As part of our transdisciplinary unit, How We Express Ourselves, we have been inquiring into ways we can communicate our ideas and feelings through play. The children have been building their understanding, through many exciting experiences and interactions with each…
When a child in our class (EY2HH) drew a picture of dinosaurs alongside some fossils, it sparked a new inquiry for us. As he showed his friends his drawing, some were curious about fossils and there was much interest in finding out more about them. We…
Supporting Our Personal Inquiries and Wonderings — Cracks in the mud inquiry In the Primary Years Programme, we believe that optimal learning takes place when it is genuinely connected to the world around an individual student. Acquisition of both knowledge and skills…
Water play is a daily learning experience available to our EY1 students. It fosters creative learning in all areas of their development and, because it is such an open-ended activity, it provides opportunities for extended learning. Providing a variety of materials with the water encourages the children to try out new ideas and find solutions to problems.
We posed a challenge for the children, which was to transfer the coloured water from the water tray in the upstairs classroom to a large bucket located down on the stairs. As the children began to manipulate the water play materials, they quickly started to problem-solve and work out how best to transfer the water. The children were incredibly creative with their ideas about how to move the water. They communicated well and worked together to achieve their goal. Their encouragement of each other was truly inspirational! The children were experimenting with mathematical concepts throughout this learning experience and were using mathematical language such as more, less, empty, full etc. New vocabulary was also quickly learnt and it was wonderful to hear words such as funnel, syringe and tubing being used so confidently.
It was delightful to see our students further developing their social skills as they played cooperatively, negotiated together and shared space and materials!
