Marvelous Mud and Puddle Play

To live in the moment.  

To be a child is to be free.
To explore life to the fullest. It is the chance to learn what your body can and can not do, to mix concoctions from dirt, leaves, rock, soil and anything else you can discover.
We are robbing our children of this glorious experience as we push them to excel when they are not developmentally ready.

We imprison them inside for fear of what they may encounter outside; injuries, strangers or worse.  But we also destroy their growth, discovery and learning in our goal to help and protect them.


What are your fondest memories from childhood?
Where did you play?
Who did you play with?
What don’t your parents know about your freedom in play?

Here are some articles and news stories that explain why such play is so important.
http://www.communityplaythings.com/resources/articles/2016/the-benefits-of-mud-play

KARE 11 also did a nice article on the need for children to spend play in nature last night.
https://www.kare11.com/article/entertainment/television/programs/kare-11-extras/vitamin-nature-kids-their-health-depends-on-it/89-553212975

Look at the joy in these faces as they relish the feel of mud squishing between their toes and fingers. There is no concern of getting dirty. Just carefree play, exploration and discovery.  This is what childhood should be.

I challenge you this summer to let your kids be kids, help them to thrive and grow.

I dare you to take it one step further, JOIN THEM! Get as muddy and as dirty as they do. Go for it make a lasting memory.

Climbing To New Heights

I saw this wonderful video on Facebook a few weeks ago. Someone had strung up a pulley system in their area and provided a step ladder. Then they had hung buckets up on the pulleys and left blocks out.  It was magical watching the video and all of the learning taking place. (I have not been able to find the inspiring video if I can locate it I will put a link to it in this blog post.)  It inspired me to try and replicate the opportunity in my class.

I am very blessed that the Center I work at, Love To Grow On, and our administration support risky play as a part of our center's philosophy.  I am also blessed that our parents embrace the activities we provide their children and trust us to provide them in a safe and nurturing environment.  So when I entered the classroom with rope, buckets and a ladder no one batted an eye and the kids knew we were going to do something exciting.
I left the items near the circle time area and listened to the conversations.  After breakfast we met for our morning meeting and discussed the items brought in.
"That is a ladder, my dad has one."

"We have one too!"
"You climb a ladder to reach things, or do things up high."
"You need to climb careful or you can fall.  My dad was not careful and he fell.  He was ok, but mom was mad."
Because the ladder was the main topic of conversation I put the buckets and rope aside and let them climb the ladder.  We discussed how both sides could be climbed and we decided that 4 could be on the ladder at a time.  That morning they all took turns scaling the ladder and exploring the room from new heights.
"I can see the ground outside when I climb the ladder and look outside!"
"I am as tall as Ms. Helen!"
"If I stand here I am taller than Ms. Helen."
"The ladder is shakey as you go higher."
"Come here and look down on the room, the legos look smaller up here."

This lead to constructing a simple pulley system where they could raise and lower buckets by the way they placed items into the buckets. The ladder was used to reach the higher bucket and to redistribute the items in the buckets to allow them to move up and down. The team work and problem-solving skills used were fascinating to watch in this project. It has been going on for almost three weeks now as they test out a variety of items in the buckets.
"The one with stuff in it goes down. It must be heavy."
"The empty one is lighter because it goes up."
"Four big blocks is the same as 6 bean bags."
"What do you mean?"
"Neither bucket goes up when you have 6 bean bags and 4 of these blocks."

An extension to this activity was to add art to it. We have been creating a large group mural on the wall using the ladder to reach the upper part of our canvas.
This has been a good way to add a new perspective to using paint and chalk. They are doing art standing on a ladder, keeping their balance, drawing on a vertical surface, and viewing the room from a different perspective.

I encourage you to give this a try, even if you only add a low steps tool to your environment.

Learning Through Play

Please click on this link to see play based learning in action.

Love To Grow On Engineers 
https://photos.app.goo.gl/EoGTfsppUVq3eou92

Play is a crucial part of childhood and learning, yet it often gets looked at as unimportant and an useless, waste of time. Many adults think learning takes place in the confines of sitting in a group setting, criss-crossed legs, listening quietly to the teacher prattle on about some subject or idea; and not necessarily anything the children are remotely interested in.  It can be followed up with worksheets, busy work and project art all deemed curriculum. This learning style is actually an academic  style more appropriate for older elementary school students. Kindergarten and First grade students should still be experiencing learning through play and Second grade through  Sixth grades should still be getting more physical movement and play in their day, than is currently allotted.

Play-based learning is defined as young learners constructing

knowledge as they explore, experiment , discover and solve problems in a playful and unique ways. Development is linked to play and viewed as a pattern of continuous,  interrelated changes that begins at birth and continue through life span whilst learning is a change in behaviour. In the early years it is through experience in play that learning occurs. (1)

I am blessed to teach at a center where play-based learning and the Reggio Emilia Approach are embraced.   At Love To Grow On children are viewed as capable learners and play is an key part of learning. Here is a peek at two of our recent play-based learning experiences my class had the chance to explore.

A real life experience with Chutes and Ladders.

So much is going on here.
Physical- balance, spatial awareness,  self-confidence,  body awareness & muscle memory are being created.
Social- turn taking, self-regulation,  Problem-solving & conflict resolution.
Language & Literacy- Describing what is or will happen, looking At things from a different perspective,  communication skills & sharing ideas.
Math & Science- making hypotheses, trial and error, comparing velocity and distance.
So much more is learned in this play than would ever be learned While sitting at a table doing a work sheet and much more will be remembered, learning through play.

Pulleys

Exploring pulleys opens the door to engineering. From this exploration children learn about gravity, weight, measurement, and cause and effect. They experience physics at work. They discover the impact they can have on their environment. They propose ideas and explore their hypotheses.
Learning through play is far more impactful, and last life long. Worksheets and rote learning leads to frustration, especially in young ages  (2 years to 8 years) and does not carry the same long-lasting foundation for more learning. 

It was fun presenting a provocation none of these children had encountered before.  Their excitement on the first day was fun as they cheered each friend on as they picked a bucket to add marbles too. Their chant for which bucket they were routing for was replaced with pleading, debate, and discussion as they realized one bucket was slowly raising towards the ceiling. The roar of success was fun when one bucket soared up and the other bucket plummeted towards the ground.

Today I presented bigger buckets and different items to place in the buckets. I set the ladder to the side but allowed the buckets to hang low enough the ladder was not necessary. We discussed what we had learned the day before.
"The heavy bucket goes down."
"The empty bucket goes up."
"Why does the empty bucket go up?" I asked.
"Because it is not as heavy, it is lighter."
With both buckets in easy reach blocks were added to each bucket equally. The buckets did not move.
"What is happening?" I asked.
"Nothing."
"Why?"
"Because one is not heavy."
"So how can you fix that?"
A flurry of discussion and then the solution to move blocks from one bucket to the other. As the one bucket moved out of reach the ladder was dragged over to make it easier to pluck out a block and move it to the other bucket.
It was fun to watch the cooperation and conversations taking place. They continued on with this activity all day long.

(1)(Taken from  Play-based learning Ebbeck, Marjory, Yim, Hoi Yin Bonnie and Lee, Lai Wan Maria 2013, Play-based learning. In Pendergast, Donna and Garvis, Susanne (ed), Teaching early years : curriculum, pedagogy and assessment, Allen & Unwin, Sydney, N. S. W., pp.185-200.   http://dro.deakin.edu.au/view/DU:30052049 )