Project Cactus: Celebrate Young Learners!

Using watercolors and oil pastels, Cal adds color to his drawing of a giant saguaro cactus.

Project Cactus: Celebrate Young Learners!

By Marjorie Ruiz

In our classroom, we read many, many stories. Recently, I read The Three Little Javelinas, by Susan Lowell, which takes place in the desert. Thechildren were especially interested in the story. I read it in bothEnglish and Spanish, and after I finished, they were excited tolearn other words in Spanish.

A few days passed. One of the children kept gravitating to the book, saying, “Miss Marjorie, I really, really want you to read this story again!”

Before re-reading the story, I decided to first ask them questions about it. I wanted to know what they remembered. One child mentioned the desert. From there, things evolved and our research began.

I asked them questions about the desert, where the javelinas live. What kind of environment do we live in, here in Arizona? Who else lives in the desert? They mentioned scorpions, snakes — the conversation kept going. The children wanted to know more about types of cacti. Do they bloom? We talked about a saguaro cactus near the school. They wanted to investigate, so I said, “Let’s just go and search!”

We took our clipboards, paper, and Sharpies. They noticed many, many kinds of cacti right in the neighborhood. The saguaro was the show stopper. We gave them some time to settle down, find the cactus they wanted to draw, and figure out how to approach it. To search, ask questions. We were in no rush to finish.

The children used words like “pointy” and “sharp” when they talked about the cactus spines. They noticed that, unlike some of the pictures of blooming cactus we saw in our classroom research, none of these cactus had flowers. When asked why, they thought perhaps there were no flowers because it needs to rain, or because we were then still in winter and maybe they would bloom in the spring.

I watched and listened to the children very carefully. There are many different ways for children to draw. I noticed each child observe what they wanted to draw and choose a particular perspective from which to draw.

For example, Luke was looking at his cactus from the top down. And then he squatted and began drawing from that perspective. Details like those pop out for me.

Shae drew many different types of cacti on one page. I spent time with her as she drew a prickly pear cactus with great detail.

Anniston was mesmerized by the shape, forms, details, and colors of the prickly pear. Adding purple on the top was important to her.

Anniston took a very long time. I recorded what she was doing, and spent time with her as she drew her prickly pear cactus. She was both meticulous and talkative while drawing.

Sometimes children do that: draw and talk at the same time, narrating what they are seeing and observing. Anniston noted that the needles were different from those of other cactus types. She mentioned that it would take time to finish her work.

Hudson (top) and Cal worked together to research and study their saguaro. At first they sat close but soon realized they needed to move back to see the whole cactus. That was very clever and something an artist will do.

Hudson and Cal researched the giant saguaro cactus. I observed them sitting down in front of the cactus together, so they could get a close look. They were quiet, and drawing intensely. But then they noticed the holes in the cactus. One said the holes were empty. The other said, “No, that part is just rotten!” They got closer and talked about parts that were gray, and parts that were black.

But from their perspective, they couldn’t see the entire cactus — it was huge — so they moved farther away to get a different view. Though they were sitting right next to each other the whole time, they did very different pictures. One used the entire page; one concentrated drawing in a small area.

For Jonathan, who also was drawing the saguaro, the needles were the most important part. Over the following weeks, his interest continued and he drew many versions of the cactus.

We were outside a long time. When the children came in, they immediately wanted to add color to their drawings.

The quality of materials children use is veryimportant. It’s also important to give them manychoices: markers, Sharpies, crayons, watercolors,oil pastels. I intentionally gave them greens andyellows — the colors that belong to a cactus —but didn’t limit them in any way, encouragingthem to add color in any way they’d like.

We were working for a long time. ThenAnniston said, “Miss Marjorie, I am not donewith mine because I need purple.” I asked why,and she said, “A prickly pear has purple on thetop.” So I brought her some choices for purple.She used the oil pastels to add different shades ofpurple to the top.

It came time to move on to another activity,but some of the children hadn’t yet finishedcreating their art. We did not rush them butexplained that they needed to be finished for thatmoment. We reassured them there would be moretime to work on their art the next day.

This class really connected with story aboutThe Three Little Javelinas. If I’d only read thestory, and stopped there, we wouldn’t have hadthis beautiful outcome. It is important for me,as a teacher, to understand what children areasking, figure out what they want to know, andtry to go deeper — to let the children lead. Andthe magic will appear.

Marjorie Ruiz is an Early Childhood Educator (ECE) assistant and collaborator at the Deer Valley Unified School District in Phoenix and an active participant in Collaborative Educators Institute at Paradise Valley Community College. She holds a bachelor’s degree in industrial management from the University of Puerto Rico, a certificate of completion in early childhood education from PVCC, a child development associate (CDA) credential, and is currently finishing her associate’s degree in ECE at PVCC. Her ECE journey grew from her interest in understanding her own children’s learning processes.

What can we Learn?

Elizabeth used a black Sharpie to draw and fill her cactus. When we asked why her cactus drawings were all at the bottom of the page, she said they were on the ground and the rest was the sky.

• When we give time to children,when we allow time to flow, we areempowering them.

• As adults, we need to slow down,pay attention and notice thecomplexity that can live insidesimplicity.

• Children have the right to belistened to, to beunderstood, and totell us, their adults,what they areinterested in.

• No matter howbusy we are, we can’tforget how important it is tocreate experiences with childrenthat engage them in open-endedquestions. Taking a weeklynature walk allowsyou to create theseexperiences andconnections withthem.

• Art is not about anend project but ratherthe process of composing art,which connects neurons in thebrain, helps children engage incritical thinking, and uses theirsenses, language, connections, andcreativity.

• The art of listening and observingis imperative in the process oflearning and connecting withchildren. Being attuned to whatchildren are saying allows you toenhance their learning experiences.