by Hannah
While I was a preschool student teacher in the Child Development Lab at Utah State University, I was impressed by the teaching philosophy there which encouraged learning through play and open ended, process-driven learning for children. Everything about the preschool supported that philosophy, from the layout of the classrooms, to the daily schedule, to the toys and even the snacks.
One idea that I loved and later imitated in my own classroom was the preschool’s collection of recycled materials, organized in a storage closet and lovingly referred to as “Beautiful Junk.” Toilet paper tubes, fabric scraps, egg cartons, newspaper, milk carton lids, yarn, small boxes, and many more items donated by the children’s parents lined the shelves of the Beautiful Junk room. And during self-selected activity time, when the children got to choose where they wanted to play, beautiful junk on the art table always drew a crowd.
I loved watching the children use scissors, tape, paper, and markers to transform their everyday junk into something truly creative and beautiful. I enjoyed getting a glimpse into the children’s imaginations when I saw their creations & how they used them in their play–for example, a few little friends assembled walkie talkies with little boxes, straws, bottle caps, and tape and used them in their pretend “spies” game they often played outside.
Later when I was an elementary school art teacher, I created a classroom beautiful junk collection and loved seeing the same creative processes happen with my students during their free choice time when they finished working on their assigned art project for the day. I also noticed that having beautiful junk as a part of my classroom culture helped the children’s respect for materials and the environment grow as they realized that objects they might have thrown away could be reused and re-purposed. The imaginative creations from the simplest of objects never ceased to amaze me and reminded me that children are born with extremely creative natures, and sometimes the best thing we can do as adults to promote true learning is give children freedom to explore and then get out of their way.