The Pre-school children at Portland House have been practising their pincer grip hold and experimenting making marks with natural feathers.
The activity began with the children guessing which bird the large feathers came from. Anne gave them clues saying it was a large bird that could swim on water.The children made lots of suggestions such as duck, swan, eagle and albatross eventually guessing it was a goose. We talked about the geese malting in summer to shed their thick winter coats and that at this time some of their feathers fall out.The children used the feathers to make marks by dipping them in paint. They practised writing their name as well as creating pictures using thick and thin quills.
The activity prompted a discussion about how people used to write in the old days, using feathers and ink and the children offered comments such as “it takes a long time”.
