Today I want to share some inspiring invitations and provocations with loose parts that demonstrate the academic value of loose parts.
How many items can you make together with two cups of legos, one cup of legos, and a half of a cup of legos?Photo Credit: PinImg.com What You'll Need:1. Three different sized cups2. Legos3. Measuring cupsWhat You'll Do: 1. Measure two, one, and 1/2 cup of legos2. Add the legos to the different sized cups (2 cups of legos in the biggest, 1 cup in the middle-sized cup, and 1/2 cup of legos in the smallest cup). 3. See what you can your family can build!Have fun and have a great weekend, Mah
Jean Piaget was a Swiss psychologist in the early 1900s. Read about how his theories of cognitive development reinforce the idea that children can learn through play in your educational setting.
Keep a little open minded about pre-tests/assessments. Here (4th march 2020) I was finding out what my new little ones knew about line, colour, shapes and patterning. I asked questions, listened,...
Play is important for the mental, physical and psycho-social development of children. Through play, the child has the chance to explore the world, interact with others, connect and bond with parent…
Visit The Learning Station online where you can listen to song samples from our entire collection of award-winning CD’s!
Learning through play is not an added bonus, it is the most important type of learning for young children.
In this activity, children are invited to learn more about gravity, engineering and architecture in a fun and hands-on way. I'm not generally one to take pictures of buildings. Sure, I admire certain made-made structures but I've never felt compelled to take multiple pictures of non-historic buildings. Until I went to Dubai, that is. When I asked my family living in Dubai, "Why should families visit Dubai?" and one of the answers on the list was, "Architecture (Dubai has a mix of both Arabic and modern contemporary buildings which creates a unique and interesting landscape)," they weren't wrong. Out of the desert pops this quite amazing spectacle. I had never seen buildings like them. They appeared to rise out of the ground, often so tall that they looked like they were on a lean (perhaps some were?). A new shape and design around every corner. Everywhere that we drove I found myself constantly going, "Wow, look at that one!", "Woah! Check that out." and scrambling to take a photo before we drove on. You can see some great views of Dubai from the air in my earlier post. When I got home, my kids thought the buildings looked fabulous. Going through photos together brought up all sorts of questions and discussions. Opportunities for learning. How do they make the buildings stay up? Why don't they fall over? How do they get them so high? How did they make it that shape? The Burj Khalifa. The tallest building in the world. Building challenge for kids. To help us find some of the answers to the questions, I set out a classic and simple construction activity with just two types of materials, toothpicks and mini-marshmallows. We chatted about how being an architect means that you design, plan and oversee the construction of buildings. It is a very important job that requires a lot of study in order to be able to do it properly. Architecture is both an art and a science. It is the job of an architect to use their creativity to design something that looks a certain way and performs certain functions, as well as knowledge of scientific principles and mathematical expertise, to ensure that the structure stays up! Engineers are also very important in the construction of buildings. They use maths and science to come up with solutions to problems that might arise with the construction of a building. They often need to overcome problems with new solutions that have never been done before, to help realise the dreams of the architect and client. They also need to be able to think creatively. These days a great amount of technology is used in the design and construction of buildings. Here, we were getting back to basics and testing out simple structures. Seeing if we could work against gravity (that force that is always pulling things back to earth), and engineer a building that would stay standing without any assistance other than the arrangement of mini-marshmallows and toothpicks. Relishing in the beauty of a structure and in symmetry that often occurs in buildings. Discussing plans. Using photos for inspiration and to lead discussion. "I think you should make this one" Testing ideas. Problem solving. Whilst younger children (my son had recently turned 3 here) might not be capable of building free-standing structures, this is great for their fine-motor skills and for testing and experimenting. Sorting and counting. Playing allows for unplanned learning to occur naturally. Children learn naturally about 3-dimensional shapes and some of their uses whilst building in this way. Engineering some support beams to prevent the structure from falling. Handy Tips: To extend this activity children could be challenged to: First play the architect and draftsman role in the construction of a building by drawing up plans. See how high they can get a single structure to stand unassisted Test their construction against certain natural phenomenon. Can it survive winds (a fan) or an earthquake (shaking the table)? Build a structure entirely of cubes - To simplify this activity, younger children might find using larger, stronger materials easier for their developing fine-motor skills. Try regular sized marshmallows and paddle-pop sticks instead and let them experiment with sticking them together and seeing how gravity works. - Instead of marshmallows to hold the construction together you could use gum-drops or blu-tack. Instead of the toothpicks you could try straws or sticks. Here we tried building with cotton-buds and playdough with similar results. There are plenty of different combinations of materials that you could try. Happy playing, Debs :) Look where else we are. Are you following along? :) New Here? Subscribe to get all activities sent directly to you Enter your email address: Delivered by FeedBurner
Here at Toddler Town, we understand that children are never "just playing." Every time a child plays, they learn something about themselves, the world around them, and how stuff works. See our full philosophy here!
Dramatic play can take place anywhere children are – it really doesn’t take a special area or equipment. Dramatic play involves children who take on a role and relate to other people a…
I am so excited! WE CAN PLAY! At an end of the year quick meeting the K teachers were told we can bring back a little time of play i...
At my school, we use Kath Murdoch’s Inquiry Cycle. Many of our staff are new the PYP and new to inquiry-based teaching and learning, so we find this inquiry cycle provides some structure to t…
Play has always seemed synonymous with children because it’s what they do. When students come to school now, it seems as if the decision-makers want to limit
This FREE, NO PREP resource is ideal for distance and online learning for PreK and Kindergarten. It provides a choice/task board full of ideas for parents to promote play-based learning at home using common household items. Available with both US and AUS spelling variations. This PowerPoint includes: Editable slides for parent information Videos showing how to use the resource A choice board with 9 play-based learning ideas Clickable links and instructions for each slide For more resources click on Follow Me on my stores homepage. THE TOPKNOTCH TEACHER Instagram | Pinterest distance learning | no prep | online learning | powerpoint | play-based learning | choice board | task board | video | kindergarten | prek | early years
What is being learned during sensory play? Why is it so important in childhood? Find out the answer, plus simple sensory play ideas!
In this educator organisation series you can download a free mini organiser to help you create a simple step by step system to meet paperwork and documentation requirements yet still save valuable time!
