From an idea of Teresa Lanzano (IC12 Bologna kindergarten teacher)
In planning together didactic activities at the IC12 in Bologna, a school from kindergarten to secondary school 3-13 years old students, we organized a collegial meeting with all the teachers of the kindergarten in order to discuss how to bring the activities on the Moon with the homogeneous sections of 4 and 5 year-old pupils. I described the lunatario, which was then tested by the teachers.
Teresa Lanzano, a teacher of the 5 year-old section, proposed a very interesting preparatory activity for the kindergarten, in the effort to integrate these activities into the overall section activities. Below you can find a description.
Children are sitting on the ground in a circle, provided with drawing materials. An object covered by a cloth is in the centre of the circle, possibly resting on a pedestal, so that the object itself is in line with the eyes of each sitting child. The activity is proposed like a game; the children are required to remain seated, and draw exactly what they see. At this point, the object is revealed: it should be a simple object, which – however – has never been seen before in that section, for example a game cube (but not the same game cube they have in their section), an object full of different colours and motifs. Children are invited to draw what they see. We expect children to draw different things, just because every face of the cube is different, and each child has a different view. At the end of the activity, all the drawings are placed on the ground, in front of the children who made them. A discussion starts, in which every child said what he/she has drawn, and we all try to understand why the drawings are different. Who is right ? Who is wrong ? The children are now free to move and change their point of view, while leaving their drawings in the same position. We record the children’s ideas and their remarks.
