Welcome to the Imagination Table. My name is Miss Val; I teach 3-year-old preschoolers and run an after school program at a small school in Massachusetts. I am constantly amazed by the imaginations of my students–what they say (kidisms), what they do, and the ideas they come up with. I decided I needed a space to talk about this and how they challenge me on a daily basis.
The title of this blog–The Imagination Table–comes from an idea I developed with my kids. Over the years of running the after school program, I’ve developed a few different “tables,” partly out of necessity. The first table I developed was the “no touch” table. This is the table where I do my set-up and where kids can put their projects when they are done. No one but me is to touch anything on the no touch table. The main other table I’ve developed is the “imagination” table. This is a spot where I put out a bunch of materials, and the kiddos just use their imaginations to create whatever is on their minds that day. When it came time to name this new site, “The Imagination Table” just fit. So, here we are.
Take a look around and enjoy! As time goes on, I will develop a project page that indexes the projects I’ve done with the kids. If the project was inspired by a book or pattern, I will be sure to share the book or website where I got the idea. I hope to update several times a week, so come back often to see what we are doing. I hope this site inspires you as much as my kids inspire me!
That weekend I worked to design these patterns. I knew the kids were eager to get started, but I wanted to have them practice a bit before they jumped right into their designs. So, I traced a bunch of circles on muslin and brought those in for the kids to get started on. I expected there to be some disappointment that they couldn’t just get started on their designs, but I explained that it would take me a few days to get them all traced. To my surprise, there was no disappointment. They were just so excited to get started.
When the older kids finished their circles, I taught them how to make some French knots, and then I got busy doing a project with some of the younger kids. Next thing I know, three of my stitchers were adding to their circles. Some traced other images onto the fabric; others just did freehand embroidery. Each day, they proudly added aspects to their work. After a week of practice embroidery, we had three very different practice circles: a monogramed “M” with stars and hearts; a monongramed “L” with a name, a heart, and a star; and a cell. I was amazed, inspired, and proud all at the same time. And I wasn’t the only one!
Here I had hoped to, down the road, teach them that embroidery was limitless–they could embroider whatever they were inspired to embroider. But, they didn’t need to be told; they did it all on their own. While I love all of these amazing first embroidery projects, I do have to admit that “The Cell” is my favorite (I know…I’m not supposed to have favorites!). Its stitcher gave it to our science teacher, who I’m sure will treasure it always. After all, she inspired a young stitcher to turn a circle into a cell. Oh, what a piece of fabric, some pearl cotton, and a circle can inspire!