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, February 25, 2017

Knob water ramp

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One of the earliest apparatus I built was knob water ramp. It was made with scrap wood from my basement. The knobs were short dowel piece...

Saturday, February 18, 2017

Large wooden tray, a win-win

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A few weeks ago, I wrote about the evolution of a wooden tray that created a second level of play for the children at the sensory table. ...

Saturday, February 11, 2017

Other box towers, other possibilities

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Last week I wrote about a certain type of box tower and the possibility of unique types of play as the children explored the apparatus. Le...

Saturday, February 4, 2017

Box tower potentialities

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Any person who has ever seen children playing with boxes knows that boxes provide endless play potential for children. In fact, it is one o...

Saturday, January 28, 2017

Evolution of the wooden tray

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One of the very first apparatus I built was a wooden bridge that spanned the width between two toddler water tables. ...

Sunday, January 22, 2017

Transporters

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Below is a generic five-gallon bucket that can be found in any hardware store. It is set up next to the water table all the time no matt...

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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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