“Hmm…what can I do with paper, pencil and scissors?”                                                                              

“I can draw anything I want.  Then I can use my handy scissors to cut in any direction I want.  OR, I could crumple the paper, twist it, shred it, make little balls…oh, I need a bowl or basket to carry my balls in!  Then I can go around and show my friends and then maybe they will help me make more balls and we could then say they are berries!  Yes, that is what I will do.  Oh, I want to tell my story…I need my Teacher, she can write my words for me.”

Just looking at this picture seems like a pretty simple scenario, yet there are so many different ideas and directions a child might explore with three simple tools.  Tools sometimes are simple, yet the hand and mind controlling them are much more complicated. 🙂

What scenarios, provocations have you set up recently that the children took in directions you the Teacher or Parent never imagined?  Please share your stories, I would love to read about them too! 🙂

Heidi, The Marigold School of Early Learning