Having loose parts in our backyard offers incredible opportunities for our students to invent, explore, and manipulate the environment around them in ways that wouldn't be possible otherwise. On this particular day, Felix started to rearrange some of the wooden blocks to create an obstacle course. As he was staging the long, skinny board over a couple of tires, Thomas decided he wanted to play with Felix. He sat on one side of the board as Felix was sitting on the other side. At first, Felix wasn't very happy about Thomas' position on the board, but after of minutes, Felix started to giggle. He said, "Hey look! We both aren't touching the ground!" They started moving around on the board to see if different positions would change their balance. After a few changed positions, Thomas accidentally started sitting higher on the board and his side went up. Suddenly, they both realized the board was now acting like a teeter-totter and that became the new game. After watching Felix and Thomas play this game for awhile, other friends wanted to get in on the action too. Wynne and Johanna had a great time seeing how high they could make each other go by changing where they sat on the right side of the board. When they wanted to switch who was going up in the air, they decided to switch sides instead of changing the position of the board on the tires. Lulu came over next and the three of them started to experiment with having two people on one side of the board with only one person on the other. When Lulu and Cailin had their turn, they focused more on finding the perfect balance. They found out that Lulu had to sit closer to the tires to make the board balance. Lincoln wanted a turn with the board as well, but Luna was very concerned about his safety. She decided to move the board so only one tire was underneath it instead of two and helped Lincoln learn how to play teeter-totter. Because of the loose parts available to our students they had the opportunity to explore and experiment with physics in a way they found engaging and fun. It will be interesting to see how the balancing game will transition over the next few weeks and months.
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AuthorHi there! My name is Dawn Irwin and I've been a teacher here at Stepping Stones since August 2011. I love our school, I am passionate about our approach to learning, and am proud of all of our students for all that they accomplish each and every day! Archives
August 2017
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