Educating Young Students From The Inside Out

Educating Preschool students from the "Inside Out"

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

A blade of grass



Said a blade of grass to an autumn leaf, “You make such a noise falling! You scatter all my winter dreams.”
Said the leaf indignant, “Low-born and low-dwelling! Song-less  peevish thing! You live not in the upper air and you cannot tell the sound of singing.”
Then the autumn leaf lay down upon the earth and slept. And when spring came she waked again — and she was a blade of grass.
And when it was autumn and her winter sleep was upon her, and above her through all the air the leaves were falling, she muttered to herself, “O these autumn leaves! They make such a noise! They scatter all my winter dreams.”
Khalil Gibran

Today we tried something new in the classroom with the pre-kindergarten class. I wanted to introduce wet wool felting as our handiwork this month. I love the textures, colors, and how the project changes shape right before your eyes. It is very dynamic. I also like to teach children the early stages of non-attachment. Working with wool is a process that has its own life. You have to remain open to the joy that lies before you, not the outcome. It never fails to amaze me the beauty of how felting turns out. 

We began with a fresh batch of wool to touch and feel.

We carefully placed roving wool of all colors of grass into our plastic bags.
We then added hot water, and soap to the wool inside the bags . Carefully we got all the air out and closed the bag tightly. 


Then through pounding and carefully massaging the baggies, the wool felted together like grass in their baggies. 


After each piece is completely felted you rinse out the soap with cold water and let dry on a surface. 
They dry in a day. We are using these for an exhibit at our art show coming up on Saturday. 
Wool felt pieces drying

I guess you will have to come to our art show to see the finished exhibit displayed? 

It’s almost spring and the blades of grass are awakening. 

Joy to you!

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