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"What’s Going On?" Thinking Routine Paired with a Sensory Table

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"What’s Going On?" Thinking Routine Paired with a Sensory Table

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Toddlers are exposed to a sensory table with items including water, sand, beads, and leaves in this exercise. Teachers enquire, "What's going on here?" and invite young children to express their ideas and participate in practical investigation. You can get them to think further by asking follow-up questions like "What do you think will happen if...?"Through encouraging inquiry and unrestricted exploration, this thought process fosters creativity. Toddlers investigate various items and give thoughtful answers to questions by using their senses. Their curiosity and inventiveness regarding cause and effect are piqued by the tactile experience.

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Small, smooth pebbles with images painted or drawn on them are called story stones. By placing the stones in various orders, toddlers utilize them to narrate stories. Instructors can help them by posing questions like "Who is this character?" and "What happens next?" Children can use tale stones to develop their imaginations by making up stories and plots. Toddlers are given the ability to express various concepts and events through the endless ways in which the stones can be rearranged. Aside from that, it fosters language development as kids tell their stories.

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Story Stones Activity posted by Bright Horizons on June 4, 2020

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Children use symbols on stones to make up stories.

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What is it: Simple, natural wood blocks in various shapes.

Concepts: Physical Coordination, Cognitive Exploration, Creative Expression

Use: Toddlers are able to balance, stack, and build constructions, which enhances their motor abilities and promotes imaginative play and problem-solving.

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What it is: Large pieces of soft, colorful fabric.

Concepts: Creative Expression, Physical Coordination

Use: Toddlers can encourage creativity and major motor skills by using the silks for imaginative play. They can pretend to be rivers, capes, or anything else.

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Goal ESD-1: Children demonstrate a positive sense of self-identity and self-awareness

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Goal ESD-1: Children demonstrate a positive sense of self-identity and self-awareness

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Young Toddlers:

Show that they can identify and comprehend the various body parts. ESD-1e

Identify oneself in a mirror by interacting with their reflection, making faces, or pointing. ESD-1f

Older Toddlers:

Show that they are conscious of their unique traits and skills by identifying oneself in photos and using phrases like "I help Mommy!" ESD-1h

Identify oneself by their own name or by utilizing pronouns like "I," "me," and "mine."ESD-1i

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Goal HPD-4: Children develop the large muscle control and abilities needed to move through and explore their environment

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Goal HPD-4: Children develop the large muscle control and abilities needed to move through and explore their environment

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Young Toddlers:

Coordinate their arms and legs to climb, push, and pull, such as pushing a stroller, using riding toys, or crawling up steps. HPD-4f

Navigate their environment with increased independence by crawling, cruising, walking, running, or using a therapeutic walker. HPD-4g

Older Toddlers:

Make use of well-known items that encourage broad motor skills, like slides, crawl tubes, big balls in baskets, and riding toys. HPD-4j

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- Self-Regulation

- Social Relationships

- Language Development

- Cognitive Exploration

- Physical Coordination

- Emotional Awareness

- Creative Expression

- Cultural Awareness

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What can we do to help our bodies relax when we're feeling really angry or excited?

In order for everyone to play, how can we share toys with our friends?

What do you see in this picture? How are the animals behaving?

When we combine these two colors, what do you think will happen?

Could you demonstrate your high-jumping or one-footed flamingo balance for me?

What drawing could express how you're feeling right now? Can you use those sounds to create a fun song?

What is your favorite food or holiday?

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What it is: Clear bottles filled with materials like colored water, glitter, small beads, or oil and water.

Concepts: Self-Regulation, Cognitive Exploration

Use: By shaking and watching the movement, toddlers can learn self-regulation skills or cognitive exploration skills by calming down and investigating cause-and-effect linkages.

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What it is: Small, natural objects that can be used in various ways. (pinecones, shells, rocks, etc)

Concepts: Cognitive Exploration, Creative Expression, Physical Coordination

Use: Toddlers can play imaginatively by sorting, stacking, counting, or incorporating these materials into their play.

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What it is: Simple picture books showing children or adults expressing different emotions.

Concepts: Emotional Awareness, Language Development

Use: Toddlers can develop language and emotional intelligence by learning to identify emotions in others and express their own feelings.

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What it is: A child-safe, shatterproof mirror.

Concepts: Emotional Awareness, Self-Regulation

Use: Toddlers are able to comprehend emotions and develop self-awareness through observing their own facial expressions, which aids in emotional management.

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What it is: Soft, malleable dough that children can shape. (tools like a rolling pin, cookie cutter, etc.)

Concepts: Physical Coordination, Creative Expression

Use: Because they can press, shape, and mold the dough, toddlers may creatively explore different shapes and textures while also developing their fine motor abilities.

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What it is: Simple, easy-to-use instruments. (drums, xylophone, guitar)

Concepts: Creative Expression, Physical Coordination, Cultural Awareness

Use: Toddlers are introduced to various cultural music forms and are encouraged to experiment with sound, rhythm, and movement through playing instruments.

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What it is: Simple puzzles with large, easily manipulated pieces.

Concepts: Physical Coordination, Cognitive Exploration

Use: As toddlers put the puzzle pieces together, they develop their hand-eye coordination and problem-solving abilities.

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What it is: Dolls and figures that represent diverse races, ethnicities, and cultural backgrounds.

Concepts: Cultural Awareness, Social Relationships

Use: With dolls, toddlers can play pretend, which helps them learn social skills and become more aware of different cultures and traditions.

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What it is: A simple exploration kit for outdoor play. (magnifying glass, collection box)

Concepts: Cognitive Exploration, Cultural Awareness, Physical Coordination

Use: With the use of these tools, toddlers can investigate their surroundings and develop their sense of curiosity, observational abilities, and awareness of the wider world.

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Toddlers are given a list or photographs of natural objects (such as leaves, pinecones, and rocks) to locate in their surroundings for this exercise. During an outside adventure, they can either gather or just view these goods. Toddlers are inspired to investigate and draw connections with their environment as a result of this experience, which fosters curiosity and observational abilities. They imaginatively use the natural world as a resource for play and exploration by locating and interacting with its objects.

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10 Ideas to Get You and Your Child Exploring Outdoors

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Use these ideas to enjoy nature and the outdoors with your child!

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Toddlers investigate the noises that many commonplace items (such as pots, wooden spoons, plastic containers, etc.) make. They are encouraged to use the items they have gathered to create songs, patterns, and rhythms. Making music and using sound to convey one's creativity are encouraged by this event. Toddlers engage with rhythm, loudness, and sound texture by using their creativity to turn commonplace objects into instruments. They discover that unexpected places can yield musical inspiration.

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Sound Kitchen | The New Children’s Museum

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The Sound Kitchen is an interactive studio where you can play, sing and record your own musical creations.

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Toddlers investigate how light casts shadows using flashlights, mirrors, and objects of different sizes and materials. They can move things in and out of the light source to experiment with changing the size and direction of the shadows. Light exploration helps kids become more creative by letting them play with cause and effect. Toddlers are able to play with light and shadow, forming new forms and investigating patterns in images. Children can use their imaginations and creative interpretations to project their own notions onto the shadows because this activity is open-ended.

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Open Exploration: Light and Shadows | Science in Pre-K

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Home / Science Concepts / The Science of Light and Shadows / Open Exploration: Light and Shadows

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Toddlers build their own buildings with materials that are meant to be used loosely, such as wooden blocks, stones, cloth, and tubes. There are no rules on what can be built, so kids are encouraged to use their imaginations to create houses, towers, and other structures. Children are encouraged to participate in unstructured building through this experience, which stimulates creativity. Toddlers explore balance, form, and structure without any predetermined results in mind, which helps them solve problems and express their own creative ideas. There are countless options due to the diversity of materials.

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Grand Opening of Loose Parts Play Hub, Presented by Amcor

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The Children’s Museum of Southern Minnesota is thrilled to announce the grand openingof the Loose Parts Play Hub (LPPH), presented by Amcor