“Oh, I like your mosaic, Avery!” says Claire, who has wandered over to look at the mosaic that Avery has just created with sidewalk chalk and tape. “Yours only had triangles. We did squares and triangles and those long skinny squares.”

“Oh, you mean rectangles! I want to see it!” Avery exclaims. He jumps up to compare their creations.

Our days have been full of busy children drawing shapes and creating colorful chalk mosaics on the sidewalk. This activity offers many opportunities to work on shape recognition while extending the learning to the outdoor classroom.

Start by creating a shape on the sidewalk or a flat surface with masking tape. Divide the inside area into smaller shapes. If this is your first attempt at introducing chalk mosaics to your students, I would suggest beginning with a few small areas that measure about two feet by three feet, with smaller shapes inside.

Why start out small? The children can see results faster—and smaller is better for our youngest students, who haven’t yet developed the hand and wrist strength to color in larger shapes. On a more practical note, I’ve discovered that smaller shapes are better when the children are using smaller pieces of chalk.

You can always go bigger as the children get the hang of chalk mosaics. If you have an endless supply of wasabi tape, this easy-to-tear tape enables them to create their own shapes inside the larger shape. 

Leaving a basket of chalk nearby will invite the children to start coloring in the shapes. Once the children have completed the mosaic, simply remove the tape and admire the masterpiece! 

As your students learn to identify shapes, they can use spatial orientation vocabulary to describe the relative positions of the shapes. Preschoolers should understand and be able to use positional words such as above, below, beside, in front of, behind, next to, between, on, over, under and inside.

Shapes are the foundation of geometry. Geometry involves shape, size, position, direction and movement.

In early education, geometric skills include identifying and comparing shapes, differentiating between shapes and creating shapes.

Children need hands-on investigation to understand more than just naming or classifying shapes. Our chalk mosaics introduce children to simple shapes—as well as more advanced concepts such as symmetry, angles and fractions.

“My chalk is shrinking really fast!” giggles Rowan.

Oh, how I love shrinking chalk! Yes, we are definitely collecting data, making observations and noticing cause and effect.

But there’s more happening here than meets the eye. We know that the transition to smaller writing utensils helps promote the development of better gripping skills. As the children continue to draw and their pieces of sidewalk chalk get shorter and smaller, they are effectively transitioning to smaller writing tools and increasing their grip strength.

We try not to rush writing in our young learners. But when it happens spontaneously, we try to promote the use of smaller pieces of chalk, crayons or pencils to help them develop age-appropriate gripping skills.

These are all bonuses for kindergarten readiness—above and beyond the early math learning standards. This is the foundation that we talk about when we play our way into academic life. These small steps will enable our children to succeed when it’s time to sit at a desk. 

I have a few insights into the hidden benefits of chalk play—insights that can be shared with parents who may question the value of outdoor play and its role in advancing their children’s kindergarten readiness. Kindergarten, sadly,  involves a lot of sitting time. Children need strength throughout their bodies—including strong core muscles to sit all day. When children get down on their hands and knees and support their upper-body weight with their arms and hands, this strengthens their core muscles, as well as their shoulder muscles, which are so important for fine motor dexterity.

There’s a lot of math built into our chalk play. Follow the lead of your students, connect the curriculum to the play and you’ll meet your learning standards every day!

Looking for more ways to play with shapes? Extend the learning with these Early Math Counts shape lesson plans!

One bright fall morning, I notice that the noise level at Under the Gingko Tree is exceptionally low. A quick glance around reassures me that all of my early learners are safe and accounted for. Then I notice a quiet but intense play buzz happening in our rain garden, so I wander over to see what has captured the children’s unwavering attention for so long.

“See? We are using the log to make our hill!” Jameson explains to me. 

“We are rolling the rocks down the hill, but our hill has a tunnel!” giggles Noa. 

“They go in and then they roll down!” two-year-old Tariq tells me, trying to keep pace with his older friends.

“This rock is flat on this side. It won’t roll, just like Ricky!” Jameson reminds me. 

The rocks in the rain garden and a hollow log have triggered an idea from another one of our favorite books: Ricky, the Rock That Couldn’t Roll.

Ricky is a flat rock that can’t roll with his friends on their favorite hill. Ricky’s friends help him overcome his challenge and find a way for Ricky to play like everyone else.  

Suddenly we have piles of rocks that have the same names and characteristics as the rocks in the book. I love it when an idea takes hold and inspires creativity and collaboration as the children begin to plan an activity on their own.

We have a STEM morning unfolding in our outdoor classroom! When the children start using words like “in,” “down,” “over,” “under” and “next to,” they are laying the foundation for geometry. Oh, this is going to be a fun morning! 

As I watch the children design and develop models that represent their ideas, I think to myself, “This is what early math and science learning looks like.” Planning and carrying out simple investigations like this one will make your assessment nightmare seem like a dream. Math and science overlap so much in this morning’s quest for understanding. This is the kind of play that hones children’s problem-solving skills and enables them to meet important early learning milestones.

I see the young friends sorting and classifying piles of rocks—grouping the flat rocks together and then creating another classification for the rocks that will fit into the tunnel. I observe and listen as they demonstrate their comprehension of the sorting and classifying process by comparing and sharing descriptions. When children use words such as “short,” “wide,” “heavy” and “light,” they are using descriptors for measurement. When they are guessing, predicting, classifying and putting rocks in a specific order, they are engaging in early algebra. 

By making predictions, changing designs and collecting data for their next rock, the children are building the foundation for more advanced learning in data analysis and probability in the years to come.

“I think there is something blocking it in there….”  Jameson’s voice trails off as he inspects a rock more closely to see why it didn’t tumble in the way that he had expected. He has observed that the rock is encountering some resistance. This is friction!

This is how we lay the foundation of early science through childhood investigation and teamwork. Today, the children are learning about persistence and problem-solving, propelled by the simple but profound joy of creative play.

Now the children are discussing another STEM concept. “Should we flip the log on its other side or move it to a higher rock?” Jameson asks.

I introduce the vocabulary word for their latest STEM adventure: “elevation.”

“Like an elevator! It goes up to the top of the building!” Jameson declares.

I smile. It’s like throwing seeds into the wind. I never know which ones will land on a rock or take root in a little brain. Either way, this is learning through play. Changing the height (elevation) to get a faster roll is working with speed!

The children are also exhibiting a developing sense of spatial awareness as they work out where and in what direction the log should be placed.

“Maybe if we push it, it will go faster!” Sarah suggests.   

When you are working on those early learning standards, listen to the words that your students are using. When Sarah uses the word “push,” this is a change that leads to an action. The outcome of that action is an effect!

This is scientific investigation in progress. Words like “push,” “pull,” “launch” and “force” are all science action words. 

Ricky—the rock that started this play—is long forgotten. We have naturally moved on to racing our rocks down the tunnel. I am not sure that any child actually remembers which rock is “theirs,” but they know which rock came in first, second, third and last. These are the vocabulary words that tell us that the children are mastering rudimentary skills in numbers and operations. This is a morning of assessment magic! 

If you have ramps in your classroom, or this is the type of play that sparks your energy, try reading the book, Ricky, the Rock That Couldn’t Roll, aloud to the children. Then place some rocks that roll, along with rocks that don’t roll, in your block area. Observe the investigations that take place and check off some early learning standards of your own!

Happy November, my friends. Stay safe and keep playing!

]]> https://earlymathcounts.org/rock-and-roll/feed/ 14 13204 https://earlymathcounts.org/return-of-the-sand-gardens/ https://earlymathcounts.org/return-of-the-sand-gardens/#comments Wed, 19 Aug 2020 10:36:30 +0000 http://earlymathcounts.org/?p=12878   “I found GOLD!” squeals Laura. Four little friends are quick to join her in the latest gold rush in the sandbox. In the wee hours of the morning, often when the sun is barely above the horizon and the coffee is still being brewed, gold will magically appear in our sandbox. Spray-painted rocks that […]]]>

“I found GOLD!” squeals Laura. Four little friends are quick to join her in the latest gold rush in the sandbox. In the wee hours of the morning, often when the sun is barely above the horizon and the coffee is still being brewed, gold will magically appear in our sandbox. Spray-painted rocks that will give our young friends hours of digging, collecting, hoarding and, hopefully, sharing.

Once upon a time back in 1886, the first sand garden was created in the yard of the Children’s Mission on Permenter Street on the North End of Boston. In the late 1800s, sand gardens were viewed as safe places for immigrant children to play in during the summer months while their parents worked in factories. Today, these early sand gardens are often referred to as America’s “first playgrounds.” As we reimagine education during the pandemic, perhaps we should harken back to a simpler time and create sand gardens for our young learners!

A sandbox seems so simple, but it is truly a blank canvas—inviting curiosity and creativity, exploration and investigation. It offers a soothing sensory experience and an opportunity to experience natural textures while experiencing the peace and simple pleasures of sand play. Peer pressure will entice wary friends to strip off their shoes and tentatively join in the fun. Placing a big “Shoe Basket” near your sandbox is essential for your own mental health. It will save you hours of searching for socks and shoes. When we add loose parts to our sand, we create opportunities for counting, collecting and designing. We can explore symmetry and patterns. By adding baking tools, we can explore measurement and estimation. Opportunities abound for vocabulary growth and lessons about location and position.

“Joseph, can you get the trucks to drive under our castle?” The children have been busy building and decorating large mounds of sand. Now they have moved on to cautiously digging out tunnels. Tunnel digging builds engineering knowledge as the children predict, problem-solve and collaborate with friends—all while spending long periods of time engaging in what appears to be play. Are you documenting this? Check those early math and science learning standards off of your list!

We can encourage children to mix sand with water to see how adding water changes the physical properties of the sand. This sand play allows the children to create models of their own making. What they imagine, they can create. They create plans, make observations and experiment with ideas. This is science!

As educators and parents, we often miss the opportunities and possibilities that sand play presents. It took me years to figure out that if I took three minutes to rake the sand and make it more inviting, my effort would be rewarded as more children engaged in hours of deep learning and exploration every single day. Consider preparing your sandbox as essential as prepping any other area of your classroom. If the sandbox is full of leaves, too many loose parts from yesterday’s play or any other undesirables, it won’t be, well…desirable! Make sure your sandbox is inviting, and you will “invite” the children to explore math and science concepts with a soothing blank canvas. Unless, of course, there is a major construction project underway. On those days, I gently place a tarp over the sandbox to protect the project until our pint-sized “construction crew” returns the following morning.

If sand is a new adventure for you, recognize and remove any obstacles early on. One important tip is that you must have a water source nearby to make the sand packable. A garden hose, gallon buckets of water or nearby rain barrels will open up a treasure trove of opportunities that are not possible with dry sand. Shade is another important element to consider. You can create shade with a large umbrella if you do not have a tree to shade your sandbox. Or you can use parachutes from the gym, which can be strategically placed with a little bit of ingenuity to create shade.

I know educators who are allergic to sand in the same way that they are allergic to playdough. Ha! I know who you are! But, in this year of uncertainty, let’s allow our students to enjoy the serenity, sensory pleasures and myriad possibilities of outdoor sand play.

I promise you, it will buy you hours of calm, hands-on learning. If you build it, they will come. Just do it!

“Look, look! Come and see what is inside this flower!”  It’s a warm, late-spring day and our friends are scattered around the yard, discovering the new surprises that have popped up overnight. The flowers are finally showing their beautiful blooms!

“Is it a bumblebee?” I ask. They look at me—their eyes big with wonder. It’s been many months since we’ve had flowers, and their young brains may not have retained that bit of information. “Sometimes the bees go inside of the flowers to get nectar and pollen. Nectar is like a little energy drink for the bees.”

“Nooooo! It’s black!” says Jamison. His friends gather around to take a closer look at the flower. We have just formed our curriculum for the day—or at least for the moment. We have science as we explore and gain a better understanding of the world around us. We have math as we count and discuss attributes and take parts and join them into a whole. We have language as we learn new vocabulary words. We have art at our fingertips as we explore the beauty of this flower in all of its blossoming glory.

I tell the children that the black pieces are called anthers and the tall green piece at the center of the flower is the stigma. “This is where the pollen and nectar are kept,” I say, “and why the bees like to buzz around inside of our flowers.”

“Can we drink the energy juice?” asks Eve, much to the delight of her giggling friends. Eve smiles, but I know that her brain is really trying to work this out.

“I think we should leave it for the bees,” I suggest.

“The bees will make honey from the nectar,” four-year-old Noah explains. “We can eat the honey but we can’t eat the nectar!”

I see Noah’s friends nodding, as this makes complete sense to them.

“Let’s have honey with our snack this afternoon,” I suggest to the delight of our class.

“This flower has five petals!” I turn around to see our subitizing queen, Annika, at it again. Subitizing is the ability to “see” a small number of objects and know how many are there without counting. When we roll dice, we don’t need to count the pips, we know the number when we see it. Some children grasp this concept easily, while others need to work with it a bit more.

We continue to count the petals, find the stem and leaves and find the anthers again. Individual flower parts are not exciting on their own but, when these pieces are put together, they make something more complex and more beautiful. The learning flows from the lips of the young friends as they share insights and ideas and think out loud as they process all that they are absorbing.

We find the dandelions on the hill and we are again measuring, building our vocabularies and investigating with the field of gold. “Look at how long THIS stem is!” shouts Violet.

I look over to see Claire in a world of her own. Quietly splitting the stem into pieces. Ah, decomposing. Math. Deep exploration to develop an understanding that will make sense in a classroom years down the road.

This is the learning that makes me smile. This is what learning can look like if we give children time to explore and move and play and figure it out in nature. This is the good stuff that sticks in the brain, like nectar to a flower. The foundations of math, science, exploration and investigation. Give your children the gift of nature and let the learning flow on their terms. The math and science and language are all just outside of your door. Enjoy!