In the Loritos group at El Nido (2-year-olds), color is not taught—it is discovered. Through the Poetics of Color project, our children explore the world of color through the body, emotion, and relationship, turning each experience into an opportunity for expression and connection.
Color becomes language, play, and imprint. From large sheets of paper on the floor where brushstrokes tell stories, to light tables that awaken curiosity and imagination, each activity invites children to engage with their surroundings and their own senses. There are no final products—only processes filled with beauty, wonder, and presence.
Regarding this, Juan Esteban Maya, atelierista at El Nido, stated that “the experience with color becomes a space of aesthetic coexistence. Children learn to care for materials, to respect each other’s time, and to move within a shared space. This is not taught as an external rule, but learned through sensitive experience. In this way, a first notion of citizenship is formed: the construction of a place where everyone has a voice and a way of being.”
This project celebrates art as a form of knowledge, where aesthetics, ethics, and cognition intertwine with the sensitivity of childhood. The Poetics of Color is, at its core, an invitation to inhabit the world with all the senses awakened.