The Baby Project

As I continue to think about a project that has something to do with babies,  I have been gathering inspirations and ideas.

A comment on a post here suggested the children writing lullabies, and that stuck me as something the children may be interested in.  A few times over the course of the last week, we have sat together as a group and children have ad the opportunity to sing into a toy microphone.  This allows me to gauge whether or not the children will sing in front of others - seeing their comfort level, really.  Some whisper, some are eager and sing loudly; some do not want to sing at all.  But I think the experience of singing in front of others will prepare us for the possibility of singing to the babies, where there may be adults.others watching as well.  We talked in a small group about lullabies and what they are and what they are for, and it lead to a spontaneous performance of "Rockabye Baby" and some thoughts on why people sing lullabies to babies; listen to that here.

I read a post from the Yokohama Early Learning Center about children working with young visitors, and deciding to make a gift for them.  They chose to "make a movie of singing and music".  Its a really lovely post; head over for more of the children's words.  I appreciate how the teachers reflected on the children's interest in the visitors and promoted a child-centered idea that they could support as they children executed the most creative and thoughtful aspects.  The idea of making/creating a gift for the babies is interesting, and this allows us to do what is most important: extend the children's thinking and work beyond the suface level interest.  The children have been interested in lullabies, and they have also been drawing pictures of babies and drawing pictures for the babes and giving them to them.  We have a jumping off point.

Since thinking about the children's work from this aspect helped give me a new perspective on the potential of this project.  There are a lot of possibilities, and I'm looking forward to sharing them here as the project emerges!