Inspiration

After the fun learning experiences of messing about with balance I was amazed to see how fascinated I was with the big idea. I decided the idea of balance with natural materials was a great learning opportunity for the children. After searching through Pinterest I found an amazing blog by Laurel Fynes who is a kindergarten teacher. Her blog can be found at http://thiskindylife.blogspot.ca/2013/05/balance-pattern-rhythm-and-awe.html She allowed her students to use loose materials and mess about with them, which lead into the idea of balance. I decided this would be a great activity to provide for my students to engage them in the idea around balance.

 During our outdoor walk, I reminded the children to add any materials they wanted into the wagon so we could use them in the classroom. The main findings the children picked up were stones, sticks, and pieces of logs. Walking along the river was a great idea for the walk! The natural materials that were provided were great! Nature is a great resources for any classroom. According to the Full Day Kindergarten Document in the art domain According to the Full Day Kindergarten Document, in the art domain, the children will explore a variety of tools, materials, and processes of their own choice to create visual art forms in familiar and new ways (FDELK 2011, V2.1, p.153). This will be seen as the children explore with natural materials. 

Once in the classroom the children were eager to mess about with the natural materials. They started digging through the bin that carried tons of rocks, logs, and sticks. At first the children were looking at the rocks and laying them in a straight line. Then one child started to stack the rocks on top of each other. Another child saw this and said “Wow look the rocks can sit on top and not fall”. I then said “Yes this is called balance”.   

 Through this experience the child recognized personal interests, strengths, and accomplishments as they created their own rock balance (FDELK 2011, 1.1, p.60). 

Another child wanted to see if he could balance the pieces of logs on top of each other. One child said” It will work because they are flat”. The other child said “No they are round”. Through hypothesis he was able to determine that he is able to stack the logs and balance them.

I also provided some mirrors to add dimension and interests for the students. They really enjoyed this aspect of the activity! I saw two children comparing their balanced rocks to see whose was taller by marking the mirror with washable markers.