Project time is an integral part of the learning design at The Village School and one of the things that differentiates The Village School from more traditional learning models.  In project time, the focus is on the process – not the product.  We value the who, how, and why behind a creation – not what is actually created.  By presenting learners with choices, an array of materials, and introductions to concepts and themes, guides free learners to explore their curiosity, work together, celebrate mistakes, give and receive feedback, and persevere through frustrations.

As a Spark Studio guide, I feel free to join learners in a “how and why” mindset.  I sit on the floor with the learners and invite them to share their thinking as they develop their projects.  Because there’s no curriculum, I can follow a tangent, build upon an idea, or abandon a project in favor of something new.

In session 4, Spark learners explored a music theme through several projects, including these three:

Project #1: Five learners gathered around a table with four small canvases and one large poster.  I played four songs (see playlist below) from different genres and asked the learners to paint how the music made them feel.  After a period, the learners rotated in a circle and had to paint on the canvas of the person next to them.  This challenged them:

• How can I add my ideas to something someone else already started?
• Should I ask the person next to me what she was painting?
• How do I feel when someone else starts painting on my canvas?
• What if the end result isn’t what I envisioned?
• How does this music make me feel and what does it make me think about?

As learners naturally expressed frustration or possession of certain canvasses, I centered the discussion on encouragement, navigating disagreement, and feedback, as opposed to the end result. Interestingly, the learners liked the posters, which were the most chaotic, the best, perhaps because they were the most reflective of collaborative work and multiple music genres.

Project #2: There were four glass jars with different amounts of water, the water in each jar a different color.  Learners discovered that tapping each jar with a wooden mallet created a different pitch.  The learners worked together to compose songs and wrote them out using markers that matched the colors in the jar, instead of notes on a staff.  Learners were also exposed to the science of sound.

Project #3: Spark learners discussed how sound is made.  I played my cello for the learners and they observed that the strings vibrated and the sound echoed. This led to discussion about how the cello was made and why other instruments look different. We also watched a short video from the group “Stomp” which showed cast members making sound, and then a coordinated rhythm, out of simple plastic and paper bags.  After we spent time reflecting on the inspiration and talking about sound, I presented Spark learners with a buffet of loose parts and invited them to create their own musical instruments.  Some created string instruments, others wind instruments, others percussion.  Without the pressure of a deadline, learners had time to experiment, share ideas, work through challenges, and elaborate on or even cast aside first attempts.

My favorite part of project time is listening to the learners’ commentary and watching them work together.  “Why do we have to listen to this one?” “This song made me feel happy.”  “I heard this at a wedding.”  One learner broke into an interpretive dance.  When a learner’s string instrument fell apart, two other learners immediately jumped in to offer encouragement and to problem-solve.  This is the power of project time in Spark Studio.

*Spark Studio playlist for our painting project*

1. *SPARK STUDIO FAVORITE* “The Four Seasons Recomposed: Spring 1”-Eldbjorg Hemsing, NDR Radiophilharmonie, Michael England 
2. “Be-Bop”-Dizzy Gillespie
3. “Eye of the Tiger”-Survivor
4. “On the Nature of Daylight”-Max Richter

“It’s not what you look at that matters. It’s what you see”- Henry David Thoreau

The Spark Studio project room is buzzing with energy.  Learners explore materials, gather piles of objects, ponder their next creation, question each other about their ideas, and narrate their thinking processes as they arrange and rearrange their projects. The table beside the learners presents a buffet of everyday recyclable objects: cardboard, egg cartons, paper towel rolls, lids from applesauce pouches, and rolls of colorful tape. The goal?  Unleash the power of creativity by untethering play from a specified outcome. 

Young children are masterful practitioners of divergent thinking—the ability to spontaneously generate many possible solutions to a problem or challenge. Research shows that divergent thinking is at its peak in children 4-6 years old and then drops by 60% by age 10. This incredible potential to freely generate ideas and experiment with many possibilities becomes lost and devalued in favor of more convergent thinking in which one solution is the goal. 

The Spark Studio project room is designed to foster divergent thinking. Instead of toys or objects that have a specific, predetermined purpose, learners use a variety of loose parts. Loose parts are natural or manmade objects that are open-ended and can be used in various ways with no expectations. They allow the children to do the thinking as they experiment with possibilities. Autumn, with its acorns, multicolored leaves, fallen sticks, and seed pods, presents natural opportunities for play with loose parts, as Spark learners will discover in Session Two. 

Often, when presented with these and other objects, such as buttons, jar lids, or packing peanuts, learners will ask, “What are we doing with this? What is this for?” These are precisely the questions we love to hear as learners practice creativity in a judgment-free space instead of trying to conform to one solution or end goal (usually provided by an adult).

Divergent thinking with loose parts also enables learners to practice building relationships and working in large and small groups. Sharing ideas with others, testing hypotheses, and having room to try ideas that ultimately don’t work are key components of the project room learning design.  In session one, learners began circulating through the group, asking if anyone minded if they contributed an element to the group project; this consideration for the broader community was entirely learner-driven.  When learners are free to think divergently and practice sharing, listening to, and giving and receiving feedback on new ideas, they build the foundation for lifelong learning and discovery that is central to our mission at The Village School.