SAND AND WATER TABLES

This is a blog for early childhood teachers looking for ways to expand and enrich play and learning in and around their sand and water tables with easy-to-make, low-cost apparatus. It may also be of interest for anyone who appreciates children's messy play.

Saturday, October 29, 2016

Guest post

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I recently did a workshop for a nature preschool here in Minnesota. I usually do get some immediate feedback after a workshop, but...

Saturday, October 22, 2016

Water fountain

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Over 20 years ago, I built a water fountain for my sensory table. I built it right after I redid the plumbing in my house. When I turned t...

Saturday, October 15, 2016

More pool noodles

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I started to write about using pool noodles two weeks ago. I had bought some noodles over a year ago but could not figure out a use for t...

Saturday, October 8, 2016

Inspired

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I did not think I would get around to doing a post this week because I did an all-day workshop yesterday in Belton, Missouri. Belton is sev...

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Saturday, October 1, 2016

Pool noodles

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People often ask me how often do I change the apparatus in the sensory table. My answer is that I change it every week. Sometimes it is a ...

Saturday, September 24, 2016

PVC pipes and flex tubing

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Two weeks ago I wrote about an apparatus I called the rocking chair waterfall. I called it a rocking chair waterfall because it was made ...

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Saturday, September 17, 2016

Where do my ideas come from?

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This is not a post about how I come up with ideas for building apparatus. Rather, this is a post about the process of writing this blog and...

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About Me

Tom Bedard: Early childhood education has been my life for over 40 years. I have taught all age groups from infants to 5-year-olds. I was a director for five years in the 1980s, but I returned to the classroom 22 years ago. My passion is watching the ways children explore and discover their world. In the classroom, everything starts with the reciprocal relationships between adults and children and between the children themselves. With that in mind, I plan and set up activities. But that is just the beginning. What actually happens is a flow that includes my efforts to invite, respond and support children's interface with those activities and with others in the room. Oh yeh, and along the way, the children change the activities to suit their own inventiveness and creativity. Now the processes become reciprocal with the children doing the inviting, responding and supporting. Young children are the best learners and teachers. I am truly fortunate to be a part of their journey.

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