chocolate milk

I have been collecting quotes, bits and parts of what people say, and poetry since I was sixteen years old. It is just something that intrigued me from early on - how words make a statement, how words together can be a work of art, a philosophy, an argument, a question, an expression of hope or love.

I love to happen upon a gem of a phrase whether via a live speaking person or via text or music. I try to listen in a quirky way and discover something that seems to me unusual or unusually charming or deeply touching.

On this blog, I have a page of 'wisdom from young children' which you can read here and a post about starting out with a Sharpie if you also want to start documenting by clicking here.

5 mini-stories today of how COLOR was incorporated by children in their explanations and expressions:

1. CHOCOLATE MILK.

My 4-year-old friend Jessica and I were waiting for her dad to pick her up from school at the end of the day. We were sitting out in front of the school, Jessica's things all packed up, and her dad was running a bit late. We decided to do an I SPY game as cars drove past our school, keeping a close watch for her dad's car. As we were looking, Jessica offered this great clue to aid our watch:

"My daddy's car is the color of Nestle's Quik...it is the color when you first put it in the milk."

So, the car is NOT the color AFTER you stir the powder in but right when you "first put it in" which is a totally different color and certainly darker than the photo can show you! Excellent detail to describe the exact color of dad's car and - thankfully - he did arrive soon thereafter!

2. BLUE POCKETS.

My friend Natalie was trying to make a collection of nature items. She was gathering sticks and rocks and bark. All these pieces were first cradled in her arms, then she turn her shirt upward to form a carrier and soon her collection was bigger than her shirt could hold. "Oh, I have blue pockets at my home!" she says as she wishes she had more room to gather her treasures. 

I found it humorous that Natalie describing blue pockets - compared to other colors? - was important and perhaps we all were to immediately be sympathetic and understand "ohhh, the BLUE pockets - yes, those would definitely gather nature items quite well."

3. PURPLE IS FOR BEAUTIFUL.

Oh, my sweet friend Jack. He was painting at the easel and I was video-taping his work while he shared. He explained about the red cross is for the church, the pink heart is for love, the black part is for the school and the purple..."The purple is for beautiful."

Yes. It is.

4. IS YELLOW ALLERGIC TO BROWN?

My five-year-old friend Hailey liked to have her drawing markers NOT touch each other on her work. She had been drawing since quite young and had gained a particular sense of color and composition. She was working one day in the art area when  - somehow - her yellow marker overlapped onto her brown that was already drawn on her paper. She saw the tip of her yellow marker become brown and when she tried to use it straight away, the yellow marker presented brown color onto her paper. I watched her look perplexed, look again at the marker tip and turn to me..."Is yellow allergic to brown?" she asked. You can decide how you would answer that question.

5. PINK-ISH, PURPLE-ISH.

There is almost nothing more delightful during my school days than documenting children's work. My friend Isabella had this story ready to tell when I started to ask her about her work:

"This is a friendly monster named Jackie! She likes to eat carrots and she lives in the mountain! Her favorite color is pink-ish, purple-ish!" 

What a treasure to meet such a friendly monster!

There are so many elements to documenting, listening, collecting quotes or questions. It is lovely to be in classrooms where WHAT the children have to say is appreciated and examined and respected.

What gems have YOU discovered in art, chats, and your daily routine? Anything about Chocolate Milk or Blue Pockets or Friendly Monsters with favorite colors?