I put out materials regularly with ideas of what I think will happen. Or what I think would stimulate thinking or exploring.
One day we put out the small cube blocks with our regular blocks. I added a couple of bowls to go with the activity.
One of our girls went over to the center and placed one cube in each bowl. She centered the cube in the bowl. Then she went away - off to explore elsewhere.
Later she came back to the center. (The other children were occupied elsewhere and left the blocks center alone.)
She poured all of the cubes into one of the bowls. The lone cube in the other bowl joined the rest.
Then she poured the cubes into the other bowl. She poured back and forth a couple of times.
Then she was off again to explore elsewhere.
No one else used the blocks. No one built anything. No one used the regular blocks.
But one girl explored what she needed to explore. Pouring not building. (The sound of the cubes falling into the bowl was pretty cool, too.)
That's what I enjoy about teaching young children. Their ideas are always evolving. They often surprise me about how they use materials.
They teach me what I need to know about learning.
