Our moment of silent concentration and focus is interrupted by Parker ecstatically showing off her geoboard.

“You made a house?” asks Linnea, looking a little wide-eyed and confused. “How did you do that?”

“I just added shapes and it worked!” Parker answers, equally amazed by her own creation.

“I want to try that!” shouts Rowen.

“Me too!” echoes a chorus of four-year-old voices. “Show us how you did that!”

Geometry has entered our world today—and what better way to learn about early math and science concepts than through play?

I have come to believe that geoboards are one of the ultimate learning tools for peer mentoring. I watch as the four-year-olds follow Parker’s example and create their own versions of her rubber-band house.

I am a huge fan of these little powerhouses known as geoboards. Hands-on activities with these simple learning tools get children’s brain synapses firing like crazy and stimulate the development of new neural connections.

The boards, with their colorful rubber bands and infinite possibilities, also make math and engineering fun!

Our geoboard play tends to occur in cycles. Today, the geoboards have resurfaced after long hiatus.

Because the children haven’t used the geoboards in a while, I notice how much their brains have developed since the last time the boards were in play. Seeing these leaps of brain development is one of the great joys of teaching.

Geoboards are always developmentally appropriate in the hands of the creator. Some children simply work on stretching the rubber bands onto the nails. My “artsy” early learners—who are happy designing anything and everything—can play with these boards for hours. And there’s a child in every class who insists on attaching every single rubber band in the bag to the geoboard, persisting long after the other children have moved on to new activities.

Geoboards enable even young children—and those who may have difficulty drawing shapes—to construct and investigate the properties of early geometry without a pencil in their hands.

I see geoboards as a chance to level the playing field for those who struggle with grasp, fine-motor or visual-motor skills.

Children begin to notice shapes before they have the language to name those shapes. Geoboard play acquaints children with simple shapes—as well as more advanced concepts such as symmetry, angles and fractions—as they engage in activities such as measuring, counting or investigating 2D shapes like Parker’s rubber-band house.

Look at those little fingers and hands going to work! With just one geoboard and a bagful of rubber bands, children can create and learn about shapes while developing their hand muscles, fine-motor skills, spatial skills and math skills. This is why geoboards have been a part of our classroom curriculum for more than 30 years.

Children can use their rubber bands to create squares, rectangles, triangles and other “sided” shapes. They can also explore number concepts as they try to stretch a single rubber band around a certain number of pegs. They may try to stretch it around three or four pegs—or maybe even all of the pegs. This early math exploration evolves quite naturally as the children engage in geoboard play with their friends. 

When I introduce geoboards to new students, I leave the lesson plans and benchmark checklists for later and let the children simply play with their boards. I want them to engage in geoboard play at their own level of development.

It’s important to give the children ample time to engage in this process. It can’t be rushed. For my young learners who love to make shapes, letters and designs, a longer play period gives them time to get their creative juices flowing. As their brain development continues, you will see their shapes and designs become more intentional.

Young children develop ideas and concepts about science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics (STEAM) naturally. They think about size, shape, quantity, order and speed throughout the day as they play and explore. As teachers of young children, we need to tap into their natural curiosity with intentional STEAM learning opportunities such as geoboard play.

Intentionality is acting with knowledge and purpose. It is the opposite of chance because it is planned and thoughtful. In order to become intentional about math teaching, we need to think about math the way we think about literacy.

By making shapes on their geoboards, the children are actually developing important pre-reading and pre-writing skills too.

Here’s how it works: When Linnea sees a shape on the geoboard and names it, she is preparing herself to identify letters and numbers and then naming and eventually writing them.

Simply by placing a basket full of geoboards near a table, we can encourage children to experiment with shapes, sizes and direction through hands-on play.

We can call this math, science, engineering, art or literacy because it’s laying the groundwork for the STEAM disciplines, as well as language development.

But in our hearts—as early childhood educators—we simply call it play.

We have been seeing an abundance of artistic expression lately as our friends, neighbors and the children we care for embrace the pause necessitated by the pandemic and let their creative juices flow.

At times like these, I like to bring Andy Goldsworthy’s books back into our lives. I use Goldsworthy ‘s examples to teach my early learners and their families about ephemeral (pronounced ih-fem-er-uhl) art. Ephemeral art is short-lived. The children often refer to it as “earth art” or “land art,” but ephemeral is such a great word that I often introduce it to broaden their vocabulary.

Andy Goldsworthy is an ephemeral sculptor and creator who specializes in crafting art from natural and found materials. His books have inspired and challenged my budding artists for years. Goldsworthy’s goal is to celebrate and study nature by interacting with natural elements as intimately as he can. He generally works with whatever is available at the site of his design, including stones, twigs, thorns, muds, snow, icicles, brightly colored flowers and leaves.

So what does this have to do with math and science? Plenty! As we explore ephemeral art this month, you’ll be amazed by the many STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math) learning opportunities that ephemeral art projects can provide—and the many early learning standards or benchmarks for math and science that you can meet through this amazingly fun art form.

When we begin to experiment with ephemeral art, we use natural resources (sticks, stones, leaves, ice, shells, sand) to create our own original designs. For the children, this involves collecting, sorting, grouping, designing and often patterning. This hands-on learning can be used to deepen children’s understanding of the aesthetic qualities of natural materials, to enrich their vocabulary and to get their creative juices flowing. Earth art is creative fun that can be done by everyone!

When children engage in design, they often use nonstandard units to measure length and capacity. They use vocabulary that describes and compares length, height, weight, capacity and size. They express wonder and curiosity about their world by asking questions, solving problems and creating art that may change course in the middle of their design process. Land art allows children to develop and use models to represent their ideas, observations and explanations through their designs. All of these creative endeavors will meet Illinois Early Learning Standards—and will very likely meet your state or institution’s early learning requirements as well.

We love to create our own earth art using whatever natural materials have made their way into our program. Sometimes, to get the children’s creative juices flowing, I will do the collecting and sorting. I will often model the process for the children by sitting quietly within sight and starting my own design. Sometimes the children will work on individual projects and, at other times, they will collaborate on group projects. We never know quite when the inspiration will kick in or where the design process will take us.

Our students understand that their creations are a gift to all who see them. But they also accept the reality that their art is ephemeral and may not be there when we return to the sites of our creative endeavors.

I feel that this concept comes rather easily to children who spend many hours outdoors. They understand that the seasons, weather and wildlife are ever-changing. The plant that they could jump over yesterday has literally grown overnight. The tree stumps that they balanced on yesterday are now slippery from the overnight rain. Growing up with these daily changes and challenges allows children to understand that their artwork, their building projects and even the vegetables in their garden may disappear overnight. We have some mighty hungry rabbits and raccoons in our neighborhood. Snapping a picture to document the learning and sharing it with friends and family helps to remind the kids that everything about nature is ephemeral.

This month, I have a challenge for you. Currently, as we spend the majority of our days closer to home, wouldn’t this be a great time to share earth art with our neighbors? To create visual offerings on the sidewalk, in the park or in the forest for passersby to discover and enjoy?

So embrace the pause! Bring joy into the lives of strangers by creating ephemeral art and fostering the development of early math and science skills in our youngest learners!

Howard Gardner of Harvard University argues that we all have various intelligences that manifest themselves in varying amounts and degrees and reveal themselves over time.  He calls these the Multiple Intelligences (MI).

The 9 Multiple Intelligences are as follows:

Visual-Spatial
Think in terms of physical space, as do architects and sailors. Very aware of their environments. They like to draw, do jigsaw puzzles, read maps, daydream. They can be taught through drawings, verbal and physical imagery. Tools include models, graphics, charts, photographs, drawings, 3-D modeling, video, videoconferencing, television, multimedia, texts with pictures/charts/graphs.
Bodily-kinesthetic
Use the body effectively, like a dancer or a surgeon. Keen sense of body awareness. They like movement, making things, touching. They communicate well through body language and be taught through physical activity, hands-on learning, acting out, role playing. Tools include equipment and real objects.
Musical
Show sensitivity to rhythm and sound. They love music, but they are also sensitive to sounds in their environments. They may study better with music in the background. They can be taught by turning lessons into lyrics, speaking rhythmically, tapping out time. Tools include musical instruments, music, radio, stereo, CD-ROM, multimedia.
Interpersonal
Understanding, interacting with others. These students learn through interaction. They have many friends, empathy for others, street smarts. They can be taught through group activities, seminars, dialogues. Tools include the telephone, audio conferencing, time and attention from the instructor, video conferencing, writing, computer conferencing, E-mail.
Intrapersonal
Understanding one’s own interests, goals. These learners tend to shy away from others. They’re in tune with their inner feelings; they have wisdom, intuition and motivation, as well as a strong will, confidence and opinions. They can be taught through independent study and introspection. Tools include books, creative materials, diaries, privacy and time. They are the most independent of the learners.
Verbal/Linguistic
Using words effectively. These learners have highly developed auditory skills and often think in words. They like reading, playing word games, making up poetry or stories. They can be taught by encouraging them to say and see words, read books together. Tools include computers, games, multimedia, books, tape recorders, and lecture.
Logical -Mathematical
Reasoning, calculating. Think conceptually, abstractly and are able to see and explore patterns and relationships. They like to experiment, solve puzzles, ask cosmic questions. They can be taught through logic games, investigations, mysteries. They need to learn and form concepts before they can deal with details.
Naturalist Intelligence (“Nature Smart”)
Designates the human ability to discriminate among living things (plants, animals) as well as sensitivity to other features of the natural world (clouds, rock configurations). This ability was clearly of value in our evolutionary past as hunters, gatherers, and farmers; it continues to be central in such roles as botanist or chef. It is also speculated that much of our consumer society exploits the naturalist intelligences, which can be mobilized in the discrimination among cars, sneakers, kinds of makeup, and the like.
Existential Intelligence
Sensitivity and capacity to tackle deep questions about human existence, such as the meaning of life, why do we die, and how did we get here.

So, people who have Visual/Spatial Intelligence or Logical/Mathematical Intelligence are probably more drawn to puzzles- and may be better at solving them.  Have you ever met a child who could complete a puzzle that was clearly far too advanced for his age?  Chances are, that child has a strong leaning toward one or both of those Intelligences.