NEW COROLLARY: MODIFYING THE HOLES

In the right-hand column of this blog under Axioms of Sensorimotor Play, axiom #5 talks about holes.  It states that children are compelled to put things in holes.  There is also a corollary to this axiom, namely that the children will find every hole no matter how big or how small.  I would like to add a second corollary to axiom #5, namely that children will modify the holes whenever possible. The Platform and Flexible Gutter Tube apparatus offers a nice example of this corollary.

A child approaches this apparatus by first pouring water into the top hole to see where it goes.

Once a child figures out the water comes out of the bottom hole, he may try to fill containers remotely. As you can see in the photo above, the child has figured out how to fill containers at the end of the tube in the smaller water table.  Remote filling, how is that for a concept?

If a friend is nearby, he can even fill her container remotely.

I guess with remote filling you get remote cooperation.

Up to this point, the children have only utilized the existing holes.  So what are some of the ways they modify holes?

One of the ways is to augment the holes.  That can be done by putting a tube in the hole and then pouring down the tube (on the left).  Or that can be done by putting a funnel in the hole and then pouring down the funnel (on the right).  In either case, they have changed the original hole.

Remember what the corollary says about holes in an apparatus?  Children will find all of them. Well not only will they find all the holes, but they will modify all the holes, too.  We saw how they modified the holes at the top, now let's look at how they modify the holes at the bottom.  Since the tubes are flexible, the children  easily modify the holes by changing the positions of the holes. For example, they may lift up the end.

By lifting the bottom hole up, water starts to collect in the tube.  The result is that the weight of the water makes the tube bow in the middle where the tube is not supported. With hole up, suds and water accumulate until soap suds start coming out of both ends.  The reverse operation, namely pushing the hole back down after the water fills the tube, has a dramatic effect.  Watch the video below to see exactly what I mean.

We did it, dude! from Thomas Bedard on Vimeo.

There are a couple of things to note in the video.  The children have modified the holes on both ends of the tube. You can see the effect with the suds welling up out of the top hole under the funnel. Also, as the water starts to come out of the bottom hole, one of the children quickly changes the position of the hole so the water comes rushing out.  As he pushes the end of the tube down, he yells: "Yeah---overflow!"  He also states: "I knew we could do it, dude."

The children also modify these bottom holes in other ways.  If they can find the right container, they can completely block the bottom hole.

And believe me, they search for the right container to plug the hole.  In this case it was a plastic measuring cup.  You know what plugging the hole leads to?  

Bam-ba-bam from Thomas Bedard on Vimeo.

The children filled the tube so full that there was enough water pressure to pop the plug.  The children so eloquently characterize the effect: "Bam---bam-ba-bam!"  Were they representing verbally the force of the water pushing the measuring cup out the end?  And did you see the child thrust his fist into the top hole?  Was he representing physically the force pushing the cup out the end?

One of the more unique ways to alter the bottom hole is to change the aperture of the hole.  How does a child do that?  He does that by placing a funnel over the end of the tube.

By placing the funnel over the end of the tube, this child changes the size of the hole and subsequently, how the water flows out of the tube..  How ingenious is that?

Are the axioms and corollaries simply a reflection of children's agency around the sensory table? I am not sure, but when I listen to their pronouncements such as "I knew we could do it, dude," and "Bam---bam-ba-bam," I can feel the agency in their words.

Let's Do That Again

Last year, I built a platform out of PVC pipe and a black plastic sheet.  I drilled holes in the sheet and then attached it to the PVC frame.  I used it as an Oobleck Platform.

This year, I re-purposed the platform.  After placing it in the table and making sure it was secure by taping it to PVC pipes that span the width of the table, I taped flexible gutter extender tubes to the frame and the table. (Gutter extenders are used at the ends of gutters to carry water further away from a building.  They are flexible and expand. I will just call them gutter tubes or tubes for the duration of this post.)

I offer you a short video of one child as he first approaches this apparatus.  As he walks around, he turns to me to ask where does the water go and where does it comes out.  As you watch the video, you will see that he actually knows and knows how to figure it out.

Checking it out from Thomas Bedard on Vimeo.

Couldn't you just see the wheels turning in his head?  As he examined the apparatus, you could see and hear him form theories---with his eyes, his hands and his whole body.

The combination of platform and gutter tubes really makes for an interesting contraption that the children know how to exploit to the fullest.

One of the features of the platform is that it creates a comfortable space above the table on which the children can work much like how we as adults work on a kitchen counter or workbench.

It ends up to be a great space to fill and hold containers.   That can be important especially if you want or need to fill multiple containers.

Another nice feature of the platform is that when water is poured over the top, it looks, feels and sounds like rain.

Rain from Thomas Bedard on Vimeo.

It is telling that the child reaches under to feel the "rain" as it slows down.

As you can see, water was put in the table; dish soap was added to the water.  The gutter tubes have many pleats.  Not only do they allow the tube to expand, but these pleats also agitate the soapy water flowing through it creating suds, glorious suds.

One of the most common operations the children  do as they pour water into the tube is to constantly check the level of the sudsy water---on both ends.






The fun really begins when they start filling the tube to the max. Since the tube is flexible, the weight of the water naturally distends the tube in the middle so it dips down into the blue table. When the water fills the tube to capacity, suds come out both ends and eventually the water drains out of the lower end of the tube.  Watch the "Wow" moment as this happens.

Let's do that again from Thomas Bedard on Vimeo.

Now that was fun.  And think about what these two children are experiencing in terms of agency and mutual collaboration it what can clearly be seen as a self-directed science experiment. How in the world can you measure that?  Why in the world would you want to?   The best evaluation is the one beautifully given by the child at the end when she says: "Let's do that again."

LESSONS FROM CAINE'S ARCADE

This past week I was asked to do a workshop in Indiana for a program that serves school age children before and after school.   I found presenting to a school age staff an interesting request because I have been working exclusively with children birth to five for over 36 years.  It is true that when older children visit my room, one of the main areas they frequent is the sensory table.

The workshop request came from the executive administrator of the program.  She had heard me talk at the national NAEYC conference a couple of years ago.  She knew my view of children and she knew I like to construct with cardboard and duct tape.  She was looking for a way to get the staff interested in promoting the construction of contraptions by the school age children in their program.  

When my contact made the request, she specifically alluded to Caine's Arcade and thought the staff could possibly try their hands at making arcade games much like Caine did in his father's auto parts store in East Los Angeles.  I saw Caine's Arcade over a year ago, so I knew what she was talking about.  To prepare for the workshop, I revisited the short movie.

Once a person gets over the WOW of what this nine-year-old created, there are a few important lessons from the phenomenon.

One lesson is that no one does this alone.  Sure, Caine built all the arcade games himself, but it would never have become a phenomenon without the filmmaker who played Caine's arcade game. Because he saw the genius of Caine, he wanted to tell what he thought was a compelling story. Though we are not privy to the actual making of the film, credits at the end tell the story of collaboration.  In addition, it only becomes a compelling story if it resonates with others, which it did.  (Can you imagine what would have happened to the arcade and Caine if the filmmaker had not come along?)

Another lesson is the power of a child's imagination.  Caine's first game was created using a small basketball hoop he got at a fast food restaurant.  He taped it to a box and made a paper ball for shooting.  If someone won at one of the arcade games, Caine would go inside the box and push out tickets because that is where tickets come from when a person wins at an arcade game. Caine did not create whiz-bang games that were colorful and had lights.  He was recreating the arcade games with cardboard boxes and tape and the whiz-bang was in his head.  Not only do children build and create like Caine, but the power of their imagination fills in all the unpolished edges of the action to make it something special that adults sometimes have a hard time recognizing.

Yet another lesson is that a compelling story is inspirational.  That is clearly seen in Caine's Arcade Chapter 2  which contains a segment that shows children sending Caine videos of their arcade creations and thanking him for the inspiration.

There may even be one final lesson: there is creativity in all of us.  I saw it last Monday in the workshop.  There were six groups and no two constructions were the same.  One was a spaceship with a stirring wheel that turned.  One was a robot. One was a tree. One was a full blown engineering project to move marbles down tubes. One was an arcade game. And one was a town complete with an underground tube.

I want to thank Dr. Sandra Duncan for inviting me to work with her staff.  If you believe that the classroom environment contributes to children's learning and overall wellbeing, I urge you to check out a book she co-authored called Inspiring Spaces for Young Children.

SURPRISE DOWN THE TUBE

For the past couple of weeks, I have written about play around a particular apparatus at the sensory table called Computer Box with Cardboard Tubes.  The first post dealt with how many children can play at the table at one time, in other words, capacity.

The second post talked about how children often create their own physical challenges---even at the sensory table.

For this post, I would like to tell you about a game created by the children when a child who is not part of the regular class enters the room and begins to play with others.

It begins with the child a little apprehensive about coming into the classroom because he does not know the children.  On the other hand, he is excited to spend the morning because he is familiar with the classroom and the adults in the classroom because he was in one of our classes last year.

What he does first is to go to the sensory table and set himself at the end of the longer of two tubes. He is content to kneel there and catch the pellets tumbling down the tube.  A plastic car is sent down the tube.  He is surprised and delighted at the same time.  Another child picks up on the surprise and delight and continues the game by gathering cars and sending them down the tube.

Surprise down the tube from Thomas Bedard on Vimeo.

These two are now engaged in a game that can be called "Surprise Down the Tube."  It happens spontaneously.  It would not have happened without the apparatus.  More importantly, it would not have happened without the visiting child and his reaction of surprise and delight to a car landing in his cup instead of pellets.  And it would not have happened without the child in the red shoes reading the visiting child's cues of joy.  And it would not have happened without the child in the red shoes wanting to partake of that joy and to create more.

The beauty of the game is that it is attractive to others and easy for them to join in the fun.

This is a simple game: pellets down the tube with a car or two interspersed.  Though it is simple, it is also very complex because the variables are numerous.  For instance: What can cause one child to react to a surprise in such a way as to draw others into the action?  Is it his tone of voice; is it the genuine expression of delight?  How is a child able to pick up on another child's cues so the game continues and evolves to the point where others are partaking in the original surprise and joy?  At many points, the game could have ended, but it continued and expanded to include others.

Though it is such a great game, it can never be duplicated, nor can you buy it in the store or from a catalogue. This game is unique to the physical and human context of this particular day.  From this perspective, there is no limit to how many games can and will be created.  Let the games begin--- and begin again and again each and every day.

ADDITIONS TO COMPUTER BOX WITH CARDBOARD TUBES

I must apologize for the title of this post.  It is too wordy and not catchy and gives you absolutely no information as to where this post will go.  I am sorry. There I said it.   

Practitioners often ask me how often do I change the apparatus at the sensory table.  My answer is: every week.  Sometimes I will change the whole apparatus; sometimes I will use the same apparatus but change the medium; and sometimes I will add onto the apparatus that was in the table the previous week.  That is the case with the most recent apparatus.  Last week I wrote about Computer Box with Cardboard Tubes.  

I kept the same apparatus but added a long cardboard tube embedded horizontally through the bottom of the box. This new cardboard tube extended beyond the table on both ends to empty into tubs at each end. In addition, two flexible gutter extenders were embedded through the top of the box. The extenders exited on opposite sides of the box to empty into notches cut in the horizontal cardboard tube.

Here is another view that shows just one of the gutter tubes emptying into the horizontal cardboard tube.

The new gutter extenders added a bit of intrigue because the children want to see where the pellets go.  

One child went so far as to drape her body over the long cardboard tube to retrieve what she had dropped down the gutter extender tube.

And when I say drape, I mean drape.

Did I just hear a gasp?  Traveling and presenting through the UK in June, I did hear an audible gasp when I showed a picture of a child standing on the lip of the table.  I was made aware that they are required to do risk assessments for national health and safety regulations.  As I talked more with the practitioners, they made me realize that a risk assessment could be done on something like this apparatus for this particular action.  It would go something like this:  Is the structure strong enough to hold this child?  Yes.  Does the child have the physical acumen to pull this off? Yes.  Is the child being supervised to ensure her safety?  Yes.   

This is an extremely physical child who needs to and will create her own physical challenges.  If the curriculum truly allows for individualization, then there needs to be an opportunity for this child to explore this apparatus in her own way: physically.   

Sometimes there is a fine line between what a child can do and what she is allowed to do.   In this particular case, I was was making a moment-by-moment decision about this child's need to explore the apparatus physically and the necessity to keep her safe.  I am a professional and they pay me to make that decision. The final decision is clearly visible in the picture.