Engaging Water Play - Sea Creatures, Jewels and Tongs

I'll be honest. It is only November and I feel like I am already out of creative ideas for the water play tank! The weather is cooler now, so we don't want the children to get too wet (parents are rather opposed to sopping children in 50 degree weather!) but we still want to engage the children in water play since it is an integral part of childhood learning.

We've used siphons, cups, jugs, measuring spoons, sea animals, glow sticks and shells. We've added various colors, bubbles, and glitter. So what else is there?

I was struck with a memory of using small tongs in the classroom to pick up various items as a fine motor activity, so I decided to apply this same activity to the water table on a larger scale. I picked up some large bamboo tongs, plastic salad tongs, large slotted spoons and child-adapted chopsticks.

I threw in some small sea animals, shells, and colorful glass "vase gems" (assorted shapes and sizes).

 I also set out some buckets to collect the items and a small muffin tin.

The pre-K children enjoyed this activity so much! I think it reminded them of a treasure hunt. The challenge of picking up items on the tank bottom with the tongs added interest and challenge!

 If you have any creative, challenging, or interesting water play ideas, please put your link in the comment box! I would LOVE to hear from you. Really...I would love it....I need the inspiration! ;-)

For a great article on the benefits of water play, visit Community Play Things (provides a fantastic list of water play enhancers)  or  Write Out of the Box (a great article to pass out to parents who may feel that water play is just "play").  Enjoy!

Pumpkins and Golf Tees

After seeing this "pumpkin hammering" activity on the 'blogosphere' several times, I decided to try it out in our yard.

We set out two pumpkins, four small wooden mallets, and a TON of golf tees. The children REALLY enjoyed this activity and they were very successful at pounding the tees into the pumpkins.

They even branched out and pounded tees into our giant pumpkin and ornamental squash (oops!). It was a fantastic skill building activity for all the children in our program (ages 2-5).

Unfortunately, our fun was cut short. We have one naughty little squirrel that adores the dollar store pumpkins (yup...ONLY the dollar store pumpkins!) and during nap time, when the yard was quiet, he came to find the feast that we had so kindly laid out for him (ha!). As he had done to five of our previous pumpkins, he gnawed a huge hole into one of the ones on the table! So, we were down to one hammering pumpkin (which, by the way, I kept in the fridge that night for safe keeping). Sniff!

Once every tee was pounded in, it was time to take them out. YIKES! No one mentioned how terribly hard this task was!!!! So, the pumpkins sat on my counter until I found a hammer. 

I pulled out a few tees myself, and then realized what a great activity this would be for the children. So, during "patio time" (which is a more controlled atmosphere than the big yard), the children got to pull the tees using the backside of the hammer. It took them some time and thought to figure out how to wedge, pull, and lift the hammer correctly, but they did it.

Several of the children spent a lot of time on this activity. We even had one three year old dedicate half an hour to this activity. It was a wonderful fine motor and problem solving activity for the children. It was also a fantastic finger-saver for me!

Nature Deficit? Not Here!

I've mentioned in past posts how I've been trying to add a greater emphasis on natural elements in our yard. We've added bins and buckets filled with pinecones, hay, large tree cookies, small tree cookies, shiny stones, logs, stumps and more.
Today my heart nearly skipped a joyful beat. As I was walking through the yard during nap time, a special something caught my eye. There, in the middle of the sandbox, was this ornate little sand castle. The castle was adorned with rocks, leaves, pinecones, and even one large tree cookie. The children obviously took great pride in their work because their masterpiece was surrounded by protective cones from the bike area. This little piece took concentration, effort and collaboration. It was a beautiful sight to behold!

Nature deficit disorder? Nope...not here!

Fun, Fun, Fun in the Outdoor Classroom!

Oh my, it seems like forever since I last sat down to write a post! Halloween, colds, coughs, birthdays, work...life! Yikes! It all seems to get in the way of blogging!!! So, rather than focus on one great activity, I will give a grand "tour" of what has been going on in our outdoor classroom over the past few weeks. In a nutshell, I have been trying put a more natural emphasis into our "big yard."

As part of this endeavor, we added numerous natural items (pinecones, stones, hay, etc) to the playhouse in our sandbox and dubbed it "The Muddy Kitchen." 

We made an outdoor "oven" using wooden bridges and sanded tree cookies. 

The tree cookies were left over from the tree cookie flooring that we installed this summer and they have made an excellent addition to our collection of loose parts! 

We placed most of the cookies in the yard for free exploration. However, I saved a few of the rough ones and let the children sand them. Though they didn't spend a ton of time at this center, many of the children did enjoy the experience of smoothing down the wood and they commented on the textures and how the sandpaper affected the wood.

Unfortunately, the wall that held the flooring started to fall this past week, so we counteracted by adding a row of large logs along the barrier. It turned out beautifully and has added to the natural feeling of the yard. It has also created a wonderful balance beam for the children to walk across!

I was so pleased with the way these logs turned out! The best part? We picked them up at a firewood stand for about $40.00 and the guys threw in a few tree stumps for free! We finished this project on a "Parent Work Day" and while installing the logs, one of the dads volunteered a bunch more logs to put in our up-and-coming "woodsy" area! Yippee!

Of course, a bit of whimsy is always fun outside, so we added some sheer fabric to the play structure. I was so curious to see how the children would use the fabric! The little ones loved running through it and watching it flutter back into place. The older kids were more interested in taking it down and tying it up to make their own special creations.

We only had a few pieces, but they added a lovely touch of color to the yard. Thankfully, Los Angeles has an entire fabric district, so needless to say, I will be heading there soon to pick up some more splashes of colorful fabric!

I loved the whimsy of the fabric, so we carried the fabric theme a bit further and added muslin triangles to the easel. We set out cups of liquid water colors with the fabric for the children to paint. The effect was color flags that we hung along the canopy of our sandbox!

We started with water color palets, but discovered that Liquid Watercolors were much brighter.

One of the other favorite activities this past week was Pumpkin Hammering. We offered small hammers and golf tees and the children pounded the tees into the pumpkins. They had such fun! Unfortunately, we are nearly out of pumpkins, so we will be pounding styrofoam next week in lieu of pumpkins!

                  

On the patio, I have been introducing the children to famous artists and their art forms. Believe it or not, it all started with an art-based fundraiser we were doing (Original Works)! 

The pre-k teacher decided to make "splatter paintings" similar to the work of Jackson Pollock. Doesn't this just look like a blast??? To be honest, I made one myself and it was FUN!

The children enjoyed studying the artist so much that I decided to introduce a few more artists. We started with Piet Mondrian's "straight line design" concept. 

Using black electrical tape that I picked up at the dollar store, the children taped various shapes and colored in the blocks. They came to this table EVERY DAY to work! 

This week, we added the works of Joseph Stella, an artist who also worked with lines and designs. 

If you have any ideas, comments, added insights or thoughts about the ideas you see here, please feel free to add them to the comment box! We spend a lot of time planning for our Outdoor Classroom and I love to have new and fresh ideas to implement in our yard!

Thanks for reading!

The case for RAMPS and PATHWAYS - Link to EXCELLENT YouTube Video

This is a fantastic series of videos outlining the benefits of using ramps and pathways in the classroom (or in the OUTDOOR CLASSROOM!). The videos are based on the book, Ramps and Pathways: A Constructivist Approach to Physics with Young Children, available from NAEYC. Funny enough, we just bought the book at our center, but these videos represent much of the same content.

The teachers on the videos use cove moulding for their ramps, but gutters, pvc pipes, swimming noodles (cut in half or whole), clear hoses, and even blocks work for the same purpose.

Enjoy!!

Part 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPvdHvYayx8

Part 2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=GB_vQUoeT74

Part 3

http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=6Y5NBMh_HgE

Part 4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7DhqMxlB7I&feature=related

NEEDED: Nature Inspired Ideas!

Do you have any wonderful nature-inspired ideas to share? Our Outdoor Classroom is always filled with so many fabulous activities. We have dramatic play, music, art, blocks, sensory bins, fine motor, sand, writing, bikes and more. But it always seems that "nature" itself gets overlooked. We garden, we play in the sand, and we've added the token box of "Nature Exploration" items (pinecones, tree cookies, etc) to the sandbox. But I want to add MORE! Any ideas? I would love to hear your thoughts.

Also, I was told by my director that we have a bundle of 8 foot willow branches for use in the Outdoor Classroom. I would love to use them, but I am stumped as to how. If you have any photos or ideas for adding willow branches to the environment, please help. THANKS!!

You can post your ideas in the comments or post to the Linky below.

Exploring Nature With Children

More Fun With PVC

We have been playing with PVC pipes and connectors in our Outdoor Classroom for the past while. I put various sizes of pipes and connectors into a small dry paddling pool (set on top of a table) and let the children explore force and motion with marbles, ping pong balls and golf balls.

We rolled, launched, and even painted with the creations. After visiting Teacher Tom's site and seeing the exciting things he was doing with pendulums, I had fully intended to follow suit this week and use my PVC to create a pendulum sand swing. I dyed some sand blue, added blue glitter, then dumped it into the dry pool. I rigged a PVC structure to make a pendulum with a funnel at the bottom. The intention was to scoop the sand into the funnel, give it a swing, and then the sand would make circular designs caused the circular swinging motion (see Tom's pendulum paintings). It was going to be really cool! Well, the children came outside and saw my contraption. A lot of oohs and ahhhs, and then all at once asked (I'm not kidding...every single child), "Sooooo....how do we put the marbles in? Where do the marbles go?" "Marbles?" I ask. "Oh. No, no, no, no...this is a pendulum. We will swing sand with it and make neat designs." I was gazed upon with disappointment. LOTS of disappointment. They did give the contraption a quick swirl. But then, "So we don't get to use the marbles?" And at that, my sparkly swinging sand was a complete bust. Needless to say, out went the pendulum  and in went the pipes, connectors and marbles!

We kept the sand and the funnels since this added extra interest - they could pour the sand through the connected tubes to see where it would come out! They were thrilled and played happily for the remaining portion of the hour.

The pendulum was moved to the "construction" area.

I removed the funnel and added a ziplock filled with sand. This became a "wrecking ball" for the block structures. 

The set of children who were playing in that area were quite amazed by the pendulum and it was a roaring success.

Ah, the joy of the "emergent" curriculum!

Today, I removed the sand and added over 30 feet of 3", 6" and 12" cut PVC with connectors. The added pipes allowed the children to build more complex structures.

This boy was extremely focused and creative with the PVC. He made a "4",

he made an "h"

and next it was a horse!

We sat together and concentrated his efforts further. He began to assemble the pipes vertically and soon it became this upright "goal post." Several children came to join the fun as we tossed bean bags through his goal post.

This boy was intent on putting marbles through the tubes. He would listen for the sound of the rolling marbles and would find the hole through which the marble would fall.