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).