"Can we create with these?"

This morning the children were greeted with the fragrant smell of flowers. As soon as I put the flowers on the table several friends were drawn in by their beautiful scent and visual appeal. I was interested to see what the children would do with these materials!

Take in the two pictures below. One from the beginning of our exploration and one from the end of our exploration. Initially I planned on the children nicely plucking flower petals from each of the flowers and sorting them into the containers on the table. I didn't have any plans on what would happen next, hoping that the children would lead this exploration. And did they ever lead this exploration! 

 First, as I said, the children started pulling the petals off of the flower stems. We talked about the colors of the petals and sorted them into their own bowls.

 "Feel these! They are so soft. I like to move them around in the bowl with my hands."

 "We should put all the flowers in their own bowls."

"But there are two different white flowers."

"They can go together and all the green leaves can go together."

"These are so silky."

"Can we create with these?"

Once the children were finished sorting the flowers I was interested to see where this exploration would take us. There were two friends at the table initially. They began filling the larger petals with smaller petals. I was curious about what they were doing. I continued to watch as they took their time picking out the perfect flowers to be the carriers for their smaller petals. Finally they began to talk with each other about what they were doing.

"I'm making a boat."

"My boat is carrying candy."

"Yeah, we have to get the candy to the kids."

"The boat delivers to different states. We sailed your candy here."

 "I made a paintbrush. It's a green paintbrush with a purple bottom!"

"We can make all kinds of things with these petals."

 "I'm rolling this into a sandwich, do you want a bite?" 

"I'm chomping it up and mixing it!"
"I'm going to chomp too!" 

 "Pat, pat, pat. I'm cooking!"

It's amazing what happens when the adults stand back and let the children guide the learning. I had a small plan in my head when this all began but had no idea where it would end up. I am so pleased to see what the children did with our beautiful materials. They are so creative and inventive, in ways that I could never be!

A child's mind is not a container to be filled but rather a fire to be kindled. -Dorothea Brande