Clothespins and Ribbons, Felt, Rings…

Will says:

Watch this. Will discovers that if he attaches a clothespin to one end of the ribbon, then sends it through a hole in the grid, and then attaches a clothespin to the other end of the ribbon, it becomes a pulley.

It changed color. He notices that the color changes as he moves the pulley.

It swing. the clothespin that’s on the bottom swings.

Oh–it broke again. Sometimes he pulls too hard and the clothespin comes off.

Thomas notices Will’s exploration and shows how to attach a clothespin to the middle of the ribbon.

Sam has his own project, riffing off of his winch system that he had made with the branch piece and the sewing circle string. He wraps a ribbon around and around the bar of the grid.

Children have also been enjoying using ribbons or flagging tape attached to clothespins like Chinese dance ribbons, twirling them and dancing. Thomas stood on his castle while twirling his (bottom left photo, see him on the left). They spoke of making the wind, and we turned on a fan in response.

More uses emerged for ribbons…

Ruthie and Amelia worked together to attach a ribbon to the Thunder Wall.

And here’s what Saige, Will and Kyla were up to.

On a larger scale, Thomas discovered that he could move a block with a ribbon. Sam watched closely and tried it out, too, moving many blocks.

We've also been working on our skills during meetings. Last week we used clothespins to pass around a square of felt. This week we did the same, but with a rainbow ribbon.