Van Ghost

 

We're introducing the children to Van Gogh this month. We've been looking at the Starry Night painting. And our awesome art teacher, Doreen, discovered that you can zoom in on real paintings in museums with a Google application. The swirls in the Starry Night are thick and textured. So she got the idea to use frosting to have the children experiment with making their own swirls.

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The best part, of course, was tasting the paint--both during and after the swirling process. We've discovered that frosting, while it may rot teeth and cause serious sugar addictions, is a very effective teaching tool. Now even the two-year-olds know Van Gogh's name and paintings...or some variation of it. One little girl calls him Van Ghost and shrieks just a bit when we talk about him, imagining what sort of ghost he might be. Nonetheless, if frosting is involved, he can't be too scary.  

I've not really spent much time with two-year-olds. Certainly I've never taught as many as I am currently. I might be wrong about this, but it seems that fear is one of the more prominent emotions they feel. Some parents may strongly argue with this as it may seem that their toddlers have no fear, even when it seems logical to have it--like when the two teetering on the tabletop with a glass vase above her head.

So maybe it's the ones I work with but I find that they fear things other children might find enjoyable, like the animal head hats we have at school. Or a butterfly in a box. I am curious about these fears. I'll have to start talking to parents and other teachers and see if it really is a two thing.