We Decorate: What is a Decoration?

Can a button be a decoration?

Lines of Inquiry:

Exploring a variety of decorations from various cultures (form)

Similarities and differences in ideas about what a decoration is (perspective)

A child asked this question and led us into today's investigation. 

First we looked at some fasteners we have on our clothes; zippers, snaps, and buttons. The children practiced the mechanics of these on special frames. 

Some West Coast First Nation communities use buttons to decorate special button blankets worn during ceremonies.  We researched this together through image searches, a video and a story and the children worked on a paper version of a crest that might be used in the centre of a button blanket.

Choosing a button

Commitment!

We emptied a bag of buttons and marveled at the many colours, shapes and sizes. Sorting through my grandma's button collection was a favourite pastime when I was a child. A button blanket might use as many as 300 buttons, today the children had to chose just one for their crest - a challenging task!
The children were committed to covering the white space in red crayon. "Why are we using only red?" wondered Esme. We referred to the images we searched and noticed that only the colours red, black, and white were used. "That's just how they're made!" concluded Rielle. In the beginning Alan thought it would be too difficult to cover all the white space but he stuck with it and felt very pleased by his commitment. 

Responsibility

There was a whole bag of buttons to clean up. Esme, Sophie and Oliver showed responsibility in offering to clean them up!