"Just Playing?" Marble Run

Thanks for joining me here for another installment in our "Just Playing?" series! You are invited to view the photos/videos and really think about what you see going on here and be sure to share your thoughts, observations and reflections in the comments. Sure, the children are playing, but they are also learning! 

This week, I'm sharing a pictures of a marble run some of my school age kids made with blocks. They were so excited to share it with me! They kept revising it, trying to get the marble rolling faster and faster. About halfway through the run they would have to blow on the marble to keep it going. Finally, they tilted the end of the table up just a bit to create a slope which helped the marble roll without any help.

This week is NAEYC's official "Week of the Young Child". I've been so inspired by our "Just Playing?" series, that I wrote a post on PreK+K Sharing this week called "Play Is Where Learning Begins: WOYC".

We may be "just playing", but....

What are the children doing here?

What do you see?

What learning is taking place?

What skills are being practiced/developed?

This post is part of the "Just Playing?" Blog Hop!

Thank you for remembering that young children do not "just play." Young children play. They develop through play. They learn through play. They experiment through play. They grow through play. A child's work is play. Play is important!

Please take a moment to reflect upon the photos and questions above. I would love for you to share your observations in a comment. I'd also like to invite you to "hop" on over to all of the other bloggers who are sharing photos of children learning through play this week:

If you are looking for more of our “Just Playing?” posts and resources from around the globe, please visit our Pinterest Board.

Are you a blogger? Would you like to join the JUST PLAYING? blog hop community?

You can join the hop via our Facebook Group: Just Playing?

or please contact Amy from Child Central Station for more information.

"Just Playing?" Paper Cup Telephones

Thanks for joining me here for another installment in our "Just Playing?" series! You are invited to view the photos and really think about what you see going on here and be sure to share your thoughts, observations and reflections in the comments. Sure, the children are playing, but they are also learning! 

This week's photos were taken during an activity while exploring how sound travels. I made several sets of paper cup and string telephones and shared them with the children. I demonstrated quickly just once and let the kids go about exploring and experimenting. Eventually, they discovered that the more taut the string was, the better the sound traveled. 

We may be "just playing", but....

What are the children doing here?

What do you see?

What learning is taking place?

What skills are being practiced/developed?

This post is part of the "Just Playing?" Blog Hop!

Thank you for remembering that young children do not "just play." Young children play. They develop through play. They learn through play. They experiment through play. They grow through play. A child's work is play. Play is important!

Please take a moment to reflect upon the photos and questions above. I would love for you to share your observations in a comment. I'd also like to invite you to "hop" on over to all of the other bloggers who are sharing photos of children learning through play this week:

If you are looking for more of our “Just Playing?” posts and resources from around the globe, please visit our Pinterest Board.

Are you a blogger? Would you like to join the JUST PLAYING? blog hop community?

You can join the hop via our Facebook Group: Just Playing?

or please contact Amy from Child Central Station for more information.

"Just Playing?" Going Fishing Magnet Play

Thanks for joining me here for another installment in our "Just Playing?" series! You are invited to view the photos and really think about what you see going on here and be sure to share your thoughts, observations and reflections in the comments. Sure, the children are playing, but they are also learning! 

Some of the kids got out the magnets the other day and began to explore. In the box with the magnets, I have some metallic and non metallic items for the children to experiment with. 

While one little guy was playing, he kept adding items to the creation he was making. Before long, it resembled a fishing pole. 

He carried it around and pretended to fish, making motions as if to reel in a fish.

After a bit, he added a few of the paper clips and a plastic fish manipulative. The kids are pretty used to me taking photos of their play and when they have made something they are particularly proud of, they'll frequently call me over and ask me to take a picture, so it wasn't a surprise when he called to me, "Mrs. Ayn take my picture! I've caught a big one!"

We may be "just playing", but....

What are the children doing here?

What do you see?

What learning is taking place?

What skills are being practiced/developed?

This post is part of the "Just Playing?" Blog Hop!

Thank you for remembering that young children do not "just play." Young children play. They develop through play. They learn through play. They experiment through play. They grow through play. A child's work is play. Play is important!

Please take a moment to reflect upon the photos and questions above. I would love for you to share your observations in a comment. I'd also like to invite you to "hop" on over to all of the other bloggers who are sharing photos of children learning through play this week:

If you are looking for more of our “Just Playing?” posts and resources from around the globe, please visit our Pinterest Board.

Are you a blogger? Would you like to join the JUST PLAYING? blog hop community?

You can join the hop via our Facebook Group: Just Playing?

or please contact Amy from Child Central Station for more information.

"Just Playing?" : Building A Wall

Welcome to the 2nd installment in our "Just Playing?" series! You are invited to view the photos and really think about what you see going on here and be sure to share your thoughts, observations and reflections in the comments. Sure, the children are playing, but they are also learning! 

The students in these photos are building a wall with blocks.

They are lining them up. 

When someone accidentally bumps the blocks and they fall like dominoes, the children rebuild, this time placing the blocks closer together.

Last week's post, "Just Playing?": Cooking With Meatballs, featured children "cooking" on the playground with sand and gumballs from our Sweet Gum tree.

 I have a short video clip that explains a little more about what they were making:

The children explained that they were making a saute' with sand, meatballs, rocks and ants---and the ants were their helpers!

We may be "just playing", but....

What are the children doing here?

What do you see?

What learning is taking place?

What skills are being practiced/developed?

This post is part of the "Just Playing?" Blog Hop!

Thank you for remembering that young children do not "just play." Young children play. They develop through play. They learn through play. They experiment through play. They grow through play. A child's work is play. Play is important!

Please take a moment to reflect upon the photos and questions above. I would love for you to share your observations in a comment. I'd also like to invite you to "hop" on over to all of the other bloggers who are sharing photos of children learning through play this week:

If you are looking for more of our “Just Playing?” posts and resources from around the globe, please visit our Pinterest Board.

Are you a blogger? Would you like to join the JUST PLAYING? blog hop community?

You can join the hop via our Facebook Group: Just Playing?

or please contact Amy from Child Central Station for more information.

"Just Playing?" Blog Hop: Cooking With Meatballs

Welcome to our first "Just Playing?" weekly blog hop!

These children are "cooking" on our playground with gumballs from our Sweet Gum tree. The children call them "meatballs". Our playground is constantly filled with the sights and sounds of children cooking (too bad we can't smell it, too)! What do you think they are making here?

We may be "just playing", but....

What are the children doing here?

What do you see?

What learning is taking place?

What skills are being practiced/developed?

   

This post is part of the "Just Playing?" Blog Hop!

Thank you for remembering that young children do not "just play." Young children play. They develop through play. They learn through play. They experiment through play. They grow through play. A child's work is play. Play is important!

Please take a moment to reflect upon the photos and questions above. I would love for you to share your observations in a comment. I'd also like to invite you to "hop" on over to all of the other bloggers who are sharing photos of children learning through play this week:

If you are looking for more of our “Just Playing?” posts and resources from around the globe, please visit our Pinterest Board.

Are you a blogger? Would you like to join the JUST PLAYING? blog hop community?

You can join the hop via our Facebook Group: Just Playing?

or please contact Amy from Child Central Station for more information.

I'd love for you to share your thoughts in the comments and please visit the other blogs in the "Just Playing" Blog Hop!