Ms. Pat’s Investigations:
I See, I Explore, I Think, I Create
March, 2013
The children have
been very engaged in building and creating
structures using magnatiles. They were creating buildings that could be
used by people and animals. They appeared to be so engaged that I wondered if
it is the fact that the magnatiles are easily connected or they simply have a desire to build.
In
an effort to find out where the real interest of the children was I chose to
change the material for manipulation and exploration purposes. The time spent exploring
the materials, the conversations that are initiated and the actual manipulation
of the different materials will be an indicator
of their desire to construct.
The journey began
with magnatiles, specifically, triangle magnatiles, on January 7, 2013. I
noticed that they would spend an enormous amount of time building with this
material. Some of the children would spend thirty minutes creating items such
as: a Batman, home, rocket ships, and castles. I
became interested to find out if the children were really into building or was
it the magnatiles capability to easily connect their focus.
I
decided to change the material once again to evoke conversation, strengthen
fine motor skills and logical reasoning.
These materials are not easily bendable and require thought to connect to
create a specific item. The material that I introduced this time was straw builders
made of hard plastic with connector units. The
children once again showed interest in the materials and talked about what they
were making, such as swings, cubes and windows. One child did say that he made
wind things. I was curious to know if they would ever say that it was hard to
use the straw connectors but talked about the difficulty of connecting the new materials.
I
became aware of the fact that the children were engaged in using their hands to make
different things. Also building and creating items that can be used by others
is a big part of their thought process. The materials for manipulation really
haven’t mattered. What seems to be important is if they are able to put their
thoughts into action to end up with something
that can be used. Although I don’t feel the material matters, I plan to have
the children continue to explore a variety
of materials with different capabilities of being connected. This exploration strengthens
their confidence in building without the magnatiles, enhances communication
skills encourages creativity
and increase small motor skills.
