This work is named “Beyond the Canvas.” It was created in Spring 2017 by the community of young children in the Elm Room. With the support of their educators, children freely investigated and explored all that the paint had to offer.

In their research and reflection of this work with the children, the educators in the Elm Room came across the following quote by Sylvia Kind (2014) and felt that it completely embodied this experience: “Nothing is static; the world is full of movements with different rhythms and intensities. Things move, bodies move, materials move. Life is filled with movements, motion, new becomings and emergences. Movement opens up possibilities and potentialities.”

The Educators decided to write each child’s experience in the form of a Haiku. As they reflected about what this encounter with paint means for children, they draw upon Play, Participation and Possibilities (2014) where “children test their powers of observation and sensory discrimination” (p. 100).

References

Kind, S. (2014). Material Encounters. International journal of child, youth and family studies (2014): 5(4.2) 865-877. Retrieved fromhttp://journals.uvic.ca/index.php/ijcyfs/article/viewFile/13394/4275

Makovichuk, L., Hewes, J., Lirette, P., & Thomas, N. (2014). Play, participation, and possibilities: An early learning and child care curriculum framework for Alberta. Retrieved from www.childcareframework.com