The clay eluded the Friday group with the exception of Sebastien. Theo eventually made his way over to the clay, felt it and then moved on. We hadn't seen Theo in a few weeks and he spent a lot of group time exploring the environment and materials around the play area. This is one of the challenges I face in playgroup. It is hard to simply focus on the material I present because I only see children once a week and for such a short period of time. That is why I try to have several material choices out for the children in addition to the other toys to explore. Kaia came close to touching the clay that was on my hands but decided against it. I, again, dove into the clay hoping to entice the children to explore the clay. This, again, made documenting via video and photography difficult. With only Sebastien interested in the clay I spoke with a colleague of mine and she reminded me that sometimes children this age need to be introduced to a material eight or nine times before they will take interest in it. I'd like to have the clay out a few more times to see how the interactions with it may evolve.
Theo checks out Sebastien and a clump of clay.
Kaia thinks about touching my hand and comes very close to doing so.
The rope bin, however, was a favorite stop. I was excited to introduce the children to rope. I find rope and other fiber art materials (yarn, string, thread) amazing discovery tools and as they get older valuable skills such as threading and sewing can be introduced. When I worked with two year olds I documented their discoveries around rope, how they used used it and the skills they developed for two years. Starting with a young group of children I was surprised at the many different ways the children explored the rope.
TASTING - As with most discoveries at this age, Sebastien and Theo orally explore the texture of the rope.
WAVING & SHAKING - The fluidity of movement in rope is exciting and fun. It responds to a child's every movement. When a child changes tempo (moves fast or slow) and direction (moves right, left, up, down, back and forth, round and round, etc.) the rope happily follows suit.
TRAILING - Another wonderful property of rope is that wherever you go it follows. This is very satisfying for a young child, who is usually trailing after a parent. To move around and look back and see that the rope is following you creates giggles and excitement.
PULLING - Rope also gives children some resistance. Depending on length and diameter it can be heavy in it's own right as well as create resistance when another hand is holding an end or as it wraps around objects and gets temporarily stuck. This tests out children's strength and challenges them in a new way.
I can't wait to see what discoveries they make next.
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