This month’s focus topic is The Science of Curiosity.
Jean Piaget, a famous developmental psychologist, described children as “little scientists who are constantly creating and testing their own theories of the world.” My job as a parent is to allow my “little scientists” to explore, create, and play as much as possible within the confines of a safe environment. Freedom within limits.
My little scientists were busy this week creating a waterfall.
I supervised, only stepping in before they went down the waterfall themselves to make their structure more secure.
Waterfall Splash
Discuss
What happens when you jump into water?
Ladybug and Owl both agreed, “You get wet.” 🙂
Explore
We spent some time exploring a variety of objects in a tub of water.
The kids dropped those objects into the water from a variety of heights observing the different splashes they were able to create. In addition to creating a splash, the objects also got wet. Ladybug showed me 🙂
Play
The kids worked together to set up a ramp (our slide) that ended at a tub of water (my sensory bin).
They rolled objects down the ramp to see which ones made the biggest splash.
They changed the incline of the slide and used objects of varying size and weight to see how that affected the splash.
They sorted the objects into piles of small or big splashes.
Mother Goose Time Topic Questions on Problem Solving
Every month Mother Goose Time sends out questions to their ambassadors to assess how the curriculum is being used in a variety of areas. This month they are interested in how the the curriculum is working to develop a child’s scientific curiosity. They offer four different sets of questions. Below are the ones I elected to answer based on the above described activity.
How did you see your child using problem-solving skills during a specific MGT activity or activities?
The suggested materials for this activity were a cardboard ramp, tub of water, and objects of different sizes and weights. We didn’t have any cardboard long enough to create a ramp, so the kids decided to use the slide. Ladybug came up with the idea of using PVC pipe to direct the water coming from the hose and secured it to the base of the slide using two large rocks.
They used my sensory bin (any empty, clear plastic storage container) as the tub of water, but when they put the slide onto the bin, the bin overturned. I suggested that they would need to make the bin heavier so that it wouldn’t overturn. Owl found some rocks and added them to the bin.
When did you get involved and when did you step back? Why?
I was amazed watching the kids build this slide and did very little as they created their waterfall.
There were three times I stepped into help.
- Ladybug became frustrated when she couldn’t secure the hose to the bottom of the slide between two rocks and I stepped in to avoid her becoming too upset and abandoning the project she and Owl were enjoying so much.
- I suggested the addition of rocks to the bin to keep it from turning over when they placed the slide on top.
- I centered the slide onto the bin and tested the slide to make sure it was reasonably secure before allowing the kids to try sliding down the waterfall themselves. I wanted to make sure we didn’t have any injuries.
This was a great project! I would challenge you and your kids to head outside and make a waterfall with what you have in your backyard. It was a fabulous adventure. Thanks Mother Goose Time for this fantastic play challenge!
Have Fun!
