Children’s experience with Halloween on Friday inspired Melody to continue their learning by bringing in spiders. She added them to bins of water along with silicone boats. Isaiah was quick to grab the spiders, examining one up close. Soon, he was making big splashes. Melody wondered if he repeated this because he noticed the boats were moving in the “storm” he had created.
Micah was unsure about participating, so Melody gave him a spider and a boat “on dry land” so he could feel their textures. Next, Melody added some blue paint to make the water look like the ocean.
Where did all the spiders go? Isaiah held out his hand and Melody touched it. Then he went back to playing, repeating this action over and over. Melody wondered if he was trying to make her hand wet or show her how the water felt. He also held up the boats, and Melody labeled the colours to encourage vocabulary development. Isaiah flipped a spider upside down, and Melody was surprised to learn with him that it floated (as they all sank when turned the other way).
After some time, Micah felt comfortable enough to touch the water with his fingers. Then it was Aiden and Zoey’s turn. Zoey went to the boats and poured water out of them. She examined a spider closely as well. Aiden showed the spiders he found to Denise, who sang The Eency Weency Spider while the children danced. Aiden collected the spiders by transferring them into the smaller bucket, and he enjoyed splashing in the water so much!
Aiden took the boats out of the bucket one at a time and tossed them onto the floor. Melody and Denise wondered why he chose to do this instead of collecting more spiders. Then they realized he was problem solving—he figured out that removing the boats would keep them out of the way and make it easier to find the spiders.
When all the boats were out of the bucket, Denise wondered why Zoey hadn’t gone to get a spider or boat for the water. Zoey lifted her legs up one at a time, and Denise wondered if she was trying to get into the bucket. Melody wondered if Zoey had noticed her reflection in the water, as she could see Zoey’s reflection on the other side of the bucket. Zoey put her hand in the water again and again. Was she touching her tummy’s reflection?
Aiden liked to hold lots of spiders in his hand at once. A little while later, he found a cup in the kitchen area and brought it over to the bucket. He took a scoop and dumped it on his head, smiling. He poured more water over his head and noticed it went into the pocket of his art smock. What a creative game! Then he collected spiders in the cup to transfer them around the area and spent time pouring water from a cup into a measuring cup—back and forth the water went.
We had a splashing good time!
