Alphabet of Actions

Group sessions (artist-led) With the easing of Covid restrictions we were able to pilot the activity within a more communal setting. In August 2021, we delivered some public sessions in a covered outdoor space in Sligo town, with small clusters of 4 or 5 children at a time participating, ranging in ages from two to six.

A conversation between Naomi, the artist, and Jo Holmwood, Director of Kids’ Own, who was present at the sessions, contained some of the following observations: “The first family wanted to come and be here with other families. That was important.”

“What I noticed straight off with the boys was the desire to create something representational, to make things, and most of them went with that, except the younger ones, who made shapes.”

“When we first began this, we were thinking of the earlier years, 2–3 years.

And maybe that’s where it still sits best, this really exploratory way and maybe a first interaction with a new material.”

“There was a new word! Smush.”

“The older boy in [the second] group was making representational things like a meteorite and was using that as a way of telling a story, so he was half with the clay and using his imagination a lot to tell a story from that.”

The Children & Young People’s Services Committee

As parents and educators, we know literacy is a vital part

(CYPSC) aims to ensure better outcomes for children,

of a child’s overall development, it builds a foundation

young people, and families by supporting the

for their future wellbeing and development. However,

coordination and planning of efficient and effective

very young children need to be provided with the

services for children and young people. CYPSC align with

building blocks for literacy. Being able to listen, speak,

the National Policy Framework which set out 5 National

watch and develop connections is a key fundamental in

Outcomes and 6 Transformational Goals for children and

a child’s learning. This, as we know, starts with the child

young people. Included is the ‘achieving in all areas of

and the child’s primary carer. The alphabet of actions

learning & development’ outcome.

pilot has provided a set of tools to parents and carers in the valuable task of supporting their child’s learning

As Coordinator of Sligo Leitrim CYPSC, I was pleased

from a very early stage. This valuable task is also a key

to be part of a small working group of this Early Years

goal within First 5: A Whole of Government Strategy for

Literacy Project which aimed to consider and interpret

Babies, Young Children and Their Families 2019–2028

literacy in its broadest context.

(www.first5.gov.ie)

The artist, Naomi, considered early childhood learning

Sligo County Childcare Committee were delighted

and development, and although impacted by the

to be involved with the A–Z programme and the

pandemic, put arts and creativity at the centre of the

results highlighted by the parent and child’s voice has

project, using mediums suitable for children at a very

demonstrated the importance of that parent/carer

early stage of literacy as well as considering children

interaction. We hope the project can provide valuable

at a more advanced stage. The project furthermore

learning for both parents and educators into the future.

Findings from a pilot Early Years initiative

encouraged parents to play with their children.

I feel the project along with recordings and photos

Sharon Boles, Manager, Sligo County Childcare Committee

of interactions provided by parents, will provide encouragement of how an artistic process can support young children’s learning and development in the future

Maeve Whittington, Coordinator, Sligo Leitrim Children & Young People’s Services Committee

“Then F, she dipped in and out. She was only two. She still got involved. And in the beginning, she was putting the clay in the box without manipulating them at all. She was putting them in the compartments as they were.

And then she got more interested in manipulating them.”

“I wonder if you were in an environment that was very much more like a white room with just the materials, would she have engaged with it a little longer?”

kidsown.ie

kidsown.ie

Introduction

This project was developed as a pilot early-years intervention, putting arts and creativity at the centre of early childhood learning and development. Funded by ESB Energy for Generations Fund, the project evolved in response to the Covid–19 pandemic. The project modelled a way of working that supported young children to manipulate and play openly with materials, and connected them with their parents and other children through verbal and non-verbal communication. The primary material was clay. The early stages of the project took place during strict lockdowns, and as such, were designed to support parent-child interactions in the home setting. The later stages of the project took place as restrictions were easing and, as such, were more community-focused and explored children’s engagement within small group settings.

The project aimed to facilitate children’s own sense of agency; to create an environment where their learning was free and self-directed but scaffolded. The artist, Naomi Draper, designed a material environment that allowed for different ‘layers’ of entry, to accommodate children at a very early stage of literacy, as well as those in primary education with more developed literacy. In this way, the project was able to investigate how children of different ages and different stages of literacy interacted with the materials.

Some of the learning from the project is shared here, to provide inspiration and to support an understanding of how an artistic process can support young children’s learning and development.

“Connection, communication.

That’s the language.”

An Invitation to Play

In the planning stages, the project was steered by a small

explained her rationale: “I am interested in forms of

working group, comprising the following members:

communication and the journey literacy brings us on, to

• Carmel Brennan, former Head of Practice at Early

connect and belong to the world around us. The initial

Childhood Ireland and Kids’ Own Board Member

steps along this journey of making sense of the world

• Sharon Boles, Manager of Sligo Childcare Committee

require a child’s first experience of communication, by

• Maeve Whittington, Coordinator of Sligo Leitrim

exploring other beings and matter through physical

Children and Young People’s Services Committee

encounters, experiences, negotiation and play. This

In her initial statement, the artist, Naomi Draper,

• Jo Holmwood, Creative Director of Kids’ Own

world is often populated by potentially animate things

• Ciara Gallagher, Project Manager of Kids’ Own

rather than passive objects, that come to life through

• Naomi Draper, Artist.

hands-on interaction. I am interested in the idea that materials and other matter hold the potential to partake in our learning as active participants; through our communication and negotiation with them they are activated, and the results of these activities yield new insight into the world around us.” A challenge posed by this project, in the context of Coronavirus was: How can young children have a really meaningful experience, without the artist present—usually, a crucial component of a Kids’ Own project? The project centred around a large-format box with small compartments containing nuggets of clay and a chart to support a tactile engagement

It was understood from the beginning that although

and, where appropriate, a verbal or linguistic response.

the book publication (A–Z) provided the stimulus for

The chart offered a visual stimulus for how the material

the project, the engagement was about interpreting

could be manipulated—an “Alphabet of Actions”. For

literacy in its broadest sense. Conversations among the

older children with higher levels of verbal and written

working group covered the importance of “flexibility

literacy, the chart included letters of the alphabet as a

of structure and materials”, “soft instruction” and

trigger for connecting words and actions.

exploratory questions as a means of guiding the children’s engagement in a non-directive way. It was

Pilot group–parent-child interaction

emphasised that the project be framed as playtime, and

The boxes were sent out to a pilot group of parents

an artistic experience, rather than within the context of

with young children, along with an invitation to play.

home schooling (which was so prevalent in the minds of

The invitation highlighted that there was no right or

parents during the pandemic).

wrong way to engage. Parents were encouraged to play alongside their children and to document the process

Although the project was about literacy, it should not

and/or outcomes through photography, if at all possible.

be language-based, or rather, it should focus on the

A private shared space online—via Padlet—provided a

100 languages of children—their multiple modes of

platform for sharing, discussion, reflection and visual

expression and “the validity of each and every individual

documentation of each child’s process. A focus group

response”. There was interest in exploring the potential

discussion with the parents afterwards yielded plenty of

agency of the materials and the power of this, coupled

insights about the activity and its value.

with the human interaction. How each could inform the other. We discussed the “transformative nature

Further boxes were then sent to other parents with

of the shared experience”, which is so central to Kids’

young children in our local area and we were keen

Own’s process, where children are sharing an artistic

to reach communities that may not ordinarily have

experience in the company of a professional artist.

opportunities to engage creatively.

Family 1: C and her son, L (2 ½) and baby sister (10 mo) “He loved the whole thing. [...] He’s very cautious about new things. But once he got going, he was flying it, loved it!

He put it all over the walls, all over the cupboards, it was great craic. We had so much fun.’’

“He started separating the clay into piles and told me he was building a house.”

“He loved looking at the chart and spent time tracing the shapes with his fingers and at one point started singing the alphabet.”

“He was drawn instantly to the yellow clay, which he treated as precious compared to the other ones.”

Family 2: E and her daughter, K (4) “Neither of us knew when we opened the box what to expect. After the session with the clay, later that evening, she decided she wanted to do ABCs. She wanted to create her own book, her own A-Z book. […] I couldn’t believe that she had made that leap and followed it on herself.”

“She discovered that the pieces made a mark on the paper, like stamps and played with making marks.”

Family 3: Y and her son I (5 ¾), and daughter, S (2 ¾) “S was a bit hesitant. She wanted me to get involved with her. I unwrapped lots of clay and made things for her that she picked from the visual chart. I made her a coil, then a bowl, then I made a sort of bottomless container and I called it a well. S decided to fill it up. I gave her some cutting tools and she cut lots and lots of small pieces of clay to fill up the well.”

“His 10-month-old sister wanted to get involved so he told her that the clay ‘felt funny and cold and squishy’.”

“She had decided to connect the shapes to letters in the alphabet ... C is for Cat, B is for Bell..... and was asking me what letter is for this shape …”

“There are two halves! That’s a hat for him.”

“She talked about the different sizes ... the small ones the big ones.”

“She was drawn to the yellow piece first, taking that out and putting it on the table separate to the others.”

“I [son] didn’t like the colours, except for the yellow one. So he took that and just started to mould it into creatures.

It morphed and changed from a slug, to a grub, to a crab, to a scorpion, to very specific kinds of dinosaurs. He chattered all the way through, telling me what he was making.”

“The box was spectacularly designed, the magic of placing it on the floor, of tidying the room, getting the timing right, opening it, the discussions about the materials… We had a beautiful hour and a half or two hours of play.”

“I really know how to open them up from the wrapper. You just have to kind of rip and pull.”