Facepainting with children: Fun & Magic

I never really understood facepainting. I didn't see much of it around where I grew up in the Netherlands, nor did I pay much attention when I did start to see it happening at community events in the UK. I didn't think it was anything special.

That changed a few years ago when I was invited to provide a children's stall at a local event in Horsham Park and I said 'Yes.' I had no experience and neither did the Montessori colleague who was helping me that day. We got some basic equipment and, most importantly, some pictures of painted faces to copy. We got going and we kept going all day long. Much to our surprise the children were delighted, and so were their parents. Not bad for my first experience, at age 48! That same colleague and I did another facepainting stall at an event in Southwater this summer and the children were queuing up.

The past weekend was my third time and my two helpers and I ran a special facepainting stall at Southwater's Christmas Festival, with a bit of Montessori information and a few activities added in to keep the children busy as they were waiting. Neither of my helpers had done it before, ever! The Christmas focus made it a bit special, with glitter added in! For the first time we made a small charge, as all the other stallholders did too. As in the summer, the children kept us very busy throughout the day, with only one short lull, in the early afternoon.

On the face of it, excuse the pun, facepainting is a common activity, simple and popular. Anyone can do it, but those who are creative tend to do well. I was not prepared, however, for its special magic.

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To paint well, you have to get up close and personal to, in many cases, a complete stranger. For full-face designs this young stranger has to close their eyes and trust your stable hand. When you have just painted the area around the eyes and the child has sat still; when they then open their eyes and look at you, with such trust and vulnerability, that is a very special thing.

It reminded me how precious each child is and how lucky I am that I can give them this simple fleeting gift, enjoyed as much by its giver as by the child who receives it.

 

Children: a 'How To' on respectful communication

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What does ‘respectful communication’ mean?
The Australian Early Years curriculum gives some guidelines, specifically:

1. Greet children individually, upon arrival and departure;
2. Listen with attention and respond;
3. Explore each child’s interests and concerns;
4. Model a positive and respectful communication style;
5. Be accessible for a child to initiate contact;
6. Respond to non-verbal cues;
7. Acknowledge and accept a child’s feelings;
8. Respond to a child’s mood;
9. Promote a sense of fun and enjoyment.

Point 4 is the least clear and the most difficult, particularly for people who have not experienced this kind of communication in their own lives. It includes replacing any necessary ‘No’ with a ‘No, thank you.’ It includes consistently replacing ‘Don’t statements’ with ‘Do statements.’ Examples are: avoid saying “Don’t run in the classroom”, “No shouting!” and “Don’t push your friend!” Instead, say something like: “Classroom walking please”, “Inside voices please” and “Please be gentle.” Effective communication gives listeners something to aim for.

Thinking about the children around the child in question, in the example of negative language they hear words like ‘run’, ‘shout’ and ‘push,’ a negative auditory environment. In the positive example they hear ‘walking’, ‘inside voices’ and ‘gentle.’ Seeing that a lot of language processing happens almost unconsciously, the latter phrases encourage the kind of behaviour we would wish to see and the former does not.

More’s the pity that I still occasionally hear reports from parents visiting Early Years settings telling me of children being shouted at across the room. In my view this is noisy, disrespectful, indiscreet and extremely bad modelling. Unless there is real and imminent danger, it should never happen! If nothing else, it inflates the importance of a shout. If there was a really dangerous situation, the child would not listen either (if used to it). In extreme circumstances this could lead to avoidable loss of life! As with adults, children should be criticised in private and praised in public. THAT is respectful communication!

Finally, we have to ask: If this is the behaviour while there is a visitor in the room, what is the behaviour if there are no visitors?

 

 

Children: a 'How To' on respectful communication

What does ‘respectful communication’ mean?
The Australian Early Years curriculum gives some guidelines, specifically:

1. 
   Greet children individually, upon arrival and departure;
2. Listen with attention and respond;
3. Explore each child’s interests and concerns;
4. Model a positive and respectful communication style;
5. Be accessible for a child to initiate contact;
6. Respond to non-verbal cues;
7. Acknowledge and accept a child’s feelings;
8. Respond to a child’s mood;
9. Promote a sense of fun and enjoyment.

Point 4 is the least clear and the most difficult, particularly for people who have not experienced this kind of communication in their own lives. It includes replacing any necessary ‘No’ with a ‘No, thank you.’ It includes consistently replacing ‘Don’t statements’ with ‘Do statements.’ Examples are: avoid saying “Don’t run in the classroom”, “No shouting!” and “Don’t push your friend!” Instead, say something like: “Classroom walking please”, “Inside voices please” and “Please be gentle.” Effective communication gives listeners something to aim for.

Thinking about the children around the child in question, in the example of negative language they hear words like ‘run’, ‘shout’ and ‘push,’ a negative auditory environment. In the positive example they hear ‘walking’, ‘inside voices’ and ‘gentle.’ Seeing that a lot of language processing happens almost unconsciously, the latter phrases encourage the kind of behaviour we would wish to see and the former does not.

More’s the pity that I still occasionally hear reports from parents visiting Early Years settings telling me of children being shouted at across the room. In my view this is noisy, disrespectful, indiscreet and extremely bad modelling. Unless there is real and imminent danger, it should never happen! If nothing else, it inflates the importance of a shout. If there was a really dangerous situation, the child would not listen either (if used to it). In extreme circumstances this could lead to avoidable loss of life! As with adults, children should be criticised in private and praised in public. THAT is respectful communication!

Finally, we have to ask: If this is the behaviour while there is a visitor in the room, what is the behaviour if there are no visitors?

Awe and wonder in the garden

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Awe and wonder is part of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) ‘menu’ for young children’s learning in England. So how do children experience this? Well, sometimes it ‘just happens,’ if we let it, but at our Montessori school the kitchen garden is a source of endless inspiration. 

A few days ago a young boy, let’s call him John, was helping us discover what was under some bunched green leaves. He was well impressed to find two big white roots and he and his friends helped to dig out them out. They experienced the whole process: digging up the parsnips, scrubbing them clean, washing and cutting them, arranging them on a baking tray and smelling them all roasting hot from the oven. Finally, having them for a snack.

How’s that for a magical multi-sensory Montessori experience?

 

Leaves next . . . . . . . . :)