Charcoal experimentations

Our explorations with charcoal yielded exciting possibilities.  Our interaction with charcoal today represented an experimental and experiential step into the unknown (for children and educators alike).  The room embraced the mystery of this new experience as the mystery had been building and unfolding since its announcement to the children on Monday.  On Tuesday morning the children arrived to a room radically transformed from the one they knew on Monday. Many of the room’s familiar items (shelves, tables, carpets, building blocks, etc.) had been relocated and replaced with large rolls of white paper taped to the floor.  The children were very curious about this sudden transformation and what it revealed about the surprise announced the previous day. Children then began to play on the surface of the paper.

A pervasive sense of wonder emerged from the group. What seemed to impress the children most once they held a charcoal stick for themselves was the uncontainable dimension of the material itself.  It was unlike any drawing tool they’ve ever used as the very process of drawing would necessarily leave its mark on one’s hand (and else within reach of contact). This tangible dimension of the charcoal seemed to make the greatest impression on most of the children.   After settling down to mark on the paper, it was the essential volatility of the charcoal that for many became a source of amazement as it quickly became clear that it was impossible to mark the paper without marking one’s self. Most of the children seemed to embrace this volatility, integrating their smudged hands into the process.  

Before long, many happily applied the smudging to their faces. Numerous markings of quite elaborate, though improvised, design decorated the many rolls of paper so that in combination, the rolls reflected an extensive and diverse canvas of expressive engagement with new materials and processes.