A

Window Into The Minds of

Children

By Michael Padilla-Nazario
A Window Into The Minds of
Children

By Michael Padilla-Nazario
 Table of Contents

Page 1: Acknowledgments
Page 2: A Return to the Classroom
Page 4: Sketchbooks
Page 6: On The Search for Ideas
Page 8: Outside Inspiration
Page 10: When One Door Closes.....
Page 11: ..... Another Opens Up!
Page 12: A New Opportunity
Page 14: Going Through The Motions
Page 18: The Final Results!
Page 20: The Reception
 Acknowledgments

This book is dedicated to my professors and

advisors, Alison Coombs and Christopher
Schulte, who supported me in the creation
of this book and allowed me to have these
wonderful experiences.
This book also is dedicated to my wonderful
friends I made over the semester in Hort
Woods.

1
 A Return to the Classroom

When returning to the Bridge for Learning classroom

for the first time that spring semester, I was pleased
to see that the class had not forgotten me over the
break! In fact, they were ecstatic and welcomed me
back with open arms. Along with this, new students
had joined the class over the break so now I even more
friends to get to know. Now that I was back, we had
another semester to explore the world through art!

2
 PA State Standards:
9.1.V PK.E:
Use imagination and creativity to express
self through visual arts

3
 Sketchbooks

To start my semester o f and to get some ideas of what

the class wanted to investigate, I brought everyone
their own personal sketchbooks. Since this was the
first real sketchbook many of the students had, I
explained the purpose of the books and I drew along
with them in my own sketchbook so they could see
what I meant.

4
 A ter a bit of a bumpy start, the students
quickly grew attached to their sketchbooks and
drawings. They even began to ask me to draw
with them before I could take a step into the
classroom on a new day!

5
 On The Search for Ideas

Along with sketchbooks, I spent time with the students in their

di ferent play areas to see what they were making. Over time, I
noticed that they gravitated the most towards the Legos and
blocks, but it was the scale that they created that really
surprised me.

6
 PA State Standards:
9.1 M.PK.J
Use a variety of technologies for producing or
performing works of art

The object they were making were very large and

painstakingly made and the scale kept increasing as the
semester went on. They kept growing in scale so much that
everyone as an area would decide to build one large structure
instead of making multiple small ones.

7
 Outside Inspiration

I was able to gain my first real insight with into the class
interests during a family event. It was Soup Day for all classes
in Hort Woods and parents were invited to come and eat with
their children. To keep the students entertained and to open
chances for play with parents, the teachers laid out large
pieces of paper over the tables and le t out art supplies. The
students quickly took this opportunity and began to draw on a
larger scale than they could even in my sketchbooks. Many,
including myself, noticed that that the images connected
together multiple ideas and looked like abstract maps.

8
 Through this, I came up with the idea of making a
large map that the whole class could make. I was
also assisted by the teachers who suggested that I
could make it interactive and have the class walk
around Hort Woods with their map! With this in
mind, I introduced the idea to the students and over
time, the results were starting to show.

9
 When One Door Closes.....

A couple of weeks a ter the soup day, I got all of the

supplies needed have the class make their map.
Unfortunately, it seemed that the students' interests and
attention had moved to other things and this le t me back
at square one! Nonetheless, I endured on and looked for a
new topic that would get the class get excited to make art.

10
 ..... Another Opens Up!

Thankfully, the head teacher of the class gave me a

nugget of information that really helped out. She
told me that another college student who works in
the same classroom recently taught a lesson on
colors that everyone loved, so much so that they
continued practicing what they learned weeks a ter
the lesson ended. This made sense to me as instead
of making the map, all of my participants were
heavily focused on colors and they variety that could
be made by mixing them.

11
 A New Opportunity

With this new path laid out, I began dra ting a new activity for
the class to do. Strangely enough, my plans were once again
derailed by the children, but this time in a good way! One day
while we were drawing, I noticed that everyone was coloring in
a rigid and structured format. They made shapes out of colors
but did not mix them and they drew the shapes right next to
each other so as to have as little white showing as possible.

12
When I asked the students about this sudden change, one of the
students, Brooke, told me that she was trying to make a
drawing that looked like a stained-glass window. This led me to
ask the entire group where they had seen one to which they
replied to me with the local church downtown. A ter some
consideration and planning, I decided that this could be my
new project and decided to gather the needed material quickly!

PA State Standards:
9.1.V PK.B:
Combine a variety of materials to create a work of art.
13
 Going Through The Motions

For this new project, I wanted everyone to make their

own small stained-glass windows. To do this, I got
some spare plexi glass the campus workshop to serve
as the base while having the colors being a mixture of
glue, food coloring, and water. Along with this, I
brought in some watercolor pencils and my water
brush so those who did not want to paint on the glass
could do it on paper.

14
 To start o f, I had those who were interested make
their desired drawing on a separate piece of paper
that was close to the same size as the glass.

A ter this, I had them trace their drawing onto the

glass using black pu fy paint, making sure to thicken
the lines so other paints would not mix when
applied.

15
When the outlined paint dried, I then
created the paint mixture for the class
and let them loose to paint!

16
While working, the students approached the task of painting
their piece in di ferent directions. Some of the students stayed
within the lines the created while others painted wherever they
wish with no regard to the lines.

One even colored on the opposite side of the glass than on the
side with the outline of her drawing. I did not notice this until
a ter everything was wrapped up and that was also when I
figured out the purpose of that student's actions. The student
had actually planned this ahead of time and it showed as both
the colors and the outline blended together seamlessly!

PA Early Learning Standards:

9.1.V PK.J:
Use a variety of technologies for producing works of art.
17
 The Final Results!

A ter letting the paint dry

overnight, what remained was
simply breathtaking!

18
19
 The Reception
Needless to say, the students were ecstatic to
see their finished works!

20
 A ter I gave everyone their respective piece back, I then
prompted them to see how they looked when put up against
sunlight from windows in the class. Since it was rather cloudy
that day, the results we got were mixed, but the students
enjoyed it anyways and went home excited to show their
parents their hard work!

21