Following the interests of your children makes learning meaningful!
This idea was inspired by one of my students who loves construction trucks. When one of my students came up to me and asked, “Miss Lauren, can I take these construction trucks and play with them in the beans?” I thought it was a brilliant idea and promised we would do something like that next time he came back to school.
When the next day rolled around, guess what we talked about? Construction trucks, of course.
Expanding on Literacy with Sensory Play
We started our morning off by reading “Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site” by Sherry Duskey Rinker. Then, to follow the book, I set up a simple bean sensory bin with construction trucks!
I had some trouble figuring out exactly what to add to the sensory bin. I didn’t want anything to distract from the trucks. Buckets were a no-go because I knew that would encourage a different kind of play than I wanted. So, after a lot of brain storming, I decided to just have construction trucks in the bin.
Promoting Teamwork and Collaboration
To my surprise, the students played so well only having the trucks in the beans. I thought maybe they’d become bored or try to bring other things in. But they didn’t!
Experimenting and Exploring
They scooped, pushed, lifted, and explored all morning with the sensory bin. They loved it so much that I decided to keep it out for the rest of the week.
Letting the Children Guide the Way
Through careful observation and documentation we can build meaningful and engaging learning experiences around the ideas and interests of our children. Our students come up with the greatest ideas and I can’t wait to see what they come up with next!
More to grow on!
Under construction with our DIY fix-it box
Our play dough is under construction in preschool
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