Thinking Green

Yesterday  my Young 5's class graphed if they liked, disliked or had never tried green peppers.  Seven liked them the other 14 had never tried green peppers.  After a discussion when I assured them they weren’t hot and other concerns,  I passed out small pieces of peppers to all the children.  As the children tried the small piece most decided they like them and quickly ate the rest of the peppers I’d cut up.  We created another graph of our results.

A little later we used part of the green peppers to make prints with green paint.  We made  shamrock prints.  It was a fun experience for the children.  I confess I don’t love paint projects.  I worry about clothing getting ruined and angry parents.  I very much want my students to explore and create their own projects, yet I’m always concerned of what might go awry.  I’ve found a good way to handle this.  I sit on the opposite side of the table.  Close enough to intervene if a big catastrophe is looming but far enough to force myself to sit on my hands and let them create.