We had a smooth start to September this year, even though we had lots of new children start in our program. Within a week, almost all of the children were fully transitioned and ready to dive deep into their play. One thing we noticed is how much the children have loved exploring with water. When they come into the classroom in the morning, the first thing they do is wash their hands. Robbie and Keyen are often observed taking their time scrubbing their hands under the water, sometimes even splashing it around the sink and pooling it into their hands. Noah will sometimes find small containers to bring into the bathroom to fill and dump back into the sink.
Engagement is one of the four foundations for learning in How Does Learning Happen?, and sets an expectation for programs to “provide environments and experiences to engage children in active, creative, and meaningful exploration, play, and inquiry”. We decided to foster their engagement by offering an opportunity to fully indulge in water play, since we hadn’t had the opportunity to do so yet with the new group.
We went outside early one morning, and set up lots of different areas with water and materials such as shovels and bowls. We set up our new sensory bin outdoors and filled it full of water. Mikayl, Ivaan, Rudra and Jacob immediately ran over to feel the cold water splashing onto their hands as the tub filled up. We also filled up the outdoor mud table with water, and flooded the sandbox with the sprinkler to create lots of muddy puddles! Dara spent the entire outdoor time using a shovel to scoop mulch into the mud table to create what we can only guess to be a delicious mud soup! At the water spout, lots of water was leaking out creating another area for muddy exploration. Quinn, Callum, Andrra, and Harper were eager to find the big puddle to jump into. None of the children seemed to mind getting their clothes wet – Isabella, Natalie, and Nicole even sat right in the puddles! Delilah used a scoop to collect water that was spitting out of the hose, then dumped it into a bucket. There were a few children who decided not to participate in the water play experience. Lucy, Ivy and Levi used their problem-solving skills to figure out how to get over the puddles of water without getting their shoes wet. Ivy decided that if she ran fast enough, her shoes would stay dry. Lucy and Levi decided that jumping over the puddle would be the best course of action.
For as long as the weather will allow, we want to continue offering regular outdoor water play experiences for the children whether they are big or small. We believe that even offering small amounts of water for playing with outside would engage the children and encourage their play to go beyond the norm. To continue building on the children’s sense of belonging and engagement, we will create experiences both indoors and outdoors that are stemmed from their interests that are observed in and out of the classroom.
