With all the wet, windy and wild weather recently we have been spending more time indoors exploring and extending on different ways to be creative. Art is always a favourite curriculum area for our little ones and so we set up an art provocation with dye, coffee filters and droppers. 💧🩸

Our little ones were intrigued as the resources and materials were added to the table and couldn’t wait to have a go. Firstly, we looked at the coffee filters and spent time discussing how they was different from other types of paper - the shape (some of our little ones noticed it was in the shape of a rainbow) and how we could see through it, just like a paper towel or tissue. We decided it would be a good idea to staple them to some card backing so that the dye wouldn’t run through it. 🙌😊

Next, was the fun part! Choosing different coloured dye, our little ones dipped their droppers into the pots and spent time working out how to get the dye into the dropper. Some of our tamariki were able to do this straight away, whilst others needed a little helping hand. The trick was to put the dropper into the dye, then squeeze the end to suck up the dye before moving it above the coffee filter and squeezing the top again slowly to release the dye. 👍

This required hand-eye coordination, concentration and skill, as we didn’t want to release all the dye in one spot on the coffee filters. With multiple turns and practice, our little ones’ creations evolved. They noticed that when they dropped the dye onto the coffee filters, the filters absorbed the dye and it slowly spread. The less dye you had, the more intricate the patterns became. 🤔

Te Whariki the NZ Early Childhood Curriculum states as part of its communication strand, that “children should experience an environment where they discover different ways to be creative and expressive”. During this art experience, our little ones’ self-esteem was enhanced as they saw their creations evolve and were able to use the dropper competently.

This experience also encouraged children to explore and develop their understanding of spatial awareness, as they found that releasing the dye on the coffee filters absorbed it, whilst releasing it on the card didn’t. So their attention turned to only getting the dye on the rainbow shaped coffee filters without it spilling out over the edges. It was interesting to see how some children chose to cover their entire coffee filter, whilst others were strategically creating patterns on it.

Once their creations were complete, we spent time exploring our names and encouraged each child to write their name on their artwork. Even if some of our little ones weren’t able to write their names as yet, we helped encourage them to try - as mark-making is the first step of early literacy and writing. This also creates a sense of ownership for their work. 😊

The following day we displayed these on the wall and our little ones were super excited and proud to revisit what they had done. Ka Pai Tamariki! 💖🙌