Will it fit?

     The past couple of weeks we have noticed the children have been interested in how things fit with each other.  We have different sized tubes that the children can fit inside each other and they seem to stay engaged for long periods of time trying to see which sized tubes fit inside the big tubes.

     This has also carried over to other types of materials.  Some of the children have started to take other objects around the classroom, like cups, to see if they will fit inside each other.  We are starting to hear phrases like, "it fits" and "works" and "doesn't work."

 

     It will be neat to see what happens if we introduce other types of materials into the classroom that the children are capable of stacking inside larger items.  We are wondering if they are beginning to distinguish between "big" and "small."

How does water move?

     We noticed an interest with water very early on in the semester.  The children love to scoop, pour, and touch the water.  Mrs. Paris found a two-tiered planter at her house and brought it in for the children to explore.  The top tier has holes at the bottom, so the children can see how the water flows down to the bottom tier.

     There seemed to be a large interest with the children when water was brought to explore with the planter.  The children started to notice the downward motion of the water and even though some were not able to tell us with words what they noticed, they could show us with their actions.  For instance, some of the children began to put cups under the top tier of the planter to catch the water as it fell.  They understood that it was coming out of the bottom, and knew if they placed their cup underneath, they would catch some water.

     This was very interesting to us, so we are thinking of new ways to explore some of the same ideas with the children, building on what they seem to already know.  If you have any suggestions, we would love to hear them!