Children are sponges; you put something in front of them and they immediately start soaking up information. From birth, children are taking in new things, everything is a new discovery.
At first, infants do not understand that there is a relationship between cause and effect, but through many experiments they begin to realize that their actions may cause other actions. By the time they are at preschool age, they are really starting to understand and experiment with different cause and effect theories.
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| Here D. watches as C. hammers balls. When the ball is hammered hard enough, another ball pops up and rolls into the old space. |
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| These children are enjoying the product of a cause and effect project. They watched as unpopped popcorn was added to the popper, then heated and popped into a delicious snack. |
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| These children added baking soda to their paint, then when it was dry they sprayed it with vinegar. They are transfixed by the fizzing reaction these two ingredients have! |
Another way of discovering the world is through the use of tools. When children are very young their tool may be a cry to get what they want. As the child realizes the power and effectiveness of tools they become more sophisticated with their use as they interact with the world.
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| D. realizes that hitting the drum with a mallet will make a more pleasing sound than just hitting it with her hand |
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| Z. uses a spoon to eat her pudding |
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| Everyday practice helps N. get her food to her mouth in a more effective way than just using her fingers |
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| A. uses a dull knife to cut her banana into easier to eat pieces. |
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| C. uses a straw to blow bubbles in different liquids, soapy water was the most interesting to him |
Understanding space is a concept that must be explored if a child is going to successfully navigate in the world, this includes balance, perspective, gravity and distance.
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| L. figures out how to get his legs from one side of the block to the other while leaving his hands where they are |
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| A. bear walks across the parallel bars |
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| L. balances from one side of the plank to the other side with ease |
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| G. has to figure out how to get the balloon he just threw out of his own reach |
Developing these discoveries is what our days consist of. We provide materials to support the curiosity and wonder these children experience daily. Through baking, building, moving, reading, and countless other ways of discovering how the world works, children understand the world they live in and how to enjoy it.
