Last year we introduced this activity as a way to widen our children’s social circles and strengthen relationships with an art project that requires teamwork. This year we thought it would be just as important as we focus on building a sense of belonging through collaboration and personal expression. In order to create our “Marble Painting” masterpieces, two children were paired together and each chose their coloured construction paper. After we laid the paper into the bottom of a long, rectangular sensory bin, the children each chose three paint colours to add on top. While some of the children chose similar colours, each child was able to select colours that best fit their artistic vision. Then we added marbles on either side of the bin before beginning the movement portion. Both children grabbed onto their side of the sensory bin and moved it back and forth in order to force the marbles to move along the papers. At first it took the pairs a bit to get a hang of the movement needed, a few of the bins ended up in the air before they were seamlessly rocked back and forth. The bins started on the table, but we noticed that they weren’t able to get as much power behind their movements in order to move the marbles. Eventually, some of the pairs moved the bin to the floor which allowed them to engage their core into their movements. Some of the marbles had a hard time with prolonged movement, so we found a solution and turned the bin sideways so that the marbles didn’t have as far to travel to move the paint.
The point of this activity was to bond our children together through teamwork and it did just that. At first, when one of the children started to push the bin, they used all their energy and rocked the container as hard as they could, but in the process began banging it into their partner’s knees. The partner stopped pushing on their side and told them that it wasn’t working and hurting them. Initially the bin was being pushed vertically, so we moved the bin to create more space between it and the children. Eventually, they worked together, with guidance, to find a rhythm that worked for both sides and was also powerful enough to move the marbles. When they finally got the hang of it, their smiles were beaming at one another with one of the children exclaiming “We did it!”.
A secondary benefit to this activity was the ability to see what happens when we celebrate and incorporate our differences. Initially the children thought that because they had chosen specific colours for their papers, that their artwork would only include the colours selected. One of the children had mentioned that because they had primarily chosen purple, their paper would only be purple because that’s their favourite colour. To their surprise, when the marbles ran from one side of the bin to the other, subsequently trailing the different colours with them, it created an entirely new dimension to their artwork! When they were done the activity, one of the children dropped their side of the bin, stated that their masterpiece was complete, and marveled at their creation, saying, “Wow, look at the colours!”.
We plan on continuing to incorporate activities that foster partnership and a deep sense of belonging. We are so excited to start the year with a lot of new and old faces. There is nothing that we can’t accomplish or learn when we work together in an environment where everyone is valued and included!
