Provocation Tables

Play nourishes every aspect of children’s development – it forms the foundation of intellectual, social, physical, and emotional skills necessary for success in school and in life. Play “paves the way for learning.”

Canadian Council on Learning (Early Childhood Learning Knowledge Centre),

“Let the Children Play: nature’s Answer to Early Learning”, Lessons in Learning (Ottawa: CCL, 2006), p.2.

A few weeks ago, Ms. Marrella and I decided to create some provocation tables for the students in our class to explore and play with.

We are currently participating in a workshop series called, Creating Intentional Spaces, and have been asked to experiment with, and reflect on provocation tables that we create in our classrooms.  We received a great article written by Deb Curtis titled, Creating Invitations for Learning. The article outlines for readers the principles for designing invitation tables (provocation tables), and strategies for collecting, arranging, and displaying materials in a meaningful and purposeful way for students the explore.   Below is a short excerpt from the article that explains how students use and benefit from provocation tables. 

"In my work as a preschool teacher I have found that offering information about things that children have limited experiences with, or posing a series of questions to try to encourage their thinking doesn't seem to get much of a lively or sustained response.  But when I carefully arrange props and representational materials in the environment with a particular focus in mind, the children are delighted to discover and play with them, eagerly share their ideas and theories, and seek more information." 

Below are the provocation tables Ms. Marrella and I  created over the past few weeks.  Each table was created with intention (e.g., to strengthen fine motor development, build on math skills, etc.), however the students were invited to explore and play at the tables as they wished.  Ms. Marrella and I observed the way students used or didn't use the materials, and made changes as needed.  

The Water Table      

The original intention of this table was for students to experiment with mass and capacity.  Through observation, Ms. Marrella and I noticed that though some students experimented with mass and capacity through the materials we provided, other students explored and enjoyed the sensory stimulation of the water and jars.  Ms. Marrella and I responded to this by adding soap to make the water bubble.  The soap created even more interest for students at this table.  We started to observe students using their imagination and pretend they were washing dishes at a restaurant.  After some reflection, we decided to add some sponges, pates, cups and a drying rack for the students to play with. 

The Light Table   

The idea for this came from an AQ course I am currently taking.  We filled some vases with water, and invited students to experiment with food colouring.  Our original intention for this table was for students to experiment with colour and express a response to the visual art forms the food colour created in the water.  Our students were very intrigued by how the food colour moved and mixed in the water.  Ms. Marrella and I didn't expect to observe students responding to filling up and emptying out the water from the vases.  They were intrigued by how the water gushed out of the vases so fast.  The students also experimented with putting food colour into empty vases, and then observing what happens when they slowly or quickly add water. 

The Rice Table 

Our intention for this table was for students to explore letter names and sounds.  We noticed that students weren't interested in this activity.  We wondered if the basket that held the letters appeared too overwhelming for the students to experiment with.  Ms. Marrella and I decided to reduce the number of letters available for students to play with, in addition to placing the letters in a bin of coloured rice.  We also thought the students might be interested in colouring the rice as a way for them to help reconstruct this learning centre.  The changes we made did the trick!  Our students enjoy finding and identifying the letters names and sounds in the rice, and felt that they had a hand in creating this learning table. 

The Sand Table

This table gave students a chance to explore 3-D figures and create a variety of structures.  Next week, Ms. Marrella and I will be adding 2-D shapes to this table for students to compare and play with. 

Play Clay

Students strengthened and developed their fine motor skills by using play clay to create animals and characters.  Ms. Marrella and I changed the theme of the table and added pasta to keep student interest high.  

The Art of Chinese Writing

Art Inquiry Continued

Our Art Inquiry took an unexpected turn.  While focusing on watercolour painting, one of our students painted an image that reminded us of traditional Chinese writing.  The students were intrigued by this style of writing, which was the inspiration for our new table. 

The original art piece that inspired our new learning table.

   

The intention of this table was for students to explore, through their play, a variety of textures, colours and scents, while they strengthened and improved their fine motor development. Writing was also a focus at this table.  We provided students with an English alphabet sheet and a Chinese character sheet (which included matching pictures and English translations).  

Our table has been a huge hit with our students.  When we originally planned for our Art Inquiry, we never imaged a Chinese writing table.  It was the creation and interest of our students, and our own reflections about this inquiry, that led us in this direction.    

  

Boxes Everywhere!

Boxes and Sticks Inquiry Continued

This interesting idea came from @MadiHayles of the Peel School Board.  I was searching twitter one evening last week when I came across her twitter account.  She tweeted a picture that showed a room filled with boxes and titled it, Boxopolis.  In her following tweets, she wrote about encouraging thinking, learning and self-regulation through play with the boxes.  I was completely impressed by this idea.  Because our students are in the middle of a Box and Stick inquiry, I thought it would be a great idea to try it out with them.  

Ms. Marrella and  I placed a variety of boxes on our carpet and invited a group of students to explore them.  

Ms. Marrella and I observed the way our students were playing with the boxes.  The first thing we noticed was individual personalities emerge.  Some students acted as group leaders, while others as team players.  We saw students having to communicate and compromise with each other in terms of the placement of the boxes and other items they were able to use.  We also observed our students experimenting with balance and problem solving when they were stacking the boxes.  Through their communication with each other, we could see and hear students using their imagination to construct something meaningful.     

Once the students had completed their construction, we asked them to describe what they had made.  We were very impressed by the details the students  incorporated into their structure.  For example, our students explained that they had created a Candy House complete with a chocolate pool and diving board.  In the Candy House lived a clam named Macaroni.  Our students found a small jewelry box that flipped open and closed.  The flipping motion of this box reminded them of a clam.  

Image of the clam (the red & white flip box)
that lives in the Candy House 

Through exploration, our students were free to be creative and use their imagination.  This simple, fun activity provided students with an opportunity to work together to create a structure.  Imagination, self-regulation, communication and problem solving took place during this period of play-based learning.   

  

Graveyard Café

During the month of October, the kindergarten students transformed their Dramatic Play Centre into a Haunted House and name it The Graveyard Café. 

Our construction sign.  Safety first!

Our students were so excited about this project.  For approximately one week, students brought to school a variety of decorations including skeletons, spider webs, costumes, and pumpkins to transform this space.  Who knew spider webs came in green and orange?! 

We were ready to begin…

First, we sorted through the big mountain of items.  We needed to know what we were working with.  We also had to make sure there weren’t any real creepy crawlers in the pile.  We found one, so we decided to save it for our lunch break!

Then, we transformed the space.  Ms. Marella and a group of students decided on the layout and placement of all the items.

Our Café was almost ready, but something was missing.  A menu!  What would the Ghouls and Ghosts visiting the café want to munch on?  Of course, eyeballs, worms and spiders.  Deeeeeelicious!

Ms. Marrella and I added a tray of money (unfortunately not real!) and a clipboard for the café staff to write down customer orders.  

This project and play area gave students the opportunity to learn while they played (play-based learning).  Students improved their oral communication skills through their interactions with each other.  They experienced, counted and touched money when paying for their meals.  They used crayons and paper to write and draw customer orders.  Finally, they developed their fine motor skills when zipping and buttoning costume pieces.    

 

This project would not have been successful without the support of our fabulous parents.  The donations we received to complete this project were over and above what we originally expected.  The students had a screaming good time playing in their Graveyard Café.

One Paper, So Many Possibilities

I took this picture earlier this week and wanted to share it with you.  The image shows one of the students in my class writing on a class list.  I had outdated copies of my class list from the first week of school.  Rather than putting these papers in the recycling bin, I decided to place them in the Creative Minds Centre (aka, the art centre).  The students quickly found these lists and were curious about what was on them.  Ms. Marrella and I purposely didn't tell the students they were holding copies of our class list.  We were curious about what the children would do with this new type of paper. 

As the students were looking at the paper, trying to figure it out, one child was able to recognize his own name.  Excitement was in the air as a few more students were able to find their names on the list.  The children quickly realized they were holding a paper with everyone’s name on it.  Ms. Marrella and I noticed that the students used the class list for a variety of purposes.  Some students walked around the class asking other students to identify their names on the list.  For students who couldn't identify their name on the list, they began to search for the first letter of their name (These students were engaged in reading and letter and sound ID).  Other students used the class list to take surveys related to favourite toys in the class (These students were engaged in writing and math).  Some students ignored the class list and used the paper for their own cut and paste creation (These students were engaged in creative expression and fine motor development).

It was great to see how one piece of paper could be used for a variety of purposes.  The children discovered the class list on their own, were naturally curious about what it was, and were able to use it for play (play-based learning).  Play looked different for different groups of children, and in the end, learning was taking place!