Pumpkin play!
“Babies immediately begin taking information about the world through their sense of sight, hearing, taste, touch, and smell” (Cherry, 2015)
As a pair, we decided we would explore messy/ sensory play as this something we were both very much interested in, and believe children learn effectively using this type of play. Children are able to develop motor skills, and also build their knowledge of the world around them. The flexibility of sensory/messy play also presents children with the opportunity to choose what they wish to learn at their own pace.
The children who took part in the activity were only 10 months old;
however, the activity could be used with children up to 5 years old by
increasing the difficulty and changing the materials used, for example.
The activity
The activity was presented by giving the
children the pumpkin with the top cut off and letting the children explore.
Later on in the activity, the adult gave the children some sticker faces for
the pumpkin and suggested to the children what they should do with them
(because they are only 10 months). The adult only helped the child when the
back of the faces need to be peeled off to make them sticky. The adult gave it
back to the child, letting them stick it on and then the adult just pushed it
down to make sure it was stuck on (the children are too young to be able to
push the stickers on properly). Other than helping the children with this, the
adult was only there to stop the children getting hurt (by eating the pips, for
example).
Theories to support the activity
Piaget’s
Theory of Development (Mcleod, 2015)
Children explore the world solely through the
use of their senses and motor movements. All senses can be used when exploring
the pumpkin, and both fine and gross motor skills can also be used (fine motor
skills when picking up the pumpkin innards and stickers, and gross motor skills
when bending down and picking up the pumpkin). Children expand on current
schemas through the process of assimilation and accommodation. The use of the
pumpkin means that the children can develop their schema of foods by
understanding that while it is different in colour, size and taste, a pumpkin
is still a fruit just like an apple, for example.
Montessori Play Theory (Montessori St Nicholas, 2015)
Play activities are vital for healthy
development in all areas, particularly socialisation, emotional wellbeing and
problem solving. Play activities should be child-led, and should stem from the
child’s own imagination and experiences. While there is some adult input in our
activity, this input is based on the child’s reactions and what the child wants
to do. The nature of our activity allows this to be possible
Reflection
The activity went as well as we thought it
would, both children took part in their own ways. We knew from the start that E
would not like the messy part as much as M would; and we knew M would like the
messy part rather than the decorating part. The babies took more interest in
the activity than we thought and we managed to keep going with the activity
more for than 10 minutes which is a first for them. E tried the messy play part
by sticking her hand in the pumpkin and feeling, but much preferred the
decorating. She managed to put sticky eyes on the pumpkin herself, with little
help from an adult. M was very much interested in trying to eat the pumpkin and
feeling it in his hands. He loved the feel and taste; trying to squeeze the inner
pumpkin together in his hands. He also loved the mini pumpkin we had available,
he enjoyed picking it up and carrying it around with him; and trying to put the
mini pumpkin inside the bigger one. These results highlight the flexibility of
the activity to allow children to learn in their own ways.
By.
Lauren Baalham (SID- 1309795)
Charlotte Drewell (SID- 1404669)
References
Cherry, K., 2015. An Introduction to Child Development. [online] Available at: http://psychology.about.com/od/early-child-development/a/introduction-to-child-development.htm. [Accessed 10 December 2015].
McLeod, S., 2015. Jean Piaget. [online] Available at: http://www.simplypsychology.org/piaget.html.
[Accessed 10 December 2015].
Montessori St Nicholas, 2015. The Philosophy. [online] Available at: http://www.montessori.org.uk/what_is_montessori/the_philosophy.
[Accessed 10 December 2015].
This looks great! It's a fun idea for a seasonal activity. I can see how children will love to get involved with this. You could easily adapt this activity for any other season, using other fruits or vegetables.
ReplyDeleteI found this activity really funny and easy for babies but adaptable for any range of early age. I think any kind of arts where children can get messy it is a good way for them to explore and discover. I like how Charlotte and Lauren explained how important is as adult to help the babies when needed and not to try to do the activity for them.
ReplyDeleteI think this activity worked really well for the age group it was intended for as at that age babies are finding out about the world through all their senses and through open ended exploration. It could be adapted for older children by talking about the texture, taste, smell etc. to encourage older children to expand their vocabulary.
ReplyDeleteThe children obviously had a lot of fun with this which is fantastic! It could lead into comparing textures of different foods and where they come from for older children.
ReplyDeleteI like the fact that the activity is planned and carried out after fully understanding each child’s personality traits. For the next step, what if you fill the pumpkins with some water to create extra sensory experience? :)
ReplyDeleteI love how creative this allows children to be! You could even use different fruits or vegetables with different textures so the children can experience different things!
ReplyDelete