“We Don’t Paint with Marshmallows, We Burn Them in a Fire.”

 

 

That’s the reaction I got recently from a new student on his first day of school. My reaction:  “But look, we are!”   

Why, might you ask, did we paint with marshmallows?  

Why not?  We have a hot chocolate shop, they used pom-poms for marshmall0ws, and I certainly didn’t want to give children that much sugar to eat!  Plus, marshmallows are squishy and fun!

In the coming years, children will be required to come up with one right answer for tests.  There is no room for imagination or other possibilities. 

Think of all of the famous (or not so famous) inventors that have profoundly impacted our lives. What they created hadn’t existed before. Their ideas were unique. How can we nurture our future inventors if they’re told there is only one right answer?  We need to  give our children opportunities to think “out of the box,” to realize that there are many possibilities in life!

Some children rolled the marshmallow.  Do you see the pincer grip?  Rolling the stick and grasping it this way strengthens the hand muscles in preparation for writing. 

They were used like stamps, or paint brushes.

 

The children shared ideas, techniques, and supplies. Due to our social media policies, I cropped out the faces of the children.  You’re not seeing the laughter, the concentration, the shared conversations. 

Was it messy?  Of course it was!  But our tables are washable, and so are the children (and teachers) and our clothes.  Think of it this way:  We give your children an opportunity to explore freely with messy materials so you don’t have to! 

Most importantly, they were all unique.