Materials have the potential to draw you in, make you want to stay a while, explore a little (or a lot), try new things, create and wonder. In our classroom, materials are carefully selected  for their potential to enhance learning and discovery.

Many of these materials come from natural sources such as pine cones, sand, rocks, etc. Children are experts at seeing the potential in these objects, and can use them to create glorious structures and pieces of art.

For this activity, we recreated the rock formation of Los Arcos, near Puerta Vallarta. This beautiful rock formation rises out of the ocean, and is the home of several birds.

It has been designated a marine sanctuary by the government of Mexico, and is a source of local pride. Using clay, planting cups, and rocks, we constructed our own version of it!