I think this is going to be the last of our outdoor water play activities for a while and it has been freezing here this week.
This activity is from a couple of weeks ago when the weather was still quite mild.
Following on from our last water activity, I set up this for the children. They had guttering to move the water along,
Containers of water, one I dyed with food colouring so the children could not see the bottom.
I added the fishing nets again as these were popular last time,
they had red water in the actual water table and an assortment of containers,
and finally different resources to add to the water, some that would float and some that would sink.
First off interest focused around the water table,
then the children experimented with moving the water, pouring it along the guttering.
Some used the resources in their own way, here using the guttering as a kind of conveyor belt, pushing the pot to the end…..
….tipping it out….
….and then pushing it back up (all entirely his own ideas:-))
Some chose to by-pass the guttering!
Others explored different ways of moving the water around.
Helping each other out!
The children also experimented with moving some of the other resources along the guttering, they found the shells needed a bit of a helping hand!
Stones they found, sometimes rolled a bit more easily.
They also showed an interest in the tubs of water, plopping stones and shells in…
…and then scooping with the nets to see what they could get back out.
Discovering that leaves float.
Links to EYFS:
PSED: Making Relationships
C&L: Speaking
PD: Moving and Handling
UW: The World
Characteristics of effective learning:
Playing and Exploring: The children were curious and showed an interest in exploring the resources. They used their senses to explore the tray, taking the activity in their chosen direction, some using the guttering to transport the water and some experimenting with objects that floated and sunk.
Active Learning: All the children became very involved in their play, staying at the activity for well over 20 minutes. Some showed a sense of achievement transporting the water from one tray to another and then going on to repeat the process again and again.
Creating and Thinking Critically: Some of the children found their own way to move the water along the guttering and move the water between trays.
