::: busy, busy play = busy, busy ‘mess’
Any body who has been following our blog since it began last September will know our mantra is “make it irresistible” and that every day we strive to make our center and activities as irresistible as we can in order to attract our students to experience all they can! Well, a little while ago, Jenny from over at “Progressive Early Childhood Education” (see link) left us a comment saying:
“I’d love to see what your table looks like at the end of an activity! They always look so inviting and pleasing at the beginning but I can’t imagine that the hive of activity they must inspire would leave them that way.“
Well Jenny you are absolutely right, lots of play means lots of ‘mess’, so here are the before and after snap shots of some of the activities our children really enjoyed during week one, 2010.
Invention Table … before.
and … after!
Playdough … before.
and playdough … after!
(The yellow playdough only lasted a couple of days and the blue is looking pretty shoddy already!)
Dinosaur play .. before.
dinosaurs … after!
Puzzle area .. before.
and … after!
Bush box, fishing game … before.
… after!
Colour matching game … before.
Colour matching game … after!
Block play … before.
whoaaaa! … and after!
Well Jenny there you have it! Lots and lots of busy play naturally means lots and lots of busy mess. So you know what happens next … we set it all up again and wait for more busy, busy play!
Thanks for you comment Jenny. If any body else has anything they would like to see or hear about, please feel free to ‘Contact Us‘ we’d be very happy to share with you!!
HI,
I love your blog! I’ve been trolling through old posts and really enjoying reading about your centre and especially love all the photos (visual person here!). You’ve given me some great ideas too
Louise
Ah, thank you for showing me the mess (or should I say evidence of creative process and learning!). I don’t feel so bad now
I’m envious of your circular invention table too. And as usual, I just want to copy all your setups! Thanks again, Jenny
oh, how glad i am to find this site!
thanks to jenny for pointing me this way.
eager to read more.
thank you, kristin
That is the best EC post I’ve ever read! Soooo good to see the after shot. Now I feel that my kids and I are normal.
::: Oh good Sarah! Now you’ve made us feel normal too!!!!!
I love the invitations you’ve created for the children to explore the areas! Very nice!!
::: Thank you Melanie We truly believe if you make it look inviting the children will at least be interested to have a look at what is on offer … hence our mantra “make it irresistible”!
While mess is understandable and indeed an important part of the exploration process, there’s this sort of mess and then there is the destructive kind. I know this sounds harsh but when children dont have a bond or respect with the environment around them you end up with a collection of chewed and broken toys, resources, torn paintings and ripped apart books at the end of the day.
It’s so disheartening to spend the time role modelling the way to read a book or the way to care for the artwork of another child, or how to play with in a space only to return moments later to see one child in tears because “He tore all the paintings down and now they are all gone and broked” sometimes i feel i struggle at maintaining a positive play space because of the destructive factor.
Even when ownership of the space is given, when great nurturing skills are introduced … it’s a little heartbreaking to turn around to see some one gleefully upending the “fishing pong” (yes – pong, not pond) and laughing hysterically as his friends cry and struggle under a mass of blue cellophane and starfish.
::: We so hear your frustrations Billie. Empathy towards the feeling of others can be the most difficult thing for small children to learn and certainly one the most challenging things for us to teach! Continued patience on our part and role modeling of acceptable behaviour is still such a positive and necessary action. Sometimes for the happiness of everyone we do need to modify our environments slightly to cater for the needs of all children. Of course that doesn’t have to mean huge changes just the removal or repositioning of things, like the paintings. U.S. based Parenting Coach – Alison Astair has some great ideas on her website which you might find helpful. Here is a link for you … http://www.helpmealison.com/ages–stages.html … http://www.facebook.com/parenting.coach.alison.astair?sk=info
::: Billie we popped your comment up on our Facebook page and here is what Alison Astair had to say … We hope this helps! http://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=168193806581731&id=121305887884646
All your experiences always look so fabulous! I love it that you’ve added these after shots, It’s just what you should be seeing if children are engaging in an experience.
::: Yep … And this was a relatively tidy day Nicole!
