We are constantly striving to create hands-on activities and to allow our students to explore our world in creative, nontraditional ways. This week we have really pushed this teaching strategy to a new level! Our goal was to help the students understand that there is always a new way to explore everyday things. Sure the ball is red, but what does it look like when it's high up in the sky? What does it feel like? Does it have a smell? What noise does it make when it bounces on concrete? On mulch? There are so many new questions we can ask when we begin to look at things in a new way. With this in mind we set out to explore our classrooms and daily activities by engaging all 5 of our senses and the results were amazing!
See: Though we use our sense of sight in nearly every activity we do, I set up a few simple provocations to take that sense just a little bit further. By utilizing the incredible natural light in my classroom, I was able to help my students view everyday things in a new way with the power of sunlight!
Hear: Our 2-3 year old class had a blast comparing the sounds that different objects make when you shake them! They had so much fun searching for loud and quiet objects in the classroom!
Smell: We use paint pretty much on a daily basis in our classrooms. So this week we decided to change things up and add scents to our paint!
Touch: Using a texture box we learned to compare and contrast different textures! While discussing the differences, several students noted that things always feel different when they are really hot, or really cold. This inspired us to do some very fun ice exploration! We even painted with it! As the ice melted in our hands, it became obvious that textures can very easily be changed. So we set out to change some of the textures we know and love in our classroom. We began by adding different materials to our play-dough to see how it altered the way it feels.
Touch: Using a texture box we learned to compare and contrast different textures! While discussing the differences, several students noted that things always feel different when they are really hot, or really cold. This inspired us to do some very fun ice exploration! We even painted with it! As the ice melted in our hands, it became obvious that textures can very easily be changed. So we set out to change some of the textures we know and love in our classroom. We began by adding different materials to our play-dough to see how it altered the way it feels.
