Inspire Imagination with Curiosity...part 1

Imagination cannot be forced.

Imagination needs to be inspired, motivated, encouraged and supported.  Imagination needs sparks, space, time and boundless freedom!

Inspire imagination with curiosity!

The children were so excited when they arrived one morning to find the following on the floor. 
One child came to me with hands on hips in a "who did it" sort of way and said

"NITA!  Someone put numbers on the floor!!"

Curiosity may be the demise of some cats, but it inspires imaginations in young children!   Curiosity lets the mind run free with wonder and questions.  Curiosity motivates the mind to think of the possibilities.


The following is a scene the children walked into about a month after the previous photo.  They already knew what we would do with those numbers on the floor...but there was still plenty to be curious about!  WHY?!

So then...have I peaked your curiosity?  Are you curious as to what these numbers on the floor are all about?

You'll have to wait for PART 2 to find out!!

Good news!!  Inspire Imagination with Curiosity...part 2 is ready!

Simply, a Squiggle

Who knew....

one simple, 3-4 foot piece of yarn could equal a morning literally loaded with learning? 

Call it a squiggle, throw the mystery word, "imagine" in the mix and WAH LAH!, learning in it's purest form. 

Motivated, fearless learning lead by trial and error, cause and effect, talking, sharing, teamwork, imagination, pride, invention, problem solving and pure, pure fun all sparked from a well-placed, purposeful plop (see definition below)! 

Plop (plop!) n:  a book, song, word or object that has the ability to inspire imagination, play and curiosity.  It acts as a catalyst to spark all sorts of fantastic learning opportunities.  

The only direction I gave when the children each picked up their own squiggle was:
"IMAGINE!  What could your squiggle be?"

A child's imagination is different then that of an adults.  A child's is on standby or ready alert at all times, ready to imagine at a moment's notice.  Adults, on the other hand, sometimes have to wake up their imagination from a deep sleep and give it a chance to freshen up before it is able to deliver.
 
Test your imagination with the following pictures.  See how yours stands up to the imagination of a child!!  You will find the "answer" at the end of the blog.  Keep in mind, this is your imagination...so there are no wrong answers....simply different answers.  See if you can think like a child!

PHOTO A

PHOTO B

PHOTO C

PHOTO D

 As play usually works, one thing led to another.  When Avery discovered she could use her squiggle for fishing, it was as if a brand new world was invented! Suddenly the previously, unspoken boundary of making something on the floor with your squiggle no longer existed.  Suddenly, the squiggle could be something that you could hold in your hand.

Avery used her squiggle to make a pond
for Jack to go fishing in!

Ethan decided he wanted to catch something real...which opened up even
MORE possibilities!

In an instant, Avery's moment of fishing transformed the environment into a room full of tying and pulling.  There was problem solving, trial and error and teamwork going on everywhere you looked.  The squiggle had become a tool, a means to move something. 

Ty is pulling the bucket around the room.  Bergen is making
a fish.

Bergen was the first to pull a chair around....and then, the addition of passengers was genius!!

Two year old Lindsey decides pulling stuff around looks like fun.
So she goes to work wrapping a bucket with her squiggle.

It doesn't take long....

before she realizes her method did not work. 

Failure did not keep her from trying again!

Across the room, Ethan is also learning through trial and error, persistance and problem solving.  I was amazed at his dedication to pulling the pirate ship.  He wanted to succeed so very badly.
Try after try, with each try involving lots of small motor work and eye hand coordination.

Finally, he was successful and the pirate ship set sail across the wide open ocean!

Alayna was VERY proud of her discovery!!

When a child found success, they were quick to share their method with others.  Look at Alaynas method above.  Prior to this discovery, everyone was wrapping buckets with the squiggle in order to pull them around holding onto one piece of the squiggle.  Alayna's idea triggered even more problem solving!

In the photo below, we see Jack.  Jack has never been a follower.  He prefers to play his own way, and that play always ends up with a grand discovery.  Notice the squiggle in the container?  He discovered if he dropped his arm very swiftly, the squiggle would come flying out!  Children are natural scientists.  He repeated the flying squiggle over, and over, and over again.  Each time with the same amount of success.  He also tried fancier moves with his arms to see if it affected the flight pattern of the squiggle.  I was mesmerized watching his process of learning.

If one squiggle is fascinating to watch take flight...imagine two!  Working together, Jack and Molly test drive two squiggles.

So then.  How does your imagination compare with that of a child?

PHOTO A:  A pirate head (wearing a pirate hat)

PHOTO B:  A turtle (created by a 2 yr old I might add)

PHOTO C:  A hood (like the hood of a jacket) :)

PHOTO D:  A balloon

One last thing....there is a book called "The Squiggle" but please, don't read it to your children prior to their squiggle exploration.  See what their amazing minds can create with the squiggle first!!  Maybe even make your own book called "The Squiggle"!!

Also -- if you don't have this book...no worries!!  The book does NOT make the activity!  While it's nice to have a book to go along with an activity, it's not always necessary!  Don't let the fact that you do not have "The Squiggle" keep you from plopping squiggles!

Did you notice all the learning inspired from a piece of yarn?!  A simple piece of white yarn.  See the learning in the simple.  Acknowledge the learning sparked from the simple.  Remember ALL learning counts..... learning in PLAY COUNTS too!!!

The "Read it Again" List

Yesterday, as I was packing for a speaking engagment this weekend, my crew saw me grabbing one of our newer favorite books, Balloons Balloons Balloons by Dee Lillegard.  I found this gem last year at Barnes and Noble in the "bargain books bin" for $5.95.  Just recently I introduced it to the children, and it has become an instant favorite.

As I was packing it, I decided to check on it's availability.  I hate to share books that people can't get any longer, and since I found it in the "bargain" section, chances were pretty good that it might not be in print anymore.

So, to the trusty internet I went.  What did I learn?  It is available.  For an amazingly HEFTY price!!!  Get this...on www.amazon.com , the cost of a new copy ranges from $129.95 - $297.85!!!  Now, if that is out of your budget...perhaps a used copy for $73.95 - $273.37!!  CRAZY!!!

My first thought:  ".....new shoes and a purse!!"
My second thought:   "....no...this is a fantastic book, I should feel honored that I get to share it with young children."
My third thought:  "....but....if it was worth a million dollars, THEN we would only have a top 19 list!"

Anyway, I posted this moment on my "Play Counts" Facebook page and one of the responses was "I'd love to see your list of top 20 books"  And thus.....this blog post was born!

So then...without any further a duex......I present you with the

"Top 20 Read it Agains"

(according to the children at Giggles and Grins Daycare and Playschool)

Each of these selections are uniquely loaded with their own treasures.  Listen to the children in your program.  Books that are favorites at my program may only get a so-so review at yours.  The love of a book has a lot to do with the reader.  It's not only the story, but also how the book  is presented, read, interpreted and what the interests of the audience are.  Read aloud for the enjoyment of a story....yes, there are math skills, literacy skills and social/emotional skills that can be addressed in all of these books... but the main reason we read to children is to instill a love of reading in them.  Allow the children to get lost in the book and let their imaginations run wild!

When children voluntarily recite a story during play...you KNOW it's
a good one!!!  That is the case with Boom Bah by Phil Cummings! 

One cannot read this book without their
imagination going CRAZY!!  Read my previous
blog post about My Garden to see how this
book has inspired imaginations in my
program!

EXTREMELY funny, and VERY imaginative!

Julia Donaldson writes with such a unique rhythm that is
very enticing.  Her books also rhyme and the storyline
is very appealing to young children!

As the reader of the story, I LOVE TO READ THIS!!!  It is my time to shine
as a former theater nut!!  Okay...so, what about the children?  They love it as
well....the illustrations are amazing, and the storyline is very creative!

Children LOVE ice cream!  Steve Metzger knows
what children can relate too!  Most can relate to ice cream. 
This selection has inspired SO much imaginative
play!!!  Check out the blog post that is all about The Ice Cream King  for
more info.!

The reason for this post.... if you can find it for a reasonable price, I guarantee
the children in your life will LOVE IT!!  It's not, however, worth $297.00!!!

This word-less wonder is one of our most favorite of the
favorites!!!  Imagination OVERLOAD (in a good way!!)  Make sure
to be prepared with chalk and a water source for some
amazing imaginative play!

Virginia Walter (or anyone that knows Virginia):  PLEASE put this
book back in print!!  It's a wonderfully, ridiculously simple book that
young children LOVE!  They LOVE LOVE LOVE it!  If you find it
at a rummage sale...snag it! It's another WAAAY over-priced gem
on Amazon!

This is a new favorite for us.  I just discovered it last week, and
it has quickly made it to the "read it again" list!  The author, Laura Leuck
knows how to spark the imagination of a young child.  Who wouldn't love
to fly through the sky like a butterfly... for just one day?!!

An oldie, but a goodie!  Loved by all!

This book is pure GOLD!  So much fun...a nice read on a cozy
rainy day!  Use your imagination as to how children can
truly break beds!!  (If you've seen me present, you know what
my children LOVE to do...but, come on now, I can't give EVERYTHING away!!) 
Be clever...and listen to the children's ideas!!

This was a favorite of mine as a child, so it's wonderful
to be able to make it a favorite for so many more children!! 

This book is a joy to read and listen to.  It gets the children involved as they cannot
keep from joining in with the rhyming style and sneaky rhythm! 

Another one that inspires imagination!  This is NOT your typical "I want to be a policeman when
I get big book"  NOT in the least bit!!  LOADS and LOADS of fun!!  My children
love to debate between the different "jobs" this book talks about and why they would
prefer to do one over another!  "Would you rather be a Puddle Stomper or
an Apple Chomper?"

Every single rainy day comes with the promise of
"reading" The Yellow Umbrella.  This is another wordless wonder
that is absolutely magical.  It comes with an instrumental CD that
makes sharing this book a very calming experience for all!

Seriously.....just get this one!  It's a rhyming, giggling, super fun
read accompanied by lots of tickling!!  There are "tickle monster gloves" available
as well.  I HIGHLY suggest them!

Another Julia Donaldson masterpiece (The Gruffalo).  Amazingly, this
book has the same rhythm and feel as The Gruffalo.  It has rhythm, repetition and rhyme that
always encourages children to read right along with you!

This is a HILARIOUS read, and another FANTASTIC
choice for those with a love of the stage!  Pure enjoyment for the reader and listener both!!  Practice
up on your Spanish, French and Southern accents, and be prepared for laughter! 
Catherine Friend HAD to have had a blast writing this!!  And John Manders
illustrated it PERFECTLY!

Holy imagination inspiration!  This book has been the catalyst for HOURS
and HOURS of grand imaginative play!!  We haven't read this book for a few months,
yet the imaginative play inspired by this book continues!!  I would
love to meet the author's (Jason Hook) grandpa!!  Read the blog post all
about Where's the Dragon for more info!!

And there you have it!  The top 20 "read it agains" according to some brilliant young minds!! 

I could write a blog post about the learning potential of each of these books, but for now -- share these with your children, then follow their imaginations and ideas!  Children LOVE to bring books alive!!  I'll work on further blog posts --- you, just go enjoy!!


Now...read, be inspired and GO PLAY!!!

It's In There

Just as Ragu proudly exclaims "It's In There".  Play can make the same declaration. 

Sharing?  Compromise?  Patience?  Teamwork?

IT'S IN THERE!

Trial and error?  Cause and effect?  Problem Solving?  Imagination?

IT'S IN THERE!

Making sense of numbers?  Using words?  Expanding vocabularies?

IT'S IN THERE!

Self regulation?  Compassion?  Creativity?  Sense of pride?

ITS' IN THERE!

MUCH...MUCH....MORE

IT'S IN THERE!

When you give play a chance, when you sit back and really take a close look at play, you simply cannot argue with the statment:  IT'S IN THERE.

__________________________

Just in the last 45 minutes, this is what was found in play at my program:

The planned part:

1)  The MYSTERY WORD ("hunt") was written on an index card and hung on the wall
2)  The letters, h,u,n,t were hidden
3)  Plastic Easter eggs were taken apart and hidden seperately from their other half...some up in the buckets held to the ceiling by our PULLEY SYSTEM, some in plain site
4)  Various bunnies found at the $1 section of Target were hidden (bendy bunnies, hopping bunnies similiar to Ants in the Pants, and wind up bunnies)

What was in there:

• Pride in discovery as the children find all the fun things that have been hidden
• Teamwork and cooperation in finding the letters for the mystery word and building it
• Literacy skills to figure out what the mystery word is. 

Bergen (5), began the process (she's a take charge kind of a gal): 
Bergen:  "Okay boys and girls.  What sound does "H" make?"
.......no response
Bergen:   "H says "huh"."   "Okay....what does "U" say?"
Jack (turned 3 2 weeks ago):  "Uh"
Bergen:  "YES!  Nice job Jack"
Ty (5):   "I KNOW!  I KNOW it!!  It says "hunt"!"
Me:  "Wow Ty!  You are right!!  The mystery word is "hunt"!!  Nice job using your smarts!!"
Cole:  "HEY!  It says "hunt" because we are hunting for eggs!"
Gavin:  "And bunnies"

• The relevance of numbers

Gavin:  "It must be Easter today!  Denita?  Is it Easter today?"
Me:  "It might feel that exciting Gavin, but Easter is not today.  Easter will be on Sunday."
Ty:  "When is Sunday?"
Me:  "Use your smarts, and tell ME when Sunday is"
So..off to our "deconstructed calendar" they went to use their smarts.  Within minutes, they showed me when Sunday would be.  I then asked them how many days until Sunday.  Five was their response.  AWESOME.

Meanwhile....across the room, Jack and Erik are busy counting the Easter eggs as they load up an egg carton.

• Trial and error, prediction, visual planning and tracking as Ethan discovered the fun of catapulting a bunny into a bucket
• One-to-one coorespondence as Gavin made sure no one had more then one bendy bunny.
• Number recognition as today's number was found and placed in the right spot on the calendar
• Fine tuning those small motor muscles by putting plastic eggs together
• Visual descrimination as they hunt for the matching halves of eggs
• Imagination as two children are role playing with the bendy bunnies...inventing their own "bunny language"
• Role Playing, practicing what we know, more imagination as Gavin is walking around selling "EASTER EGGS!  WHO WANTS TO BUY AN EASTER EGG?!"
• Applying Previously Learned Knowledge to a NEW Situation, Imagination, Trial and Error, Cause and Effect as a group of children build a ramp and watch as the eggs successfully wobble down to to the ground!
• Patience, sharing, cooperation, planning, strengthening large muscles and even more imagination as a group of children have organized themselves into a game of jumping.  They have the step stool (always available for solving problems), and the squishy square floor tiles set up for a landing pad.  There is a line of 7 children patiently awaiting their turn to jump onto the squishy squares they have carefully arranged.  Add in the backwards counting from 10 as each child approaches "lift off" and you've got some math too!!

Play.....IT'S IN THERE!!

I am Mad at You

The awesome thing about the following photo is not the good handwriting or the fact that this is the work of a 5 year old, with no adult help.
The awesome thing is that a young child expressed how she was feeling.  She recognized that she was mad.  She used words to express that fact. 

THAT is what is important about this photo.

 The incident was simple.  Five year old Bergen was drawing on the sidewalk.  Three year old Avery was scribbling over everthing Bergen was drawing. 

After several attempts to stop Avery with the words "Stop that!"  Bergen decided to try another method.

Did it work?

No.

Why?

Avery is three.  She cannot read.

Was it still effective?

Yes. 

Bergen felt proud that she discovered another way to express herself.  It satisfied her enough that she left the chalk to go run and play something else.

With Bergen gone, and the realization that bugging someone makes them go away leaving you with no one to play with, Avery too ran off to play something else.

In the end, no one hit, no one tattled.  Discoveries were made.  Feelings and emotions were expressed.  One child felt proud of her new-found mode of expression.  Another learned that if you are going to bother someone, they will leave you and play with someone else.

THAT is what is important! 

Give the Ownership of Discovery to Children

Sometimes we are just like young children.  We find it difficult to keep our mouths shut and our hands to ourselves.

Take discoveries for instance.  How many times have you either:

1.  Observed children struggling to solve a problem....
2.  Observed children on the verge of a discovery, but just not getting there....
3.  Observed children heading away from a discovery you were anticipating they would make....

.....and you just couldn't resist jumping in to show the way, just to help out a bit? 

If you are like me, it has happened, and, when you REALLY think about it, it has happened a lot!  What you probably didn't realize is that in that one step, that one moment of seemingly "heroism" you actually took the ownership of discovery away from the children.

Think of what you have owned in your life.  Things? (like houses, cars, clothing, shoes)  Choices? (where to eat, when to go to sleep, what to do, where to live) Mistakes?  Successes?  Discoveries? How do those different ownerships make you feel?

In ownership we feel responsibility, pride, interest and accomplishment.  This is true for a young child as well.

In ownership we also learn.  We learn that with hard work good things can come.  We learn that doing things for ourselves feels amazing.  We learn that different causes have different effects.

I think it's safe to say that with each unique experience we own comes many different lessons.

Hopefully this blog post will encourage you to not jump in, to stay quiet and observe.  To give ownership of discovery to children.  A young child's ownerships are quite limited.  Discovery is something that we should freely give to them.


Here we go....

Last week I plopped a pulley system.  A VERY simple thing to add to your programs, and after reading the photo journal to follow, I'm almost positive you will be running to your nearest hardware store! 

Materials:

• screws with the eye thingy ma jigger on the end (see photo below)
• drill
• stud finder (MUST find a stud....this is not a dating blog, so I am of no help...ha!)
• flexible neck
• handy husband (not required by any means, but sure makes the job somewhat easier)
• rope (I used paracord simply because my 12 year old son has made himself quite a business making and selling paracord bracelets and we have an excess of paracord in every color imaginable around here!)  The nice thing about paracord is when you cut it, you just use a lighter to melt the freying ends and then it never freys...and it's smooth....and it's pretty (if pretty matters to you) not to mention sturdy (and sturdy definitely matters)

I love my husband!  Oh the things he has done for me
and my daycare kids!

My husband is a stud....but he's not good at finding them! :)  This project
put three extra, nice-sized holes in the ceiling (see the extra hole? Whoops!)  This
is a close-up photo of both one of the extra holes, and the screw with eye thing-a-ma-jigger.

My son thought two ropes on one bucket would be a great idea.  It was
for a while, until they got all twisted together.  I believe we cut the second
rope off within 20 minutes of play.

Extra buckets ($1 a piece at Michael's Craft) and packing peanuts
ready for play!

Shovels, and a letter for this day's mystery word (see The Power of One Word):  "WOW" were
in the bucket...up on the ceiling.

I should have taken more pictures of the problem solving process, but, admitedly, those pics would have been quite boring.  Here's how it went down:
1.  Lots of jumping.  I found this stage to be both completely hilarious and 100% impressive.  They were SO FAR from the bucket, yet SO DETERMINED!!  Persistence and determination are GREAT life-long skills!
2.  Standing on chairs to try to reach the buckets...again, SO DETERMINED and independent!  Independent thinking is another life-long skill!
3.  Asking me to get the grabbers (see The Power of One Word) so they could grab the buckets with them.
4.  Discovering the ropes.  FINALLY someone discovered the ropes attached to the buckets!  I could not believe how long it took for them to discover the ropes!!  It took teamwork to get the ropes untied.  Working with others...you guessed it....is a VERY valuable life-long skill!

The entire time, I sat on my stool, quietly observing and enjoying the learning occuring right before my eyes.  Remember, even in failure, we learn.  Every once in a while I would remind them to ask for what they need. I was there if they needed me to get them anything to help solve the problem of getting the buckets down.  (I will not lie....this was extremely painful to observe.  The solution to the problem was SO OBVIOUS to my adult "been there, done that' mind....but to young children, who had never used a pulley, this was an incredibly difficult problem to solve.)

Give children ownership of discovery!

Cole is taking the initiative to attempt to release the buckets.

Alayna soon joined Cole in an attempt to release the much
anticipated and desired buckets.  I could have easily gotten them down.
I could have shown them.  It would have taken meer seconds instead of 25 minutes.
But the discovery would not have belonged to the children then. 
GIVE OWNERSHIP OF DISCOVERY TO CHILDREN!

SUCCESS!! Amelia is discovering the letter "w" for our mystery word.
Jack is waiting patiently to grab the shovels that are also in the bucket.

WOW!
Without realizing just how amazing the phenomenon of a pulley would be, I picked "wow" to be our Mystery Word on this particular day.  Little did I know just how appropriate that word choice would be!  I heard "wow" over and over again!

 Erik just stood there, in this position, pulling
the rope, watching the bucket rise, letting go and watching the
bucket drop....repeat process again...and again...and again.  Every
once and a while "wow" quietly left his lips as he giggled.

When children learn through trial and error they automatically go into scientist mode. When scientists get an answer, they don't accept it until they have gotten the same answer several times. Children do the same thing! Erik kept pulling the rope to see if the bucket would rise again. Of course, it did every time. You and I know that every single time he pulls on the rope, the bucket is going to go up, but this is new to him, and he needs to test this theory to it's fullest potential!

Let Them Play

Give children ample time to make further discoveries through play!  The hard part is done.  They figured out how to get the buckets down, they now own this discovery. Now give them time to dig in and enjoy the fruits of their labor!

I enjoyed watching this part tremendously!  Those packing peanuts were a HIT!  My camera battery went dead (grrrrr...) so I missed taking pics of the shower.  They asked for my step stool ladder so they could dump the buckets from up high (how clever....).  They filled the bucket with packing peanuts, then one child pulled the cord, another climbed the step stool, and yet another stood underneath to await their "shower" !!

Then they were firemen putting out fires with the "water" (aka: packing peanuts).  They had so much fun scooping up those packing peanuts into buckets and dumping them!  The poor packing peanuts now have an identity crisis as I'm certain they do not know what they are anymore!!  Mostly, they were water...but they were bugs (thanks to their static quality and ability to stick to you), macaroni and treasure.  Surprisingly, they were never snow!

Repurposing Previous Discoveries

I love when a child takes a previous discovery and applies what they learned to a new experience.  In the following photos we see Jack loading up the shovel with packing peanuts, but he has no intentions of simply dumping them into a bucket.  Oh no.  He has much better plans.  Recall the spoon catapults mentioned in a previous post, Learning Lurks Everywhere?  Well.....Jack is quietly realizing that shovels just might work the same as spoons...and packing peanuts might work as well as pom poms and foam blocks.......

Not one to be satisfied with the norm, Jack finds his own way of
getting packing peanuts into the bucket.

Notice Jack's eyes? They are able to track the slow moving packing peanut. He can
not keep up with a pom pom, or foam block that has been catapulted through the air.
A packing peanut, however, travels MUCH slower through the air, allowing him
to practice and perfect his visual tracking.

And now....back to the pulleys.  In the end, my entire crew was still thinking "wow" everytime a bucket

went up....

 ...and came back down. 

They just never tired of watching this same event happen again and again. They tested their new discovery hundreds of times....why? Because it belonged to THEM. They owned it. An adult didn't show them how, didn't tell them what to do....an adult simply PLOPPED something new, stepped back, and gave the ownership of discovery to them!

It's inevitable.....such fun play is usually followed by picking up the mess.  Even in this process there was valuable learning and practice time.  We set a goal...our goal was to eat lunch.  We were a team.  A team works for the same goal.  Once the goal was established, the daunting task of picking up all those now broken-into-at-least-a-thousand-pieces-and-so-full-of-static-they-stick-to-my-nose-hairs packing peanuts didn't seem so bad.  With occasional reminders of how much fun that was, and that we are all in this together the room was back to normal in no time!

As usual, I suggest you re-read this post. Take note of the learning! See the sense of pride, accomplishment and interest that comes with ownership?  As you re-read, be reminded  that the majority of the learning came about because an adult did not rush in to solve a problem. The children were given the time and support necessary for them to own the discovery. 

Admittedly, quietly observing and resisting the urge to "help" can be EXTREMELY challenging and down right painful at times.  But, I have learned the more I can step back, and the more I observe the positive results, the easier it gets to just say:

"Looks like you have yourself a problem to solve!  I know you can do it!!  I'll be right here if you need me to get something for you."

Give children ownership of discovery!!  It makes play count even more!