Inquiry into Paintings

Exploring Visual Art

Painting Key

1. The Persistence of Memory - Dali

2. Sunflowers - Van Gogh

3. Water Lilies - Monet

4. The Great Wave (off Kanagawa) - Hokusai

5. The Scream - Munch

6. Starry Night - Van Gogh

As both classes had voted to take a deeper dive into visual arts, we begun by featuring a collection of famous paintings into our learning areas and circle time. In one of our circle times, we looked at 5 very different paintings and reflected on how they made us feel, our observations and any questions that popped up about each piece. We were particularly taken by Starry Night and The Great Wave. In Starry Night we reflected on our first reaction to the painting, the week before. We remained fascinated by the large black shape at the forefront of the painting, that could be anything from a bush to a witches castle. In the Great Wave, we were interested in the mountain or volcano in the background. One child opined that it was a good thing there was snow on the volcano as it would put out the lava if it erupted. We had lots of feelings looking at it, some of us felt a little afraid, or excited or worried looking at the painting. We talked about what the weather looked like, and what it might feel like to be in one of the boats. 

In our Arrival Play, we have introduced colouring sheets for each painting. We have been excited at being able to recognise them from our circle time and have been experimenting with our own versions through a choice of colour pencil. One of our colouring pages is Sunflowers by Van Gogh. We haven't looked at this painting yet, but it will be featured in our sensory tray activity, next week. 

Water Lilies

Before looking at the chosen paintings in circle time, we had a copy of one of Monet's Water Lilies pieces taped up as a provocation. We had a tranquil feel to our sensory tray, with vines and twinkling lights hanging above us, a wooden bridge balanced across the tray, and blue/green water with 'lily pads', flowers and floating numbers drifting under the bridge as we created our own current with our hands. In the background, gentle acoustic music played. When we came across the Water Lilies painting in circle time, a few of us excitedly pointed over to the water tray, noting that we had that painting up on the wall. 

The Great Wave

We took a bit of a deeper dive into The Great Wave. After discussing it in the initial circle time, we literally immersed ourselves in the painting. Sitting in three lines, we pretended we were in the long boats in the painting, using our arms to row through the waves as a team. Soon we added fabric waves, with volunteers swinging them up and down to represent the choppy sea. The rain started coming down, with bells being rung to create the tinkling sound of the raindrops hitting the water. Before long, thunder joined the sound, with drums being beaten loudly as we swayed in our boats. 

In the following circle time, we built our own version of the iconic painting using sheets, cotton wool, twigs and popsicle sticks. We talked about the shape of the water and tried to mirror it in our own project. We repeatedly looked at the painting above us, as we decided where the best placement was for the element we had chosen. We had three separate teams who worked together on the blue water, white foam, and boats in turn. 

When it came to our final wave task, we were very familiar with the artwork. It was our turn to make our own independent interpretation whilst using the skills we have been working on all year. We needed to use a pencil to make our wave shape, trying to include dips and hills in our wave pattern. We utilised our hand-eye coordination by painting the sky on one side of the line, and the blue sea on the other. We then chose from a selection of blue objects from our loose parts selection, sticking them down to make the ocean 3D. Our final step was to fold paper boats, and sit them atop the waves. 

Starry Night

This week, we put up one of our favourite painting so far, Starry Night. In our sensory tray we had some sand that we had dyed blue, and a wide variety of gold and silver materials to signify the stars in the sky. Whilst talking about the painting, we have also been exploring the textures and functuality of the shiny sieves, plates, tin foil, bells, ribbons, metallic cupcake papers and string. 

  Responsible Learners

An important facet of the IB curriculum is for children to not only become increasingly knowledgable, but also self-aware and responsible for their own learning. In the Dolphin classroom we have been talking about what it means to be a responsible learner, and how we can bring this to our Circle Time routine. 

Circle Time is a valuable part of our day, a time for sharing, listening, and learning together. However, we also recognise that young children have different learning styles and individual needs when it comes to focus and processing information. To support this, we've begun introducing a variety of focus tools that children can choose to use during Circle Time if they feel it will help them engage and listen more effectively.

These tools are simple yet powerful, offering different sensory input and ways to channel energy. Some of the options we've made available include:

• Quiet Fidget Toys: Small, manipulable objects like stress balls, squishy toys, or textured stones that can keep busy hands occupied without being distracting.
• Visual Aids: Liquid timers that children can hold or look at to maintain focus.
• Comfort Objects: For some children, a small, familiar object like a smooth stone or a soft fabric can provide a sense of security and help them feel more grounded.
• Floor Chairs and Weighted Blankets: For those working on their core strength and regulating their big muscles, they can choose to try a legless chair with support back or one of our child-sized weighted blankets. 

The goal isn't to force the use of these tools, but rather to empower children to understand their own bodies and what they need to help themselves be present and engaged. We've had open discussions about how these tools can support our listening and processing, emphasising that choosing a tool (or choosing not to) is a way of being responsible for our own learning.

We are excited to continue this exploration with the children, observing how these tools support their engagement and fostering their growing understanding of their individual learning styles. By providing these options, we are not only supporting their focus during circle time but also laying the foundation for them to become proactive and self-directed learners in all aspects of their lives.

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