“The child
is made of one hundred.
The child has
a hundred languages
a hundred hands
a hundred thoughts
a hundred ways of thinking
of playing, of speaking.
A hundred always a hundred
ways of listening
of marveling, of loving
a hundred joys
for singing and understanding
a hundred worlds
to discover
a hundred worlds
to invent
a hundred worlds
to dream.”
-Loris Malaguzzi,
founder of the Reggio Emilia Approach
When we explore long term projects in the atelier, we are often uncovering the languages of expression that each child has within them. Our color mixing project, which began as a scientific, sensory exploration has deepened into a study of the language of color. We spent several weeks focused on inventing and naming new colors out of play dough. When the children create a new color, I ask questions to help them name it. Have you ever seen something this color before? Have you ever eaten this color? Have you ever smelled this color? Have you seen it in the woods? Your house?
Asking the children to remember, recall and retell stories of their experiences with color helps build connections in the brain between sensory, vision, memory and language areas. As children better develop the neural pathway “Highways” their brains work as a more oiled machine, better able to take in, store and recall information. This color mixing project became an important way for children to explore language and cognitive skills of memory and recall, all while strengthening their fine motor skills and creativity through sculpting with their invented colors.
Comments