zoomie, painted pictures about them, gave them as gifts, cleaned them with brushes and water and researched them in books! We were geologists!
This invitation might be best to do over two days as it is a longer exploration.
Love, Lauri and Emily
do & draw
DO
As you play with rocks,
how will you sort your collection?
Kjerstin’s collection of rocks.
You needn’t have an existing collection of stones, just spend some time searching around your house, rocks are everywhere! You can spend some time washing them and drying them in the sun. How does water change a rock? What do you notice when they are cleaned of dirt and dust?
Spend some time sorting and arranging your rocks. How will you sort? By size? By shape? By where they were found?
You are the curator of your collection and you can decide!
A note for parents:
This is a marvelous time to gather tools together for a rock hunt. Plan the adventure with your child! Reflect back to Studio Red with your child and think about what we often took with us in the woods when we were gathering. Make a list together of what you will need. Your child can write, you can write as they dictate or you can share the pen! You can use symbols, words, single letters or a combination of all!
Questions you might ask: Where should we look for rocks? How will we get the rocks back? Where will we play with rocks when we get home? What other tools might we need for our hunt?
DRAW
How will you name your rocks?
A note for parents:
This is a great time to explore letters and numbers together. Share the excitement with your child as they count and name their collection! Find a place to save the collection so it can be returned to over many days.
They may wish to work on their own or with you by their side. Watch for stamina. This play can be broken down into so many parts. Just count and list one rock a day. Or just count how many are in the whole collection. Keep it light and fun!
