Learning about “order” in the world is a fascinating subject for children. He learns about physics and the law of gravity when he drops the spoon from the high chair. She discovers the wonder of plants when she watches a seed turn into a flower.
Here’s a fun summer activity for babies, all the way up through preschoolers.
Get a plastic tub (the kind you use to wash dishes in while camping works great), and fill it with water. Find a variety of objects that either sink or float or both. Sponges, plastic animals, a plastic bowl, a wooden spoon, a rubber duck, a ball, a small strainer (look in your utensil drawer for ideas), ice cubes, a hotel sized bar of soap.
If you add a squeeze of dish soap after you’ve filled the washtub with water, show your child how to whip up a froth of bubbles with the wooden spoon or a whisk.
You might even buy some colored bath tablets, and let your child pick two colors. What happens when he drops in the first one? What happens when he adds the second? (Of course, you know the answer – the point is for your child to discover the “order” of the color wheel.)
Then let her experiment and learn. About the order of things that sink. Or float. Or both.
-posted by Miss Analiisa, who at times wishes she could simply experiment and play with the order of things, rather than always having to make things orderly. Like the living room, before the cleaner comes.
QUICK LINKS
