With the start of the new year, we have welcomed many new preschoolers into our classroom! We have enjoyed getting to know all of the children, and many new friendships have begun to form. As educators, we have been excited and curious about what the new and returning children may be interested in learning about during their time in Preschool 2. We have been intentional about setting up our classroom, from the arrangement of the furniture to the materials that we put out.
Over the first few weeks with our large group, we have noticed that the children have been consistently interested in learning with the flashlights and light up sensory bottles. They often incorporate these light items into their play, and are always impressing us with the new and creative ways that they utilize them. We have observed them spending time exploring with the light, reflections, and shadows that the flashlights create on the floor, walls, ceiling, and various items around the room. Some children use the flashlights to reveal and identify each other through photos on the wall. “That’s Naya!” shouted Violet with excitement as she shined the light on Naya’s photo. James placed one of the flashlights in a rolled up piece of paper, noticing the light shine through the opening “It’s a blue headlight!” He said with joy. We have also observed the children using the light up sensory bottles in many unique ways, such as stacking them, organizing them, shaking them, and using them as lights in their dramatic play. The changing rainbow colours of the sensory bottles keep the children engaged as they explore the properties of the light and colours.
One afternoon, we noticed a small group of children sitting under one of the classroom tables with their flashlights and sensory bottles. “We are camping under here! This is our tent!” Benny explained as he and his friends incorporated their light items into their pretend play. “It’s getting dark out here” explained Natalia. “Let’s get some food” suggested James. The group wandered around the room with their flashlights in search of some food for their camping trip. They gathered lots of pretend food from the kitchen and set it up with bowls and plates. They continued to discuss their observations of the light as they played. “See the shadow of the light?” Benny asked his friends. The next day, the children repeated their camping game with the flashlights, this time creating a campfire for their scene. They used large building blocks, rocks, and sticks to create their fire, and lit up their building area using their flashlights. They welcomed many new children into their play who took an interest in their game.
Children often learn about the world around them through their senses, and the light items in our classroom have allowed the preschoolers to investigate the properties of light first hand with their eyes. In addition, we have been able to capture and document many learning opportunities through the children’s light play as they build upon skills such as collaborative inquiry, teamwork, problem solving, creativity, imagination, language, and social skills. Many meaningful conversations, questions, and discoveries have occurred, and we look forward to expanding upon this emerging interest with the children in the coming weeks!
