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).

Thursday Group - Exploring the Rope Bin & Animals in the Clay

The Thursday group gathered together after a short break and everyone dove back into the environment. The rope bin, the boat, and all the materials were fully explored. Before the children visited the clay they made sure to revisit familiar items. With all the materials I present to the children during playgroup I also try to incorporate them back into the environment so that the children have the chance to continue their exploration during other sessions. For Max it is usually finding the balls (this is a favorite stop for him) and during this playgroup Xavier joined him in his exploration. The following is a short clip of Max & Xavier both interacting with the balls. Xavier claps the balls together while Max watches him and then a short time later Max finds two different balls and does the same. I love how children watch, learn, imitate, and mimic each other but the discovery still feels new as evident by Max's face.

The clay was was just a quick stop for the children during playgroup but the visits are always interesting to observe. I really liked having the animals and clay together as it added an interesting element to the exploration and so I repeated the experience for the Thursday group. Sebastien rescued a lion and then found a new way to taste clay, this time offering a taste to his buddy Xavier.



Exploring clay brings about an interesting dilemma - what to you do once you get it on your hands? Do you shake it off? Add more? Xavier tries to figure this one out.



Max also tries to figure out what to do with the clay he finds on his hands. He enlists his other hand to help out with the situation.

Friday Group - Clay Animals

I decided to add another element to the clay to see how it would change or enhance the children's engagement with the clay. I playfully placed animals all around the clay. A gorilla climbing up the side, a hippo taking a bite, a deer with an antler stuck... it amused me and did draw the children in for a closer look. Sebastien was the first to make his way over. He freed the lion perched atop the clay and continued with his taste testing and offerings to others duties.

Theo spent a long time with the clay. Not only did his mother, Annelise sit close by making clay balls and other creations, but his grandmother was also there observing. At first, when Theo would touch the clay he would shake his hand like he was trying to get it off. Later he found a liquid filled test tube that he used as an extension of himself to interact with the clay. He would use it to push, bang, and move both the big mound and pieces of clay. He also found out that it made interesting marks when he moved it on the mylar covered in clay. As time went on, he became more comfortable touching the clay and even tasted it a few times. The video is long but I couldn't help myself, Theo is just so into it and doing such interesting things with the test tube.

Bryce brushed by the clay and came over to it momentarily but both he and Kaia found the rope bin especially exciting this session. I had added some large wooden beads to the rope bin, sporadically placing them on different ropes. Bryce located a few right away. He manipulated and moved them while taking in all that was going on around him.

Kaia has been loving the sparkly ribbon. For a few sessions now Kaia has been concentrating her rope bin explorations around the cylinder containers and the sparkly iridescent ribbon. Trying to get the ribbon back in the container has been a particular challenge along with getting it untangled from her little feet.