June 4, 2025
Ms Chelsea had drawn out a tree on some brown paper and taped it to the back of the door as Ms Aleacia set out a tray with green paint and some branches from the trees alongside our playground. As the children noticed it sitting there, L, E and C had come over and asked, “can we paint?” I replied, “of course you can! Let’s see what you guys can do!”
L walked up and picked up the branch with his left hand and dipped it into the green paint, walked over to the paper and with a quick swing, smacked the branch against the paper leaving an impression of the branch. He said to his friends, “wow, did you see that?” L laughed and then continued making prints on the door as E and C began slapping their branches against the paper, making the green paint splatter all over the paper. C and E turned and looked at one another as they both began to giggle. E said to C, "you have paint on your face,” with a big smile and wide eyes. C told E, “you do, too!” C and E both looked down and noticed green paint all over the floor. They both said at the same time, “Ms Aleacia, there is paint all over the floor. It needs to be cleaned up.”
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As L, C and E were still painting, they got the attention of M, S and C as they walked over and all said, “we want a turn.” L turned and told them, “there are three branches so you guys have to wait until we are all finished our turn.” L, C and E each took a few more turns and then placed the branches down as L said, “I’m all done. I got paint all over me.” The girls included, “us too!” M, C and S all picked up a branch and began slapping the paper with the branches. As C went to swing his branch onto the paper, his friend S’s branch had bounced off the door, hitting C in the left ear. Right away, S said to C, “oops, sorry. This is pretty tricky.” C agreed and grabbed his shirt, wiping his ear clean as the two friends laughed. As M was dipping his branch, R came over and asked the group, “can I have a turn?” M then replied, "there are only three branches, but this one is big. I can make you one.” Using both hands, M broke a piece of the branch off and handed it to R, giving her the chance to have a turn. R said, “thank you M for helping me.” R then used her right hand to hold her branch and slid it back and forth on the paper. R then said to the group, “I can’t reach. Too high! I'm just painting down here.” As R was painting she said to her friends, "look at these marks, they are different than yours.” As I was taking pictures of the children, P came over and stood by watching. I then asked P, “would you like a turn to come and paint?” P stood quietly for a few moments and then, after thinking about it for a few seconds, replied, “after they are all done.” I told her that’s fine and then asked her, “are there are too many friends?” P nodded and waited patiently for a few friends to finish their turn. After some friends had finished, P walked over, picking up a branch using both hands, and walked over to the paper, smacking it against the paper twice with her right hand and then quickly turned around and placed the branch back down and told the educator, “I don’t like that. It’s too picky! The green things hurt my hand. I’m all done."
Belonging: The children socially interacted with one another when noticing paint on one another’s faces and well as the floor. Each child was participating in ways that they felt most comfortable, some waiting for when there were less friends at the activity.
Well-being: The children showed a sense of agency, recognizing that they have the right to make their own choices and decisions. Some chose a messier experience, getting paint on their bodies or experiencing the feel of the branches. They knew they had the choice to paint or not.
Engagement: The children focus their attention as to where they would like their branch to go on the paper and were able to communicate their feelings and ideas to one another. The children also collaborated with one another as to where they were going to be placing their branches and limited the experience to three friends at a time.
Expression: The children participated in meaningful interactions with peers by helping one another to ensure there were enough materials for each friend to experience making the tree and communicating their feelings to one another by asking and answering questions.
By Aleacia Austin
