At first, the children carried on making forests and then they became giants, knocking the trees over, using them for ‘firewood’, and making a bridge to a garden wall for insects to use. The children used small world insects to hide in the wall and also looked for real insects.
When they found a real bug there was a lot of talk about whether to squash it or leave it alone, so we were able to pose the question:
‘What do you do if you don’t like something?’
A decision was made to place the bug in the gap in the wall so that it will be away from danger, although as soon as it was placed there, it was being hunted down to find it again.
Step 3
While we printed out photographs from the day, the children placed the toy insects on a blank canvas, then made insect footprints using some paint, and then developed this into a collage adding leaves, mud, sticks, and clay and drawing pictures of the bugs. This produced a visual ‘diary’ of the journey and gave an opportunity to reflect and talk, listen and find out more about what the children had taken from the project.
Resources:
• paints and paint trays • toy insects • large sheet or canvas to paint on • clay
Ideas for further exploration...
• extend the opportunity to investigate insects by making bug boxes and planting that encourages insects to the area
• exploring different textures, shade and shadow, white and black
• give the children opportunities to extend their investigations without adult intervention by leaving a number of blank canvasses and a chosen range of mark making materials in the small room (away from other distractions/play)