Friday Group - Sea Animals

Disclaimer: I didn't get to take as many pictures/movies as I wanted for this session as the two cameras I was using both ran out of batteries.

For Friday Playgroup I made a few small adjustments to the sea animal and water exploration. I took out most of the cellophane and I used watercolor to tint the water blue hoping that this would draw the children to explore the materials for a longer period of time. These adjustments did not make an impact on the children and they spent most of playgroup exploring the other areas of the play space.

Although Bryce, Theo, and Sebastien all spent time at the water table their explorations were brief and they would usually rejoin the exploration when another friend was at the table. In a way I want the children to freely come and go from the table as they desire but I guess the materials I presented them with in this session didn't spur on new discoveries. Not that every exploration has to bring about new discoveries as sometimes materials need to be explored over and over again in the same ways to be fully assimilated into a child's working knowledge.

Bryce found the shells and rocks the most interesting to explore especially because of the noise they make. He briefly checks out a manatee and chomps on a dolphin but it is the sound of the rock clanking together that really intrigues him.

Theo is so aware of those around him that he will sometimes begin an exploration only to stop to watch another child. I have countless videos of him grabbing an item and then watching as a friend explores something else. Theo begins to explore a piece of cellophane only to be distracted by Sebastien. Later he makes his way back to the table and takes interest in the shell and does some solo splashing!

Sebastien is infamous for bringing items into the water table and finds a long container to add to the water table. This gets a big "whoa" from him. He actually inspired the next and last water table exploration by making me think of how I could combine some of the items we've explored in the water during previous sessions with the sea animals to spark more interest.

Wednesday Group - Sea Animals

The water table this week was filled with sea animals, blue and yellow cellophane, and large stones and shells. Both Sebastien and Max we're only mildly interested in the experience. I don't know if the cellophane was distracting since it was floating on top almost hiding the animals or if the boys were just water logged since they both went swimming that day as well. My third theory is that they haven't had a lot of direct interaction with sea animals to really be interested in them. Books and perhaps a visit to the zoo but sea animals aren't as tangible as animals like dogs. I know as children grow older their fascination with larger than life animals like dinosaurs, sea and African animals becomes more evident in their explorations.

When Max first comes to the table he pulls out a few animals to show his father (a first time visitor to playgroup) but then is distracted by the big workout ball behind me. He works really hard to bring it down and is very excited when he does. However, he is distracted by Sebastien and a ball he brings over to the table. Right at the end of the video Max makes his sound for fish (watch for the wide open and closing of his lips) when he sees the penguin.

Sebastien begins interacting with the animals by moving, tasting, and splashing with them. This was the longest I observed him use the sea animals in his exploration.



Sometime later Sebastien brings one of the wooden cars over and has it go through his version of a car wash! Which includes some back and forth driving, banging up and down, and throwing.



Max did find the cellophane attention grabbing but it was also a little bothersome as it would stick to his feet. As one point he finds a piece away from the table and is prompted that he could bring it back to the table. He takes a few steps forward before he decides to crawl over and place it in the sensory bin. His satisfaction with himself is the first steps toward the development of independence. As toddlers gain more skills they take a lot of pride in the smallest accomplishments, Eirk Erikson called this the Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt stage of development. During this stage of development children develop a greater sense of personal control which leads to the development of their sense of self - who they are, what they can do, and how they are seen by others. It begins so young!

Friday Group - Dumping, Drinking, and Trickery Oh My

The Friday Group spent a lot of time dumping or drinking as much water out of the sensory bin as possible.

Dumping, Pouring, Shaking, and Splashing

The rim grab continued to be the most popular way to pour and dump water out. Sebastien even finds that shaking a container of water gets everyone wet as well as splashing it in the water. He's still trying to figure out how to pour water out without getting himself soaked. Bryce paid careful attention to where the water landed as he dumped it out. Even as he is dumping he notices the water trickling down his arm or splashing near his feet. He is beginning to put together the action of pouring and the result of displacing the water. Simply fascinating.

Drinking

Sebastien gave drinking a try but was still holding it by the rim so it made for an interesting maneuver. Kaia sipped (sometimes gulped) from every container over and over again.

Trickery

What happens when you go to drink from a cup but water showers down on you? Funniest moment by far was Kaia trying to get a drink of water from the cup with holes in the bottom and can't quite figure out why she's getting so wet.

Wednesday Group - Dumping, Pouring, and Splashing Oh My!

This week water play was enhanced by the addition of cups, spoons, funnels, siffters, and other items that can hold water. As the children explored these new materials I watched as they tried dumping, pouring, and drinking the water. As well as placing items in the containers and bring other items to the water.

Dumping, Pouring, and Showering Down Water

When children first begin to pour water they tend to either grab the container by the rim or by the sides with two hands. If they grab the container by the rim they usually will end up dumping water on themselves or to the side of the, like throwing water over one's shoulder. Watch as Sebastien and Max discover dumping, pouring, and showering down water!

Drinking Water

When a child grabs a container with two hands, like you do when you hold a cup, they end up drinking the water from the container. Zadie and Max know how this is done.



Bringing Items to the Water

I find it so interesting that Zadie usually gravitates to one item (mostly a ball) and keeps tabs on that item for most of the time she is at playgroup. This week a orange ping pong ball went with her each time she visited the water table and sometimes a spoon left the sensory bin in her other hand. Sebastien also brought a rhino to take a swim in the water and a string of beads into the table. Watch Max as he keeps trying to take the beads out while Sebastien keeps dragging them back in. When children bring different items to the water table, I think of them as little scientists trying out cause and effect, filing away their research of 'what happens when I add this item to water'.



Putting Items in Containers

Zadie encounters an interesting dilemma while experimenting with placing her orange ping pong ball in a cup full of water. Max spent most of his time at the water table trying to figure out how to fit the egg halves together. You could tell he understood that they went together but kept fitting them in one another. Both his mother and I demonstrated how the eggs went together and he did try but ultimately kept putting on into the other instead of filling them together.

Friday Group - More Items that Sink and Float

The Friday Group dove right in to the water table filled with new and familiar items. It was interesting to watch as children spent more time with a particular item that interested them. While each child would touch, taste, manipulate different items some items were explored longer and in a variety of ways. Kaia found the cellophane to be a familiar material but in a new context. She tries with all her might to pull it apart. Later she discovers that water flows off it in surprising ways. Kaia also involves Sebastien in her exploration but he's not so pleased by the gesture.

Sebastien spent a great deal of time slurping water from a sea shell. He dips it in the water over and over again. Of all the items to use to get water the sea shell is a tricky one and presents an interesting challenge.



Bryce, the exuberant splasher, finds that the slinky really is a great item to enhance his splashy fun. He also finds the mylar and cellophane too intriguing as he crinkles them in his hands. He watches the mylar and cellophane so closely as it moves.



Theo was the dumper of the group. Every item he touched he would drop (very nonchalantly) out of the bin, although not everything would land on the floor. He also spent some time fishing for those heavier items that were at the bottom of the bin. I always like to include items that have weight to them in children's exploration because it impacts their physical moves in a challenging way. At the end of this video is Theo's response to being splashed one to many times!

Thursday Group - More Items that Sink and Float

This session of playgroup continued with water play, combining some familiar and new items to the water table. Some of these items sank and some would float on the water. I included large stones and shells, metal napkin rings, cellophane, mylar, silk fabric, ribbon, square tin platter, bubble wrap, plastic eggs, a slinky, wood blocks, musical shaker eggs and hollow oval foam pieces. Splashing is still a popular activity at the water table and once one gets going the others can't help but join in.

Zadie rejoined group this week after a few weeks away. When she first came to the table she brought a ball that she had found with her. This limited her explorations because she wasn't ready to let it go. She used one hand to explore the other items until she finally let it free. Every item in the water table had many different ways a child could explore it. The plastic eggs, for example when put together would float but once taken apart would fill with water and sink. One could also place items inside a half of the egg. Zadie discovers this a little while later.



Sebastien explored many of the items orally (he even showed me a few items needed to be removed... leave it to my son to bite off a piece of bubble wrap). He also interacted with a wood block once he noticed how it moved when the water was moving, he watched it bob up and down before he picked it up. Then he pushed it down in the water, like he was slashing and finally he threw it. Another aspect of his exploration was to find an object and then walk away from the water table to take it elsewhere, almost like the water was distracting him from the object. I can't help but wonder what his plan was.



I could tell that Max was a little disappointed that the water table wasn't full of balls. He began his exploration by very methodically taking each item he came in contact with out of the water and dropping each one on the floor. The metal napkin ring made a great sound as it hit the floor and then rolled around which made Max happy. As Max mad peace with the fact that the water table was minus his favorite item he soon found a wet piece of fabric particularly fun to whip around.

Friday Group - Which Balls Sink, Which Ones Float?

The Friday Group found the water bin full of balls surprising and exciting. Watching the different ways the children interacted with the water and the balls was fascinating. Theo practiced throwing/dropping the balls out of the water. He really puts his whole body into the motion.

Sebastien brought some new items to test in the water. First he tries out his wooden tow truck and then he brings over the wooden bell.



Bryce really engaged with the water once a few of the other children left. He was really into the splashing aspect of the experience. He really gets the water moving by waving his hand back and forth under the water, creating waves. A few times during his exploration he would bend down and look at the balls move from the side of the table. I didn't catch this on video but I did want to show what it looked like from that angle when the water was really sloshing around.



Kaia explored every ball, really diving her hand down to find the balls that sank. She also would follow a floating ball to catch it in her hand (they're not as easy to grab when they float!) In the middle of the following video she picks up a golf ball, moves it under water and then drops it (it makes a plunk noise). I found her exploration of the balls and her persistence in grabbing a ball intriguing.

The Jam Session

Lastly a fun little moment with Chris, Bryce's dad.

Thursday Group - Do balls sink or float?

The video I shot during this group was so full of discoveries and jubilant moments that it was hard to choose what to share on the blog. Max was immediately drawn to the ball aspect of the experience whereas Sebastien started in on some wild splashing. While Sebastien gets the water into motion, Max has a hard time deciding whether to continue exploring the different balls or join in with the splishing and splashing, ultimately he does a little of both.

While Sebastien is busy enlisting his taste testing skills with all the different balls and the water is somewhat still, Max tries an experiment of his own. What happens when I throw a ball in water?



This next video is a progression of interactions that leads to a very sweet moment between Max and Sebastien. It begins with both boys noticing each other chomping on similar balls. Then Sebastien wants one of the balls that Max finds and finally Max finds a ball and offers it to Sebastien to taste.

Water Play - Sink or Float?

The next five playgroup sessions will all have water as a common element. Each one will have a different spin using the water as a basis for interaction. This first session I filled the sensory bin with different types of balls, some of which sank in the water, while others floated at the top. A few types of balls even surprised me and just hovered at the surface. Water is a liquid material that can be explored in a multitude of ways - dumping, pouring, splashing, transferring, rippling, and slurping (just to name a few).