Ready with brown paper bags and big imaginations, our Kindy Red students set out to explore the question, ‘What makes something beautiful?’ They discovered that true beauty lies not just in sparkles and rainbows, but in purpose, design, and the wonder of God’s creation.
Over the school break, the Kindy students were on a mission to collect all sorts of bits and bobs and place them inside brown paper bags, ready for our new big inquiry question: What makes something beautiful?
When the children hear the word beautiful, here’s what comes to mind: trees with colourful leaves, flowers, animals, shiny and sparkly things, smiles, rainbows, the sound of birds singing, and their families. It was quickly agreed that smelly socks and rubbish bins are definitely not something beautiful!
To begin our exploration, we looked through Mrs Sherlock’s special collection of beautiful things. Some were colourful, some sparkly, and one very special shell even let us hear the ocean! Then we opened our own brown paper bags and sorted the treasures inside into two groups: beautiful and not-so-beautiful. Each child chose one item to describe in detail and set it aside, ready to be transformed into something beautiful.
We read Not a Box by Antoinette Portis. Did you know that in Kindy, we have the most amazing imaginations? Because a box is not just a box. It can be a car, a train, a ship, a castle, or anything you want it to be! It was so much fun creating beautiful things with our “not-a-boxes.”
We followed this with Not a Stick by the same author and had a great time turning some ordinary sticks into something beautiful, too.
As part of our inquiry, we’ve been learning that beauty isn’t just about what we see with our eyes, it’s also about purpose, design, and wonder. Lately, we’ve been looking closely at some of God’s marvellous mini beasts, and they’ve helped us see how God makes everything beautiful in its time.
Spiders and Webs
We have been fascinated by spiders and the way they spin their intricate webs. The children noticed the detailed patterns and careful design, and we talked about how God gave even tiny creatures such amazing abilities. It reminded us that God is a wise and creative designer.
Caterpillars and Butterflies
We also explored the life cycle of butterflies and the incredible transformation of metamorphosis. The children were filled with awe as they watched the change from caterpillar to butterfly, seeing how God creates beauty through growth and change. It helped us understand that sometimes beauty takes time, just like the Bible says.
As part of our inquiry, we did some observational drawings, looking closely with a scientific eye at a monarch caterpillar before carefully sketching it. When it came time to draw butterflies, we studied their patterns and detail, which led us to explore the idea of symmetry, so we could draw them the way God create them, with each side beautifully identical.
Created by God, Beautiful and Loved
Throughout our inquiry, the children have not only discovered the beauty in the world around them, but also the truth that they themselves are God’s beautiful masterpiece (Ephesians 2:10). They are learning that God made each of them with care and purpose, and that makes them very special and very beautiful.
“Great are the works of the Lord; they are pondered by all who delight in them.” – Psalm 111:2
