I have been collecting traces of moments with children at the centre that I have been visiting and noticing an interest in mark making and lines using drawing, painting, sand play and loose parts. I wondered if this is connected to their interest in balance and movement that I am seeing in the yard lining up stumps to jump off or lining up blocks along the skirt edging the garden tree or the top of a bench. I decided to bounce back this interest through afternoon play set ups with materials in the emerging atelier using sticky note paper and drawing tools. This is a big attraction for M. and after using a stack of post it notes she decides to make a book for her story to share with family. The next day I offered children a familiar paint invitation but replaced the paint brush to nature using leaves. It was fascinating to observe the children as they ventured into the atelier, a young child rubbed the leaf in the wet paint, then squeezed the paint between his fingers letting it ooze on...

I have been back at school this year working on my ECE certification. Although I have a Masters in Early Childhood it did not provide the proper credits for the basic ECE certification. The course work is done and I am doing one of the things I love best, spending time in different early childhood centres, connecting with seasoned ECE's, children and family.  One of the tasks that I have enjoyed is setting up playful invitations and this block play has been so much fun.  Once I am done, I sit between two areas, and wait for children to emerge from the sleep room, not quiet awake and curious to see what playful invitations are waiting for them. I am thinking about what is gaining the children's interests and noticing how they are reacting to the invitations. This informs my practice and how I select what materials to add to the next day's invitations. I noticed that the child, who comes to the blocks in the afternoon, is interested in connection, so each day I add a new mate...