Tuesday 12 July 2016

Water Play

It wasn't really that warm today but the children chose to wonder off outside so off we went, with camera in hand to see what was chosen!

Earlier that morning I had filled up a big trug of water and after a bit of mixing in the mud kitchen 'S' noticed the water and headed over with some tools to investigate!





After lots of scooping, mixing, splashing and pouring...and even some tasting, 'S' then investigated the trug itself

Running her hands around the edge and then with spoon in hand she was banging on the side under the water; looking, feeling and listening on the outside of the trug. Feeling the resistance of the water in her other hand as she explored the sounds she could make.

When she was finished with that 'S' went back to the water, abandoning her tools, she wanted a really good look...

Supporting her weight with her hands to keep herself safe 'S' lowered her head down towards the water.

Seeing her breath causing ripples in the water 'S' began blowing harder and saw the ripples increasing across the water surface, leaning lower and lower, blowing as she went, until eventually her face dipped in the water at which point she pulled herself back up and looked up with a huge smile on her face!

At this point I took her cue she was finished, and everyone was really quite wet and getting cold so we headed inside to warm up and find some snack!

Characteristics of Effective Learning
'S' was provided with plenty of time to take her self-led learning where she wanted it to go. She kept her attention on this activity for quite some time, not distracted by another child playing around her, sometimes also in the water. She noticed the small details, such as the ripples in the water and tried to take this further, showing her obvious pleasure after her slight dip at the end!
'S' was somewhat aware of the risk of playing with water and knew how to keep herself safe, slowly and carefully exploring, managing her own safety but keen to have a go to extend her knowledge. She used many of her senses to explore the media and displayed curiosity of her tools and how they could be used.
'S' tested out her ideas of banging against the side of the trug and perhaps linked this to her existing knowledge of when she bangs things outside of water. She explored the cause and effect of splashing with different tools and her own hand/arm and decided in her own time when she had finished with her exploration and moved on to another activity.

Next Steps
Extend water play incorporating bubbles, water beads, items that sink/float
Extend scooping/pouring with wider range of containers, funnels, tubes
Transfer skills of scooping/pouring to mud, sand, baking activities
Extend knowledge of resistance to mud, shaving foam
Extend understanding of her breath blowing against the surface by repeating activity, provide straws to observe from a different point of view

Wednesday 6 July 2016

Chalk Painting

We often have chalks out in the garden, I will draw out a road for the cars and extend it to include fields for our farm animals, or a zoo area too...sometimes even the Dinosaurs come join in!!

Today I got out the chalks, but added some water and black card. My idea was to do some mark making, perhaps finger painting too. But let see where the children took it!

 'J' began with some mark making following my example but he chose to draw straight on the patio as he has done previously.
 After a bit of drawing 'J' decided instead to do some transferring and poring of the coloured water and chalks
All together in one pot!

 So far 'S' had been sat back watching our play, but at this point she decided to come over and have a go herself! She tried some mark making first, seeming to connect her movements with the marks left on the patio
 Next 'S' tried combining her paint brush with the chalks. Perhaps this was exploring combining objects in a variety of ways; poking, stirring etc. Or perhaps she was transferring her knowledge of other painting experiences to what she had available to her today?
'J' came over to have a little look at the different colours and they had a little babbling chat between them, I do love their little interactions!

 'S' went back to her mark making, trying some different colours and looking closely at her work on the floor
When she was done 'S' spotted the little ride on toy which she then spent some time pushing back and forth through the 'paint' on the floor. Unintentionally making some great track marks and foot prints on some of the black paper which had previously been discarded for use in our arty activity.

Characteristics of Effective Learning
'S' made links from her previous experience and transferred her knowledge to this activity. Testing her theories (trying to use a paint brush) and then moving on to different approaches.
'S' began by observing 'J' and I to see our approach. She was keen to engage with 'J' when he came over, looking and babbling with each other to share the experience. I had begun with an idea for the activity but was keen to follow the children's ideas. 'S' knew she had plenty of time to explore the material at her own pace, pausing to interact with 'J' at his initiation, before then returning to what she was previously doing. I took their cue's when they were done and ready to move on.

Next Steps
Spend some more time mark making to ascertain if 'S' has an established knowledge connecting her movements with the marks she leaves.
Introduce some cars, balls, marbles etc with painting to roll through and see the different marks they leave