“Our embodied participation in the world makes possible an intimate relationship with the world, and knowledgeable residence in the world.” -Ann Pelo
One of the main aspects of the atelier is to highlight sensory explorations and perceptions. It is designed to evoke exploration, to stimulate expression and to add richness to the learning of life. One of the principals due to this is that whatever we set up in the atelier we ensure that it is connected to external explorations or encounters in our child/ren’s daily life.
So I’d love to encourage you and your child to explore the garden in the sun as well as in the rain. Here is some inspiration from an investigation a few years ago that started in the rain.
Go out in the rain and explore…”What do you notice?” “Do you notice any change in the colours that you see?” Is there a difference in the sounds that you hear?’ or “Does the smell of things smell different?”
Take a camera with you and take photos of the traces of rain, the movement of the rain etc… Bring your experiences back into your atelier space and create pictures, or perhaps even take these magical expressive languages space outside in the rain.
“Can you catch a rain-drop?” “Can you create a raindrop out of recycled materials?” “I wonder what will happen when raindrops fall onto different papers or material surfaces?”
So through our questioning, we are able to reignite that wonder and curiosity into something that is very commonplace within our lives here in Aotearoa.
Enjoy, explore with all your senses, imagine and create.
