"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.

Battleship: Things You Can Do With A Peg Board

This morning, two of the big kids were playing a game of Battleship. Here's the rub---we don't have the game! They improvised a pegboard set, quite ingeniously, I might add! 

Watching them play, it made me reflect back to seeing kids play with the very same manipulatives in a different setting (an elementary school) years ago and hearing the teacher scold the children for using the materials inappropriately. "That is NOT what you are supposed to do with those!" she said sternly. It makes me wonder what those kids may have come up with had they been allowed to explore creatively with the materials. I hope the times have changed and children in that setting are allowed to explore a little more freely. These boys were not playing rough, although they did get a little loud when one of them would exuberantly exclaim "HIT ! ", but that was part of the fun they were having! 

I'm glad that I could bear witness to this burst of creativity before they headed off to school this morning. This was certainly one of the highlights of my day! 


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Sweet Genius! Cooking Up A Little Playdough Fun

As you might guess, there are a few drawbacks to sharing my classroom with another group when Pre-K in not in session. There are also some major benefits. The elementary school age kids share my room in the mornings before school and later in the afternoons. I taught a majority of these kids when they were in Pre-K, so it has been a bonus to me to watch these kids grow and mature each year.

This morning, the kids were busily working with playdough at the table. I watched for a minute, thinking about how much their play with playdough had changed over the years. As I listened, there was a lot of talk of winning and getting judged, so I asked what they were doing exactly. "We're playing Sweet Genius",  one of them said. Apparently, "Sweet Genius" is one of those competition cooking shows on The Food Network ( I don't watch cable. I know, I live under a rock.). They were making a variety of pies, cakes and cookies and some of the other kids were going to judge them just like on the show. We talked for a minute, then I let them get back to their game. As I started to leave them to their game, they asked me to take pictures of their creations. They know that if they do something cool or interesting, no matter how busy I am, I'll want to see it and take pictures. I'll make the time. They know me well. 

Here are some of the sweet treats I found them making this morning:

Candies with Fruit

A Fancy Cake

 Layer Cake

 Fancy Pastry 

Cookies

 Adding Sprinkles to a Cupcake

Fancy Cupcake for the New Year

Just because a moustache is fun!

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All In A Day's Play In Pre-K

I am frequently asked by parents "What do y'all do all day?". Yes, we play. It's play, but it is so much more! My friend and blogger buddy, Alec from Child's Play Music, posted a wonderful article just this week called "The Future Of Education Is Play". ( I highly encourage you to pop on over and give it a read--you'll be glad you did!) While a large majority of my posts here are about the planned activities that we do, much of our school day is unstructured free time, where students choose for themselves where and what to play. Today, I want to share a glimpse into some of what goes on in our classroom on any given day during these times.

Our morning started by preparing apples for our crockpot applesauce. (More on that and our visit from Johnny Appleseed coming soon!)

While we were preparing apples, some of the friends were working hard on putting together some large floor puzzles.

Center time was a bustle of activity today. Our "Fruit Stand" in our dramatic play was full of activity (I'm saving those pictures for a post later on our apple unit). In our math center, some of the friends made a "tower with a parking lot" with pegs, peg boards and transportation manipulatives.

Building a "cabin".

There was some farming going on in one area....

And some dollhouse play nearby.

How about this little "tv room with a wide screen tv" ?

Science Center was also quite busy today. 

I noticed all the dinosaurs seemed to be carefully placed. When I asked about them, I was told they were all lining up to go see the new baby whale. Anything is possible in the mind of a preschooler!

Some friends took time to enjoy a good book.

Our classroom neighbors found this gigantic caterpillar on the playground today and shared it with us, so we stopped for a few minutes to observe him. He was several inches long and about as thick as a fat cigar. I've never seen a caterpillar this big!

This block structure was built over the course of the morning. 

It started off fairly simple, and became more and more intricate as time went on. 

 Different parts of the structure had different purposes.

 These small blocks are "ice cream for the people". 

 This is a "cave for the people".

These girls are using sanding blocks to make all the blocks "feel soft". 

A bedroom.

A "secret hiding place".

I watched as the friend playing with these table blocks arranged each block with precision. I asked about the arrangement and what he was making and was told, "I don't know yet. I'm just building it first!"

It struck me funny that seemingly random arrangements were actually items carefully arranged, while the small table blocks were so carefully placed without an end purpose. Some of the most important learning going on today can't quite be captured in photographs. There was sharing, cooperation, leadership, turn taking, compromise, critical thinking, problem solving and a host of other social skills going on throughout their play today. They are learning so much more through this play than I could ever begin to teach through direct instruction. So when I'm asked, "What do y'all do all day? Do you do any 'real' work?". My answer? YES, we work. Our work is play. And play IS important! 


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