Exploring concepts with the Sea Otter class: LEARNING THROUGH PLAY

Just what does it mean to "learn through play?"

We can assume that every 2-3 year old knows about cars, right? They ride around in them enough. But have these children had an opportunity to really look at the different parts of the car: the exhaust, how the lights work, where the gas goes, how you put air in the tires, or how the soapy water gets on the windshield? After a real experience like this, the children have opportunities to play the concept of cars. Don't forget to buckle your seatbelt! Red light, stop! Wait, you're driving too fast!

Of course, other kinds of exploration can happen spontaneously.

How can I build a sand castle? Just how hard do I have to pack the sand to get it to hold together when I turn it out? How gentle or hard can I push when I add a flag to the top of my castle? How can I get my excited friends not to knock down my castles?

Oh, look! Rain water! Let's scoop it up... wait a minute, what's happening? This bucket has holes in the bottom! Now, how can I get this water over there and into that bowl?

Look! I can push the grocery cart. Wait... you want a ride? OK! Ugh! These pinecones are hard for my wheels to go over. Watch out! The cart is tippy! Use your feet to help me!

We smelled the colors red, blue and yellow, and we tasted them. We found things that were these colors, and we scooped them out of the water. We made an amazing piece of art by layering the colors, and glueing on different colored things like feathers, and paper shapes, and lots of glitter.

Look what happens when I wash my brush out in the clear water- it changes! And look, when my paper is wet, my colors mix together on my paper!

This little gut made a shape snake. It has diamond eyes and nose. You can't see it, but it has a little hole for a mouth. It also has a little hole at one end where the poop comes out. This shows how this little boy is thinking about what a body needs, and he is showing his knowledge in his creation of the snake.