SWAMP II

Every year I like to set up a "Swamp" in the sensory table.  The swamp from last year is here.  It featured a tray with the leaves, sticks, stones, and water.  This year instead of a tray, I opted to use larger branches and a stump because I wanted natural elements to provide the additional level of play that the tray offered last year.

I also added plenty of bugs, frogs and snakes.

Near the sensory table, I set up two other small tables with items to be used in the swamp.  One table had more bugs, rocks, and sticks for the children to expand and add variety to the swamp. The other table had pots, pans, bowls, spoons, and tongs in case there was an interest in making a swamp brew.

I did keep this apparatus up for two weeks.  For the second week, though, I expanded the swamp to include another small sensory table, a large log that formed a bridge between the two tables, and more, longer sticks.

What do children do when presented with such a set up?  With a little provocation and a little encouragement, one child decided to make a little house for a bug.  He gathered extra sticks to make a roof over a bug and then added wet leaves and grass from the swamp to make a covering for the roof.

Can you see the bug's legs under the covering?

One group decided to collect the bugs in the pail next to the table.  That sounds simple enough, but watch as one of the boys picks up a lady bug with his tongs.



At first he is able to pick it up, but another boy wants to get the lady bug, too, without realizing the first boy has it in his tongs.  The second boy accidentally knocks it off the first boy's tongs.  That does not deter the first boy and he grabs the lady bug again.  At this point the second boy realizes that the first boy has the lady bug, so he defers to him and begins he search anew for another bug.  As the first boy transfers the lady bug, he almost looses it but makes a last second adjustment so he can drop it in the bucket.  The enthusiasm is palpable.  It may as well be boys collecting real bugs in a real swamp.

One of the children decided to make "swamp salad."  Watch as she works with the tongs.



At the beginning of the clip, she dropped the leaves as she was transferring them from the table to the pot.  That does not seem to bother her one bit; it is part of learning how to use tongs.  It is similar to trying to balance the gourds in the pot while trying to make your next move.  In both cases, the learning happens by trial-and-error.    The children take it for granted and do not get upset.  We can learn a lot from watching children play.

Here is a provocation I set up for one of the classes.

Where did this provocation lead?  Take a look.



It led to "building bridges".

Where did the "building bridges" lead?  It led to a falling bug game, a game these two created on their own.  Watch to see how it is played.  (If the video looks a bit staged, I came in when the game was well underway so I asked them to explain it to me.)



When you engage all the senses, creativity flourishes like bugs in a swamp.  Sorry, I could not resist.