5 Ways With… Water
5 ways with... is a series that gives you a whole week of ideas with one resource! This time we're focusing on water.
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If your wee one...
- Loves prams, wheelbarrows or dumper trucks
- Fills bags or boxes with objects and insists on carrying them around
- Always wants to pick up fistfuls of stones, food or whatever they can grab, and doesn’t want to let them go
They’re not being “naughty” – they’re exploring the transporting schema
Schemas are patterns of repeated behaviours which children engage in. They are a crucial part of development and learning. Here are some ideas can help channel their interest.
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1. Mini Worlds
Next time you’re out for a walk, let your wee one pack a bag of small toys, and stop along the way to find new places for the toys to explore. Even grass becomes a jungle when you’re tiny! Or encourage them to gather natural objects to explore once you’re home again.
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2. Water
Play around with how to transport water around in different containers: bowls, cups, sieves. Take it outside to explore what patterns the splashing water makes on different surfaces, or ask your wee one to carry water to different plants, or to “clean” different bits of the ground.
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3. Delivering
Once wee ones are on the move, they often really enjoy taking objects from one side of the room to the other, or handing them to someone else. Use your imaginations – they could be delivering letters, giving out presents or even finding and sharing treasure!
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4. Confetti Walks
Give your wee one a bag of biodegradable confetti or bird seed to scatter along their way when out for a walk or in the garden. Or gather small seeds, petals, bits of grass and other small natural objects as you walk along to create your own nature confetti.
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5. Stories
Take a story for a wander by bringing some props in a bag with you. Let your wee one carry the bag and pull out each item as it pops up in the story – this is great for wee ones who don’t like to sit still!
More ideas that explore the transporting schema...
Active Storytelling
Wee ones don't always sit still with a book but we can still share stories! Choose a story you know well, gather objects in a bag or box (like teddies and bowls for Goldilocks). Reveal the objects one by one as you 'act out' the story.
Creative Skills Podcast :
Mini Worlds
With a little imagination, cracks in pavements, plants or rocks become their own miniature worlds. Slow down, find an interesting spot, then ask some "I wonder..." questions: I wonder who could live there? I wonder what they need?
Love Letters
If your small person is missing someone: Granny, Grandpa, friends or their nursery, grab a bit of paper and declare "I'M going to write to them a love letter to say how much we miss them!"
Creative Skills Podcast :
How to Build a Tin Can Drum
The point of a tin can drum is to reuse old recycling to make an instrument that has loads of different sounds for wee ones to explore.
