What about a picture walk?

How about a few photos of some of the fun we have enjoyed during March, without any extra words? A photo journal, if you will, of Frog's explorations!

What is new?

Two year old Frog is full of questions, and one reins supreme these days - "What is that?" Nothing new or different seems to escape her view. Often, what is new or different is purposefully planned by me - I will set out something playful for her, maybe hiding it in a special box or container first, and leave this near the spot(s) of my house that she most enjoys playing. These provocations always excite her; "what did you find for me?" she asks, "what is new?" 

In recent weeks, I have been madly culling and cleaning and rearranging my home, and this means that there have been many "new to her" things for Frog to notice. When her Nana is a newly-retired preschool teacher, the rewards are many for this youngster! I have created a writing studio for myself in my basement, setting out many of my school journals and photos as inspiration. My days with children are definitely my writing muse; my grandchildren are, as well. The basement is now also a more welcoming space for Frog to play and explore, with all my picture books on bookshelves, and a variety of toys included. We have been spending more and more time in the basement in recent weeks.

The other day, Frog pointed to something at the top of a bookshelf - "What is that?" Hmm. What had I moved there? Oh! It's a catapult! Immediately, she was intrigued and wanted to see it; immediately, I was transported back to my time at a conference at Bev Bos' school, which I had the delight of visiting in the summer of 2011. TEN YEARS AGO. Wow. Has it really been ten years, already?

This little wooden catapult was made especially for preschoolers, and it uses ping-pong balls - there's no one getting hurt by this play! I was excited when I saw it, and bought one on the spot, thinking it would be a fun thing to explore in my classroom. Bev Bos believed passionately in joyful, exploratory play, letting children be curious and figure out things through doing. She (and I) liked to sit back and observe what children did with things - How might they use them? What are the children wondering about? What do they think to do, as they play?

I never ended up bringing that catapult into my classroom. I began teaching at a DC public charter in the fall of 2011, teaching a minimum of 22 preschoolers every year. Although I believe firmly in the whimsical play of the catapult, I couldn't figure out how to bring in this one gadget and share it successfully with so many students, without many of the children feeling left out a good deal of the time. That was NOT an experience I wanted my students to have. Yes, truth is, these early learning years require materially-rich school environments, where children play freely and effortlessly, without fear of there not being enough, without threat of not being included.

That little catapult sat in a closet at my house; I suppose, waiting for grandchildren? I moved it to the top of a bookshelf in the midst of my decluttering and cleaning, and there my dear Frog noticed it.

I got it down from the shelf and placed it in front of Frog, along with the small bin of ping-pong balls, and I said "It's a catapult. What do you think it can do?" There ensued such a happy, laughing time. Frog roared with laughter when the ping-pong ball went sailing into the air over her Poppa's head. Over and over again, she repeated the performance. She had a little trouble keeping the base of the catapult steady, and soon realized that these shifting positions seemed to send the ball into different directions - this cause and effect fascinated her. Frog began to hold the catapult in one place, and then to aim it in certain directions. This is what I love about such discovery - it is ripe with natural, organic learning. Balls flew far and wide, with Poppa and me racing to collect them for her. So many laughs! This fabulous play did not last just a few minutes; in fact, Frog played with the catapult for more than an hour of play, ending only at her nap time. I am awed by how long a young child's attention span really is, when they are engaged in play.

What was her first question upon waking up from nap?  "Catapult, Nana?" 

A few days later, Frog - who is a very verbal 27 month old - reflected on the experience, hoping to play with the catapult again:

"We're going to get the balls and I'm going to push the button and then the ball goes everywhere and we were laughing. That's a catapult. Balls go on when you push a button, it will go. Wanna collect that one ball."

I am reminded about how important it is for children to DO - to discover, tinker, stretch, wonder, figure things out on their own.

I am grateful for Bev Bos and her wisdom about children's play.

I am grateful for Frog and catapults and laughter.

COVID 19 - What is there to savor?

Here we are in the middle of week eight of shelter-in-place. I am finding that my phone calls with preschoolers and families are taking a little longer than they did those first few weeks...perhaps we are all seeking a deeper connection?

Truly, we seem to have shifted from
fearful and overwhelmed
into
acceptance tinged with sadness,
open to joy.
This is our life now.

These preschoolers - honestly, what a gift they are to the world! My prescription for sanity in this time: reach out and converse with a young child. Build that connection. Prepare for a journey somewhere magical! What do I mean? Let me share a few [anonymous] tidbits from my families' worlds:

- dragging t-ball equipment to a local school's baseball field and playing an impromptu game of baseball with your family,
- building a marble run on your wall, using cardboard rolls,
- using found objects and magnetic numerals and exploring math with Dad,
- putting on lipstick and having a fashion competition with your whole family,
- celebrating the find of insect larvae in a rotted tree stump, on a family nature walk
- building a hiding place for stuffed animals and Mom's high heels,
- whole family re-enactments of favorite picture books,
- driving to the airport (which is empty, of course) to have lunch; sitting in the bay windows, looking at airplanes and other transportation,
- building boats with your family, to float in the wading pool, and testing them in different ways.

It's obvious that families are becoming very creative, playing deeply with their kids. One preschooler was excited to tell me how they burnt a batch of chocolate chip cookies, and cut off the burnt edges, "I eat them but not the burned part, some parts are not burnt."

That beautifully describes this time of COVID-19 - it is possible to find something to savor. We must look for joy.

"some parts are not burnt"

What do you see in the cup?

I am participating in the
Tuesday Slice of Life.
All participants are writing about one moment, one part of their day.

A big thank you to Two Writing Teachers for providing this unique opportunity

for teacher-writers to share and reflect.

Observational drawing by Jada

It's spring and we have a cup of caterpillars in our preschool classroom! Just this past weekend, they formed chrysalises and the preschoolers are in awe. I've tried to slow down the thinking, having the preschoolers make observational drawings of what they see. (I will share a few of these here, in this blogpost.) I knew this was the perfect lesson for the "See Think Wonder" thinking routine, which I had learned from Project Zero training last summer. As they drew, I asked What do you see? I tried to keep the children focused on simply what was visible in the jar:

I see four chrysalises. I call 'em caterpillars. And the jar. And spider webs.

I see cobwebs, 'cause they make cobwebs, and cocoons.

I see cocoons.

I see this one and it has a black part.

I see cocoons playing.

Observational drawing by Misha

There is dirt on the bottom.

I see the bodies on the circle.

The caterpillars made cocoons and they are hanging up.

I see caterpillars walking and eating food. 

Caterpillars make cocoons.

Four cocoons.

Caterpillars have pointy things.

Cocoons hang from the sky. They are shaking.

I see a spiderweb.

Cocoons. They are shaking. Caterpillars make it.

I see cocoons.

Try as I liked to have them simply focus on what they saw - what they actually observed - the preschoolers couldn't help thinking and imagining. They shared thoughts aloud that were clearly not visible. I tried to return them to observation mode with a quick, What did you see that makes you think so? However, their musings multiplied and I let them answer - What do you think?

I think there was an egg.

I think caterpillars walk around and they sleep.

The cocoon is for the caterpillar

That might be food. They eat leaves.

Observational drawing by Audrey

Something's in it - maybe a butterfly.

They come from eggs, they turn into caterpillars, and then they turn into butterflies.

And push out into a butterfly!

It looks like fish; it is the same color. It looks like a Daddy Long Legs with its leg stuck in the web.

The caterpillars will turn into butterflies and then will fly.

I never even had to ask, What do you wonder? The preschoolers were mesmerized by the disappearance of crawling caterpillars and the arrival of four chrysalises hanging from the top of the jar. Their questions poured forth - 

Observational drawing by Henry

What are the webs for?

Are the caterpillars shaking the cocoons inside?

What let's it hang?

What is the gakky [sic] thing on the bottom?

Did the cocoon on the bottom die?

What do caterpillars eat? I wonder if they eat dirt?

Is it a spider web.

Are there new baby eggs in the jar?

What are the black fuzzy things on the bottom? Is it part of a caterpillar?

Why shouldn't we touch it?

Is the cocoon on the bottom eating the food?

Would the caterpillars be scared?

Observational drawing by Gabrielle

The most frequent wonder revolved around the movement of the chrysalises - these definitely appeared to be shaking, wiggling, moving. I loved this exchange between four students -

What is making them shake?

- Because they are shaking a lot of days.

- Caterpillars are playing in their house.

- Because they are trying to spread out their wings.

It is amazing how much language and thinking comes forth when preschoolers can watch this metamorphosis right up close!

What about wire?

This is a Tuesday
Slice of Life.
All participants are writing about one moment, one part of their day. 

A big thank you to Two Writing Teachers for providing this unique opportunity

for teacher-writers to share and reflect.

The Big Cats are creating wire sculptures for our Phillips art project.
First, we need to investigate the wire -
How does it feel? 
What can it do? 
How does it bend and move?
We looked at a video of one of Alexander Calder's moving mobiles.
Could we create sculptures that move?
Yes, let's try this!

I have set the wire supplies up as an exploratory center, so that the children will learn more about how the materials work before they create their wire sculptures.

We have three different gauges of wire, and all three types are flexible enough for the preschoolers to manipulate. They quickly figured out that the thicker the wire, the more difficult it is to bend. I love that there are three types of wire - multi-colored fine wire, silver medium wire, and bluish thick wire. As they practice making loops, bends, knots, connections, and more, preschoolers are also reinforcing their understanding of small, medium, large.

We spent a couple days simply wrapping objects, to see what shape the wire would be once we pulled the wire out. So many questions arise,
What shape will the wire have if we bend it around a block?
What happens if we attach two wires together?
How can we make the wire curvy?

We are also working with a variety of beads.  The preschools love to finger these, picking out their favorites. They practice how to connect the beads to the wire.
How might we attach the bead so that it wiggles? 
How can we make it roll up and down the wire?
How can we make it stay in a more fixed?

It is a kind of slowing down.
Slow learning.
Investigating requires focus. And fine motor skills.
We become better and better at it.

I hear,

Can I play with the wire?

Look, I make a balloon!

Chains are made out of wire!

You can spin it.

I want to tie it.

I make it move.

This is hanging on it!

It's like candy.

Moving slowly like an artist,
an engineer,
a mathematician,
a scientist. 

It is language,
it is storytelling,
it is everything at once.
It is the best kind of learning.

My husband cut up some scrap wood to make simple wood bases for their sculptures. Tomorrow, the open-ended investigation of wire will end, and we will take our first steps at creating the sculptures themselves. The goal is to make a sculpture that shows 'freedom' -
Maybe it will move, bend, wiggle? 
Maybe it will reach high or flow to the side? 
What does freedom look like?  

The children will have the flexibility to go any direction they want with the remaining supplies. I will encourage the preschoolers to use the heaviest wire at the base and to add lighter wires as they move up. But, preschoolers always amaze me with their ideas and innovations, and I am ready to be surprised and enlightened. I feel certain that their sculptures will have a lot of individuality, that no two will look alike. 

The children are fascinated by the wire. I am, too. 

Tuesday SOL Are birds teachers?

This is a Tuesday
Slice of Life.
All participants are writing about one moment, one part of their day. 

Check out the Two Writing Teachers website for many more reflections on teaching.

Even though the school year has drawn to a close, I feel compelled to share about the children's bird exploration during May and June. It is a great example of a child-initiated project. My Teaching Resident (Ms. Keynes) noted, embraced, and encouraged the topic. I love seeing teachers build on children's interests and it is particularly delightful when it is a novice teacher who partakes in this challenge.

I love teaching in a school that allows me the flexibility to pursue topics that 'bubble up' from the children. It's true, we didn't know at the outset of the school year that we would focus on birds in the spring, but I knew that I could trust the children to be excited and eager to learn about something - there is always room for inquiry. This is the beauty of emergent curriculum, where children's own interests are the precursor and foundation of topics studied. Preschoolers are innate scientists - curious, observant, and persistent. Dare to pursue what is in their hearts! Why teach any other way?

Where did the interest begin and where did it lead?

I think the first hint of curiosity began with children excitedly sharing at a morning gathering about having seen our local eagle cam with their families. This camera provided live action of two baby eagles in the National Arboretum. Ms. Keynes decided to set up the eagle cam at the writing center, with markers and paper for children to draw their observations. We wondered - what would the children do? Would this interest them? Yes! The children worked feverishly in this area, watching the screen and making detailed drawings. The eagle cam became a daily part of our centers time. Here are just a few of the children's drawings:

Observational Drawing by RW

Observational Drawing by DE

Observational Drawing by GR

Observational Drawing by AH

Observational Drawing by NB

Observational Drawing by CB

Observational Drawing by CD

There was great conversation as children worked on these observational drawings. For example, 

NB - "Eagles fly - they fly everywhere around the sky. They land to get some food. They eat leaves."

EM - "Look at the eagle. He's eating the nest. He's eating. He's sleeping. He's eating in the nest. He's silly. They are in the bird's nest."

HF - "What does the eagle eat? I think he eats worms. No, I think he eats mice. Yes, I think he eats rats! They are very yummy."

CD - "I think they eat poop."

KA - "He's looking down at the birdie. He sees the birdie. I think they are brothers. And now he's looking behind himself. The birdie is kinda like the teacher - he's looking right at us."

That may be my favorite line:

The birdie is kinda like the teacher - he's looking right at us.

Doesn't that show the value of children being encouraged to draw what they see, to note the details?


With this obvious engagement, we delved into the study of birds, with a particular focus on eagles. Ms. Keynes asked, what do you know about birds and what do you wonder?

I was impressed with their beginning knowledge:

• They have wings,
• They fly,
• They sleep in a nest,
• They like to sit in the nest,
• They are in the nest not on the ground,
• They lay eggs in the nest,
• The nests are made of mud, hay, straw, and even bird spit 
• They will scare away anyone who tries to get the eggs
• They have tails,
• They have beaks,
• They eat fish, 
• They peck their way out of the egg,
• There are lots of different birds, like eagles, robins, owls, seagulls, penguins
• Eagles nests are the biggest
• Eagles have big wings
• Eagles' babies don't wear diapers

The children about a variety of things:

• How do they make nests? 
• How do they make the nests soft?
• How do they sleep in the nest?
• How many eggs do they lay?
• How many days until they learn to fly?
• How big is an eagle's poop?

We began to learn everything we could. Families pitched in, too. One family shared beautiful color photos of baby robins emerging from their eggs. Another brought in a beautiful nest that they had found. 

Children often arrived at school with stories to share -

AS - "Ms. Ingram, do you know when I was on my way to school, we were walking out of my car, I saw a robin's egg! It was small and it was blue and it was broken. I wanted to pick it up and show it to you."

LM - "I saw a bird that was so dead. Only had one leg. Even the skin was gone. It only had a beak! I saw it."

Scientists observe the details, yes they do.

Ms. Keynes taped off a circle on our gathering carpet that was the same size as an eagle's nest (these average 4-5 feet in diameter, with one in Florida being 9.5 feet!). We gathered here each day for several weeks during our bird exploration - reading books, having class meetings, and doing lots of dramatic play.

These little birdies are hanging outside their nest!

We attempted to 'engineer' a nest out of the base of a box, using lots of yarn and tape. (I loved how the children insisted on wearing goggles while creating this.)

Mo Willems' Pigeon loves our nest.

When the nest was done, children nudged further - "Birds like soft places. When are we going to put eggs in?" They delighted in creating individual "eagle eggs" out of papier mache.

Painting a round surface is challenging work!

One morning, our question of the day was "Who has the bigger wingspan - you or an eagle?" Many children insisted that they had the bigger wingspan, which made each of us teachers smile. We had each of the children lay down on the carpet and get measured against an eagle's wingspan (6 feet average), to provide a clear visual of the difference. The children also made a pair of paper wings that matched their personal measurement.

How big is my wingspan, compared to an eagle's?

One day on the playground, AM came running up to me with the excited words, "Look! A beautiful feather!" and when I looked at what she held, I saw that it was much more than this - she had a bird's wing in her hand, still attached to some of its bony torso. Oh my! Clearly this bird had been on the losing end of a predator's attack, perhaps a cat or a hawk. I tried my very best to remain level-headed and cool, although I was immediately squeamish. I wanted to encourage this budding scientist. I had her show me where she was when she discovered this "feather" and, finding no other bird parts in the area, we went inside the classroom to find a clear jar for displaying this find in our science center. Her classmate LM was delighted with this new addition, declaring "Whoa! Good Find!"

Later, AM said she wanted to share a story about what she found and so I wrote down her words:

"I want to write about the feather that I found, about the bird that I found. I found it on the playground. I put it in the jar. I don't know what kind of bird it was from. Maybe, it was a sister bird. I like that the outside was soft. I can't wait to show my Mommy. I'm going to tell my Daddy that I found a bird's feather that had bones in it. I don't know what my Daddy's going to say about the bird feather. Maybe my Daddy will say "Whoa, good find!," like LM said. I think the birdie died, cause it can't fly with just one wing; cause without part of his body, he can't be alive anymore. The End"


We didn't resolve every wonder that the children had at the outset of our bird exploration...and many more wonders appeared as we explored. The work of scientists goes on and on. Yes, the children worked like scientists, finding much beauty and intrigue in our world. Birds are teachers.

SOLSC #2 What if we made our own paper?

During the month of March, I am participating in
the Slice of Life Story Challenge.
All participants are writing about one moment, one part of their day, every day for thirty-one days. My slices will be primarily about teaching preschoolers.

Check out the Two Writing Teachers website for many more reflections on teaching.

The Big Cats have been immersed in paper-making the past few weeks. We are creating our own paper and then using these papers as a base to explore a variety of art techniques. I haven't made homemade paper in years...and I remember doing it with a group of adults. I don't believe I ever did it with a group of three year olds. What an amazing time we have had!

Ms. Donna Jonte, our mentor teacher for our arts integration work with the Phillips Collection, showed up with bins, buckets, tubs, felt, towels, screens, frames, sponges - every imaginable tool to help make the paper-making easier. She even brought some pre-made pulp, so that the preschoolers could immediately explore the sensory delight of pulp. And explore it, they did! They immediately rolled up their sleeves and immersed their hands and arms in the murky, cool slurp. Our sensory table is now home to this wet stuff, and children enjoy working with this material even without a plan to make paper - it is just fun to feel.

After only one morning working alongside Ms. Jonte, the children were at ease with the paper-making process - dip the frame, lift, shake and drain (chanting, “do the paper-making dance” as they remove the excess water), move to the table, flip the frame onto a sheet of felt, sponge off excess water from the back of the frame, lift off the frame, cover the new paper with a layer of felt, head back to the sensory table and begin again. I found myself being a serious student, trying to memorize every precise technique that Ms. Jonte shared, but the children taught me it's not an exact science. You can have a lot of fun in discovering shortcuts and new paths. Oh, how they laughed when water cascaded to the floor because they forgot to drain the screen frame. They were equally amused when a slumped paper piece - really, a ball not a sheet - appeared from a hastily emptied frame. The children loved poking holes, adding in extras, squishing two wet pieces together...none of these creative bursts were orchestrated by me, but simply the of joyful result of working in this structured yet free space. 

Since that first morning of exploration, we've added blenders and scrap papers to make our own paper, and this delights the children, too. They love to tear the paper into small bits, stuff the blender, add water, and hear the roar of the blender as it chews the scraps into the tiniest bits. 

Tearing up egg cartons to make pulp

Tearing up easel papers to make pulp

Over and over and over again, the children make paper.  I love how the children come and go – playing with the pulp, making a sheet of paper, running off to explore blocks or science or writing or painting at the easels, returning to make more paper. There is so much to do.

Painting with watercolors on our homemade paper

Once the paper dries, the children have been using the paper for painting, drawing, printing, and more.

Making paper - somewhat sloppy, super simple, superbly fun! It is early childhood play at its very best.

I will be doing this with preschoolers for many years to come.

Tuesday SOL What about snow?

This is a Tuesday "Slice of Life" for Two Writing Teachers. Check out their website for lots more reflections on teaching.

*******
Happy New Year!
Today was our second day back at school and, much to my surprise when I woke up this morning, it was snowing! I had heard that we might get a dusting, but unfortunately this 'dusting' came during the morning commute…I struggled to get in to my classroom, my typical 30 minute commute tripling in length.

Yes, I was late to school.
I don't think I have ever been late to school.

That slog of a commute gave me so much time to watch the falling snow and plan a snowy extension to today's learning. I always find nature so engaging for children - and isn't it particularly magical when nature is a fresh snow?

After gathering, I took a small group of children outside when it was still snowing, to collect fresh snow for our classroom. We had so much fun!

Back in the classroom, one large tub of snow was dumped onto the sand in the sensory table - snow on a beach! The children were surprised and elated by this combination…making snowballs, trying to build a snow man, watching the sand and snow mix together, surprised by how cold the sand became.

Snow in sand. It was so cold, it started melting... you can make an outside snowball

 (Evan)

There were still three more large containers of snow…and these I added to the art table. The art table had been readied for a process art activity with found objects and paint. What if we used the paint and the found objects with snow? Why not? What might happen? Let's see!



I added a few extra tools - tongs, eyedroppers, tweezers, stirring sticks, spoons. I watered down the paint so that it might be useful with a dropper. Then I stepped back and watched the children explore...

immediately seeing






Excited preschoolers,

touching and squeezing the snow

filling eye droppers with paint, squeezing paint onto the snow

making dots, speckles on the snow

adding spoonfuls of snow into the paint

picking up snow with tongs

I love pink

I love purple

I love blue

Curious preschoolers,

dropping found objects in the snow

retrieving them with tongs

stirring them into the snow

dropping found objects into the paint

adding in more snow, to the paint

I'm making soup

I'm making spaghetti

Look! I got it all gone!

Focused preschoolers,

picking up tongs full of snow,

plopping the snow into the paint,

watching, watching, watching

as the paint moved up the snow ball,

the snow slowly filling with paint color

not melting but growing in color,

Stirring, stirring, stirring

meticulously removing every bit of snow from the containers

We are making snow!

It's turning to dark red

My snow is all pink

This is cold

Feverish preschoolers,

rapid questions, incessant demands

I need tongs!

What about tweezers?

I need another tray!

I need more water!

I need a clean squeeze thing! 

I want pink, too! 

What are those? 

I need something to mix!

Where did you get that?

I need a spoon!

Alert, excited, restless, engaged.

Me,
I was the guide on the side,
moving quickly to support them,
all things at once,

taking pictures,

making notes,

asking questions,

pointing them towards supplies,

encouraging them to resolve problems themselves

Where are they kept?

Has anyone seen where those are kept?

Where did we put them?

What just happened when you did that?! Wow!

What if you ask a friend where she got hers?

How might you get the paint out of the eyedropper?

What happens to the snow when you do that?

Did you ask her if you can have some?

Where might we get water?

Will that fit in there?

What happens to the paint when you put snow in it?

What do you think will happen?

I, too, was alert, excited, restless, engaged.

This is my favorite kind of centers work!

And it sure helped me to forget about that horrid commute.

What can we do with yarn?

During our first trimester this school year, in every classroom (preschool to sixth grade!), students read Extra Yarn, by Mac Barnett. The book tells the story of a child who finds a magical box of yarn that never seems to run out as she knits sweaters to keep everyone in her town warm. Throughout the school, students wondered about their own personal gifts and how might they share these with others. 

Preschoolers used the text as a launching point for an exploration of yarn as a material. We used the yarn in so many different ways:

• Painting with yarn

• Creating mixed media collages, with yarn as one possibility

• Cutting yarn
• Painting yarn lines at the easel
• Tying things with yarn 

• Creating simple machines - yarn as cranes, pulleys, lifts    

• Passing a ball of yarn
• Throwing a ball of yarn
• Measuring things with yarn

• Tracing yarn lines 
• Drawing in and around a 'cobweb' of yarn on the table

• Using yarn as bandages in our doctor's dramatic play
• Making bracelets
• Sewing with yarn

• Using yarn with clay
• Wrapping items in yarn ("yarn bombing")

For a couple of weeks, yarn was in every center of our classroom, to be used and explored in any (safe!) way that the children desired.

My favorite yarn activity was dipping yarn in watercolor paint, changing white yarn into a new color.

We repeated this activity over many days. I set up paint containers with rainbow colors and the children used tweezers to retrieve the yarn from the paint, then laying this bright yarn onto paper which made a yarn print.

I enjoyed watching the children explore the tweezers with the yarn and paint.
Specifically, I enjoyed watching their hands at work.



Truly, it is magical to watch children's hands at work.





I loved watching them try to pick up the yarn with the tweezer…some resorting to lifting the yarn onto the tweezer…



Some worked with two tweezers at a time,




Others used their fingers in the paint, moving the yarn about with their hands.




Some dipped the tweezer into the paint - not the yarn - and dragging this painted tool across the paper.

One young artist dipped the yarn into the watery paint and then pulled the yarn taut, sending sprinkles of paint everywhere.

Many children found mixing the colors together to be an irresistible goal, quickly turning each watercolor paint container into brown.

Starting with the same materials, using these in different ways,
all succeeded in creating magical paintings.

Here are just five:

 

It was so much fun to explore yarn in depth…to see limitless possibilities of this basic material.