Exploring Line

I noticed the children were drawing lines on paper using a ruler and pencil, so I walked over to look. The work did not have a specific pattern to it.

When working with the children, I ask questions to see if an interest in a technique or material is blossoming. I want to hear the children's ideas about their work. When I discover the children have a new interest, I like to brainstorm unique invitations to help an exploration move forward.

The next day, I invited the children to explore lines differently. At the same table where the children worked the day before, I set up several geoboards with fluorescent rubber bands so the children could explore a moveable line. A geoboard has many fixed points that enable the children to be creative while exploring and stretching lines into different shapes.

The children enjoyed playing and exploring lines with geoboards. The project invited children to observe the differences between pencil lines and the moveable lines of a geoboard. None of the children mentioned a connection between a pencil line and a geo-board line as they played. I was disappointed with my invitation, so I created a new one.

I invited the children to explore lines with rulers, paper, and sharpies a few days later. The sharpies created bold lines that resembled rubber bands on geoboards. Drawing sharpie lines offered a different type of flexibility as the motion of the sharpies connected to the original pencil drawings from a few days before. To make this drawing experience different, I cut out small sheets of drawing paper. I hoped to influence the children to create more lines in a smaller space.

Generally, I don't try to influence the work of the children. Occasionally, I set up an invitation to guide specific actions. A majority of our explorations originate from the children. Our role as an educator is to help children's investigations move forward. Choosing to influence activity requires a delicate balance and does not always work out as we intend.

The following day I noticed the children were playing and building with Magna tiles and Lego. As we talked about their work, I asked the children a question. I wondered if they noticed the invisible lines that formed the shapes in their work. Some of the children said, Yes! Then, they drew a line with their finger. The children pointed to some areas where they noticed a specific line made by a seam in the toy. Before walking away, I invited the children to look for their work's less obvious hidden lines. I parted company with the group, saying that finding these lines was like playing a game of "I Spy."

The children were enjoying building and were not thinking of the line. As an educator, I thought this was an excellent opportunity to connect the line investigation to work generated by the children. I am sure they wanted to build and did not care about the lines, so I mentioned it and moved on to play with other children.

Wanting to create one more invitation to explore a line, I employed another art project. I acquired some fluorescent multi colorful yarn. Then I collected some glue, scissors, and construction paper for the work. The project was a simple string drop. I invited the children to cut lengths of yarn and then dip them into a bowl full of glue. Next, I asked the children to drop the string onto construction paper. By repeating this process, a string art pattern develops.

String art is a classic activity for school-age children. I am sure many children have done this type of project before. I was trying to invite the children to see the line differently. A string drop line is separate from a drawn line, a geoboard line, and a line noticed in a toy. I wanted to invite the children to discover how movement transformed the line.

After the string drop invitation, we did not explore the line for many weeks. That is how some projects develop in school-age care. The educators think the children have a growing interest in something when the children are only exploring.

It is essential in our practice to take a comprehensive view of the daily activities we offer children. Our primary role as educators is to create the conditions for children to play, explore, and learn. By creating an inviting, safe, and nurturing environment, we support what children need to thrive in the learning community.