Big incline box: inhabiting the space

In 2011 I wrote a post on big box inclines.  I revisited that post recently with an eye on how the children inhabited the space created by the apparatus.  The apparatus is pictured below.  I took a long, narrow box and set it on an incline.  I cut multiple holes in the box: one on the top end, one on top, and two on each side of the box.  The corn poured into any of the holes in the box exited through a slit on the bottom.

To set the box on an incline, I taped a planter tray across the width of the table.  I taped the red crate to the planter tray and the box to the crate.  To make sure it was stable, I taped the box just behind the slit to the lip of the table (see picture above).

One of the ways the children inhabited this space was to make full use of the apparatus itself.  In the clip below, an adult held a white pot to catch the corn the children sent down the big box incline through the various holes.  The children used different holes and used different containers to pour the corn into the box.  Once the adult had filled his white pot, he moved to the top of the box incline to slowly pour the corn down the box through the top hole.  This in turn caught the attention of one of the children who stopped scooping corn to watch the corn drop out of the end of the box into the tub next to the sensory table.


I'm full from Thomas Bedard on Vimeo.

The children were certainly into filling their containers and pouring the corn down the box.  Was it simply to fill the adult's container?  Was it because of the sound the corn made traveling down through the box?  Was it a combination of the two?  Why did the steady flow of corn down the box capture the one child's attention essentially stopping him from pouring so he could observe the flow of corn?

Another way the children inhabited the space was to explore the spaces created by the apparatus.  On the left, the child used the end of the table not covered by the apparatus for her operation.   On the right, the child explored the space underneath the apparatus.



The tub next to the sensory table was also a space that was integral to apparatus because it was the catchment for all the corn exiting the box.  As one child inhabited this space, he found a small hole in the handle of the tub.  That became a salient feature for the child as he forced kernels of corn through the small hole.

Besides the sensory table with the big box incline setup, there was also an auxiliary space, a table that was a place for the extra containers.  In the video below, one child has taken over that space for his operations.  He has arranged all the containers he wants to fill on that table.  He methodically began to fill each container with corn from the sensory table.



The multiplicity of ways the children inhabited the space was incredible.  Does that multiplicity nurture different internal modes of representation that are foundational for children's thinking and creativity?