CAPACITY:COMPUTER BOX WITH CARDBOARD TUBES

Let's talk a little bit about the capacity for the sensory table.  By capacity, I mean the number of children who can fit around the table and still be fully engaged.  Here is a hint: I don't know the answer.  But to get an idea, let's look at a new apparatus that was recently set up at the sensory table.

Someone in the office at school said: "I have a box for you." It was a computer box, the base of which was wider than the top so from the side it look like a triangle with the top cut off. And it was sturdy.  (If people know you build things, they develop an appreciation for materials such as cardboard boxes that are sturdy and have unusual shapes and, more importantly, they save them for you.  How great is that?)  In addition, the box was just as wide as my table so I could place it on the lip of the table resting above the table itself.

Because the computer box rested above the table, I combined it with the apparatus that was in the table the week before: Table Covering with Holes.  Two cardboard tubes were embedded through the box on opposing inclines. The shorter tube emptied back into the table through one of the holes.  This tube had a notch on the pouring/high end.  The longer tube emptied into the tub next to the table.  Besides having a notch cut out on each end, there were two sections cut out and one hole so the children could watch as the pellets race down this tube.

That is the apparatus.  It has holes, inclines, levels and many avenues for transporting the pellets. For children, it is inviting and fosters a wide range of exploration and play.

For an apparatus to have capacity, there also has to be a provision of loose parts.  Here is a picture of the loose parts that were offered on the shelf next to the table.  I call these Hodgepodge and Doohickies.

Now with the combination of the apparatus and the loose parts, we can get an idea of this setup's capacity.  Look at the picture below and count the number of children around the table.

There are nine children around the table, all totally engaged on multiple levels working on group and individual activities.  There are multiple points from which to gather the pellets and multiple points into which to pour the pellets.

This picture was taken on a day when school-age siblings were off of school, so not only were there more children than usual in the my classroom, but there was a wonderful mix of older and younger.  One of the main areas the older children gravitated to was the sensory table.  This is an instance where capacity was important.

Here is a little video which will give you a real appreciation of capacity.  The main group around the table decided to plug the longer tube and then watch all the pellets rush down the tube and then try to figure out a way to quickly stop the rushing pellets from spilling out.

Plugging the tube - a group effort from Thomas Bedard on Vimeo.

As you can see, it was a little rowdy but devoid of conflict.  By the end of the video, five children were concentrating their actions around the end of the tube where the pellets were exiting.

So how what is the capacity of the the sensory table?  As you saw, it is at least nine children at one time at this particular apparatus.  But I do not think that is the upper limit.  The upper limit will be determined by the children themselves.  The question then becomes, how will the children determine the upper limit?  

TABLE COVERING WITH HOLES/GEMS

Table Covering with Holes is a piece of plywood cut so it fits two inches inside the table. That creates a two-inch barrier to contain the medium. Legs are added to allow it to sit seven inches off the bottom of the table. That creates a space between the bottom of the table and the bottom of the apparatus.

As you can see, holes are cut of various sizes.  It is through these holes the children access what is at the bottom of the table.

Getting at the material through the apparatus adds a level of complexity both in terms of physical and mental operations for the children.  

Those operations subsequently change depending on the medium in the table.  I have written about some of the unique operations at this apparatus with pellets,  Jurassic Sand and water beads.  This past school year, I used the Table Covering with Holes with water and gems.  (They are called mosaic glass gems in craft stores.)

The first thing that impressed me was the degree of industriousness the children exhibited in collecting the gems.  Was it the sparkling gems in the water?  Was it the fine motor challenge of reaching through the holes to get the gems?  Whatever it was, there was certainly a lot of intense focus.

Some children had no preference.  Their main objective was to collect as many gems as they possibly could.

Others were particular about which ones they wanted.  Some wanted the big gems and some wanted gems of a certain color.

Sometimes the collecting looked more like cooking.  The child in the video below uses a cup in each hand to first strain the water from the bigger cup and then to scoop the gems out of the bigger cup.  Watch.

Collecting gems---or cooking? from Thomas Bedard on Vimeo.

Another child combines sorting by color and washing the gems with a strainer.   For me, it looked like when I clean beans before I cook them.

Gems and a strainer from Thomas Bedard on Vimeo.

Where do the children learn these operations?  Do they naturally arise with the given medium and implements or are they recreating operations they see at home?

Two loose parts fostered a couple of new operations I had not seen with this apparatus before. Black packing sponges were the first of these loose parts.  Several of the children used them to "display" their collections.

Has she been to a jewelry shop or does she intuit that some of the gems look nice on the black sponges?

The second one was a clear plastic tube.  A child filled up the tube with the gems and then proceeded to pour water down the tube.  The water flowed in-between the gems creating something like a cylindrical water fountain. 

How cool is that?

We can deduce at least two factors that determine the operations that emerge with this apparatus. One is the medium (pellets, sand, water beads, gems) and the other is the provision of loose parts and implements. 

There is one other factor that determines what operations emerge: what the children themselves bring to the venture.  That is the biggest unknown but the source of the greatest creativity. 

TANGENTIAL

Look on the right-hand column of this blog under axioms.  Axiom #7 states that children will come up with activities and explorations that are tangential to the apparatus in the table.  What does that mean in real terms?

We can get an idea of what this means by looking at the latest apparatus that was in the sensory table: Vertical Tubes in a Box.

Let's say a child wants to fill his container.  If he is using the apparatus, he fills the container through one of the vertical tubes.

This child has placed a funnel on the top of one of the tubes and then placed his container underneath the tube.  He has increased his chances of success by placing a funnel in the bottle right under the tube.  Ingenious, no?

Another child fills this same bottle using the same funnel but does not use the apparatus. Instead, she fills the bottle on the shelf that holds the provisions for the table.  Watch.

Filling the bottle from Thomas Bedard on Vimeo.

To be sure, she is filling the bottle to pour down one of the tubes in the apparatus, but she could also fill the bottle the same way without the apparatus being in the table.  Thus her operation is tangential to the Vertical Tubes in a Box.  Is it important?  It does give us a idea of how this child understands the concept of full.

Look at the picture below.  Here, it is even more clear that the action around the table has very little to do with the apparatus.

This child decided to sit in the five-gallon pail.  Why?  I think part of the reason is because he is using his body to measure his physical world.  This child is finding out what his body can do, and in a way, he is measuring the volume of his body. There was one problem: he could not get out himself.  A friend was near and knew exactly how to help: tip him over---gently.

Neither the child's initial exploration of the pail with his body, not the subsequent actions to help him get out had anything to do with the apparatus in the table.  These actions were tangential to the Vertical Tubes in a Box.  Is it important?  It does give us an idea as to the extent a child will use his body to measure his world and how generous another child can be when help is needed.

Here is one final example.  In the video below, a child finds a certain fascination with doodling in the the sand that has spilled onto the floor next to the sand table.  In the process, she decides to trace her hand.

Floor doodling from Thomas Bedard on Vimeo.

I was astounded when I saw this.  Never in a million years would I have thought that the sand spilled on the floor could be used as a doodling medium.  Again, the actions of the child were tangential to the Vertical Tubes in a Box.  Is it important?  It does leave us with an fleeting image of a child leaving her mark on her world.

What is the significance of tangential?  I think it has to do with the context as a whole in which the children operate.  If we only pay attention to the explorations directly connected with the apparatus, there are important inquiries---some rather captivating---that escape our focus.

VERTICAL TUBES IN A BOX - 2014

The first time I wrote about Vertical Tubes in a Box was in March 2011.  In that post, you can actually see how the original apparatus was built.  It is an apparatus so rich in potential that I bring it back almost every year.  Four other posts with this apparatus can be found here, here, here and here.

The apparatus itself has changed very little over the years.  There are five tubes embedded vertically in a long, narrow box.  And there are two tubes embedded horizontally in the same box.

I mentioned that this simple design is rich in potential.  For instance, children will figure out multiple ways to pour the sand down the tubes.  It is done with bottles and scoops.

The boy on the left is using a syringe to pour sand down a tube. The girl on the right is also using a syringe, but she is also pouring sand into the syringe from a bottle.  She looks like a scientist measuring the material for her experiment.






The children are always provided with a variety of scoops, containers and loose parts to use with their operations.

The beauty of the loose parts is that the children combine them in various ways to create their own tools for pouring.  It can be as simple as inserting a clear plastic tube into the end of a bottle of sand to direct the sand into a tube.

And sometimes the pouring operations take on a complexity all their own that only the children can create.  The child in these photos has a involved process of pouring beginning with filling up his tube/bottle device using a funnel and then emptying the tube/bottle device into another clear tube that has been inserted into one of the vertical tubes in the box.

There is another realm of rich potential for this apparatus and that is in the realm of physical challenges. When there is a vertical dimension to an apparatus, the children are encouraged to go vertical.  There are always at least five little stools next to the table for the children to use if they want to get a perspective from a little different height.  For some children that is not enough. Some children feel compelled to go even higher and they do.

As you can see from the picture, two of the children have climbed onto the lip of the table.  They do that to get a better view of their own operation of pouring sand in the tube.  Is this safe?  The table is robust and the apparatus is firmly secured to the table so it will not topple over.  Is that enough to make it safe for the children to climb onto the table?

Some children can push the physical potential even further.  In the picture below, a girl has draped herself over the apparatus to spoon some sand from tray supporting the apparatus.  Her feet are no longer on the table, so the apparatus is supporting her whole body weight.

Think about what this child is doing.  She is scooping sand from a tray that she could easily completed with her feet on the ground.  Why does she have to make spooning the sand such a physical challenge? And, again, is it safe?

In looking over the documentation for this apparatus for this year, I was surprised at the depth of potential in the physical realm.  Does it show itself because there is something inherent in the verticalness of the apparatus?  Is it because children are allowed to go vertical?  Is it because the children themselves need a way to go vertical?