Duck tails

Rico's Mum bought in some baby ducklings for us to see.  We needed to make a safe place for them to stay for the day.

"Think like a duck" I asked a group of children waiting to see the ducklings, "if you were a duck, what would you need to keep you happy?"

Suggestions came thick and fast!

"Water to swim" said Lucy, "a place to be warm and something to eat" she said.

Here was an opportunity to extend thinking and develop empathy through the process of art.  "Perhaps you could draw your ideas on to paper" I suggested.

"Art provides young people with authentic meaning-making experiences that engage their minds, hearts and bodies." (Susan Wright, 2010)

"What would a paradise for ducks look like?"

 I asked.

"You know what I think, I think they need a pond to swim in" said Vitali, "and a tree to sit under."

"They need water and a slide to play on" said Kendall. 

Through art children are able to "place themselves in the skin of another; to experience others' reality and culture; to sit in another space; to transport themselves across time, space, era in history, and context; and to see the world from a different vantage point." (Gadsden, 2008)

In this instance it was through the perspective of a duckling!  Such a curious thing...to think like a duck, however why not.  It's a wonderful notion to get children thinking outside themselves and perhaps inspire them towards kind and caring thoughts towards our feathered friends...an example of developing empathy!

With ideas of a duck paradise firmly in their imaginations children set about building the dream...the following photos are of children in construction mode.

Building a 'slide' for the ducklings to access the 'pool' created some dilemmas to be solved.

Problem:  The ducks need to get in and out of the water and the sides of the pool are too high, how will you solve this issue?  What are some solutions? 

"Put some little rocks in for the ducks to climb out" said Bailey W.

"Um make a little slide for them to get out" said Lucy.

"Make a ramp.  We can build a ramp" said Alex.

"Umm, I don't know" said Jaia.

Thinking of ideas, coming up with suggestions, working through practicalities!

The group works together to achieve reality for the ducklings however it's very tricky to get the ramp up to OSH standards...we want it to be safe for the ducklings!

"I think that we need to find another big pool to use" said Vitali.

"Or we can do another ramp" said Kendall.

"I like Vitali's idea" said Bailey.

Construction continued...(sorry Bailey!)

"Is that incline too steep?" I asked.

"Hmm, I think so" said Lucy.  "We need to think hard as to solve our problem!" she said.

More ideas, more construction then Charlie said "Why don't we just lift the ducks out with our hands?"  Nice idea Charlie!

"Maybe we could use both the ideas!" said Vitali.

More construction followed until finally the children were content with their solutions. 

It was time to bring out the ducklings.

AWW so cute!

 

and the ramp was a success...although the children discovered the ducklings could jump quite well and didn't need to use the ramp as much as they thought!

Time for observation

 Ducklings are so interesting to watch!

Ready for a cuddle.

  Such fun!

Art tables

Observational art tables were set out nearby to encourage children to observe and draw the ducklings in their new habitat.   

Susan Wright states that "Like all areas of learning, becoming competent in drawing generally requires exposure, participation and practice."(2010)

Revisiting the learning

A few days later I placed some pictures of ducklings out on the table with pens and paint.  We talked about what we knew about ducks and transferred ideas to paper.

Getting children to slow down the art process provides time to think and allows children to make thoughtful choices as an artist.  "What do you know about ducks?" got children thinking before the creative process began.

Wow, thanks Rico's family for bringing in the ducklings to share with the children.  It was a beautiful experience and out of it came so much learning!

Arohanui, Tania.