Natural light is a wonderful thing to work with - and it's a wonderful journey to take with children as they explore sunlight, shadows, colours, reflections and translucency.
Children notice so much and
are brilliant at experimenting and testing out different combinations of
resources. It never ceases to amaze and
inspire me as I watch them experiment.
What is crucial is that children have an environment around them (in
terms of physical and emotional space) that enables them to explore.
A little while ago, with Oak Class at Dunkirk, (year 2) we made kaleidoscopes as part of an exploration of toys (and looking at toys we have now and toys that children have played with in the past). The children made wonderful things and discovered so much.
Natural light illuminates in ways that artificial light doesn’t, it brings a certain quality of colour and shade that is very special. Maybe the fact that we can’t control it adds to this sense of preciousness. The sun shining through a shadow screen is very different to the light from an artificial source.
The shades, shadows, translucency and colours in objects that natural light brings have a great depth to them. Working with natural light – and taking note of it as it changes – brings us closer to nature.
The sun will shine through things in unexpected ways and draw attention to things hidden in nooks and crannies...
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