Toddler Risk Taking

Things are settling down here with S in the house so I think I may be able to get back to some writing finally.  A little disclaimer here...He is the inspiration for this particular post, even though it happens to be classroom related.

There has been a lot of debate in the past few years about whether playgrounds can be too safe, as this article from the New York Times explains and appropriate risk taking by young children. Deborah at Teach Preschool, Teacher Tom and many others have written some excellent posts on the subject. For many years, I have pretty much let my toddlers take risks and do things that many toddler teachers would stop. You typically won't hear me tell a child not to stand on the couch or crawl under the table. It is not uncommon to find a toddler in my class standing on a chair to put more blocks on a tower taller than they are, carry objects around that appear too heavy, let them go for a walk on campus and not have to hold a teacher's hand or just simply get dirty.

At the same time, there are specific things I won't allow. Children are not allowed to sit on tables or run through the quieter areas of the classroom, such as the book or art areas. With each new group of children, the rules are tweaked.  In the name of safety, one rule that never changes is that teachers are not to put children onto a structure that they cannot climb onto on their own. If a child cannot climb into or onto something, then they likely cannot get down from it safely. Or, they develop a false sense of confidence and end up attempting something they are not physically ready for, resulting in a preventable injury.

With each new group of children, the rules change slightly and seem to become a little more relaxed. We had a rule last fall that children could not use chairs to climb on top of the tunnels on the playground. I had let a couple try it and quickly ended it when two children launched themselves from their chairs completely over the tunnels, landing face first in the mud on the other side with decent cuts and bruises. By the spring, they had developed more physical coordination and we ended that rule. You can only hear yourself or your co-teacher tell a child so many times that chairs do not belong at the tunnels to finally realize it might be time to let them try again. This time, they slowed down, paid closer attention and no one ended up getting hurt.

I'm not saying we change the rules on a whim or just let the toddlers do what they want. We evaluate the situation, the children's current development in all areas and, the group dynamic before changing a rule. With the younger toddlers in the classroom, we had decided it would be safer if we didn't allow the walkers to take wheeled toys, like the strollers and cars, up and down the ramps in the movement area. It wasn't that we thought the children using the toys would get hurt but, concern that they might not notice a younger, less stable toddler in the area and that child might just get run over. But, having the rule in place did not stop the children from taking these wheeled toys on the ramps frequently. We tried several strategies to stop it until one day, I saw my little guy and another boy carefully walking up the ramp with the cars under them. One of the teachers started to remind them of the rule when I said to her, "Let's just see where this goes." We remained close (and quiet) in case one of us needed to intervene as we continued to observe. Remarkably, they managed to repeat this several times without anyone getting hurt or even falling down really.

  

We picked up some great information about these boys as we watched them maneuver around each other. Often, one was heading down as the other was going up and they adjusted their positions so that they didn't crash into each other or cause one another to fall off. There were times they ended up in the same spot and had to carefully maneuver their cars into position without knocking the other child off. They learned to be aware of where the other one was on the ramp, how much space each car needed and were more aware of their bodies in the space.  They learned how to solve some new problems, both physical and social.  So, we decided to eliminate that rule for the time being. With subsequent groups, we may have to revisit. Only time will tell.

The ramps in question.

Which isn't to say we haven't had accidents. One child tried to go down backward and ended up on his back in the process. He has since re-thought the wisdom in that and now goes down facing forward or goes slower to avoid rolling over again. We also don't just leave them to their own devices or let them get crazy. Someone is usually in that area or very close and we have no problem stepping in and helping a child re-think an idea that we are pretty sure will result in injury or something being damaged.  As a result of this indoor rule change, we finally decided to relax the outdoor rules and let them ride wheeled toys down the hill (again my little guy was the leader of the pack- I still haven't decided if that is a good or bad thing!), as you will see in the video below. You will actually hear me mention appropriate risk taking. One of the other teachers asked if she stop the boy at the bottom of the hill and I decided not to. You will notice that not only does he stop when he sees my little guy coming down but, my little guy also changed his path when he noticed the boy at the bottom.

The Many Uses for Candy Canes

There is something about candy canes that appeals to all children. Even the youngest toddlers who have never seen them before are enthralled, probably because they are new to them.  I brought out some plastic candy canes, both the traditional hook-shaped kind as well as some spiral ones.  Some are red and white while others add a stripe of green. I think the inspiration for them came when I was teaching a math methods course. I thought the different types of candy canes would provide multiple opportunities for sorting and classifying. Last year the older two's and young three's did actually do some sorting. But, even for them, filling up the bags provided was much more interesting that any ideas I had in mind.

This group is no different. Since they are much younger, I was quite curious to see how they would use them. I brought them out in a big box and sat them on the floor. One of the older boys immediately realized the hook could be of some use and started trying different places to hang them up. He didn't have to go far as the first try at the felt board was successful. Soon his peers noticed and several children had a go at hanging candy canes. This required a degree of patience, perseverance and problem solving as they searched carefully for the ledge with the hook. If they were too rough, the candy cane would break and if they didn't pay careful attention to placement, the candy canes ended up on the floor.

Once all the hook-shaped candy canes were hung, he tried the spirals, to no avail. He didn't give up though, and instead removed the hook-shaped ones and proceeded to look for new places to hang them. Lots of trial and error took place as he searched for places not too wide and not too light to support his candy canes. Having a friend to help added a new level as they practiced turn-taking and listening and responding to one other.

For the youngest in the group, the simple act of placing the candy canes in the bags took some concentration and coordination. If the candy cane went in the wrong way, it might get caught on the handle. Too many candy canes in the bag could result in tangling, as they often found out them they tried to remove just one but instead emptied the bag.

Some just tried to see how many they could hold in their hands or fit in their bags, exploring spacial relationships and quantity.

We even tried mixing candy canes and bows in our bags, eventually realizing that not many bows would fit in the bags as compared to candy canes.

I could have shown the older toddlers how to sort the candy canes in various ways, as I had originally intended. By giving them the freedom to explore in their own way, the learning they created was their own and much more meaningful to them.  And they practiced some valuable concepts and skills that they might have missed if I forced my ideas on them. As we continue to play with the candy canes, some of them might start looking for ones that match. Most of them probably won't. But that doesn't mean they aren't learning. And I am perfectly fine with that.

Holiday Activities with Toddlers

Working on a college campus has its advantages, one of them being an extended winter break. The downside to that is we don't have as much time to explore with the holiday-themed materials I've accumulated over the years. This year we have to be extra careful to insure the materials didn't pose a safety hazard to the younger toddlers. But, we have managed to do that and they have had fun experimenting.

One of their favorite activities seems to be using tongs so I try to come up with a variety of activities throughout the year that lets them practice this fine motor skill. For the holidats, we have winter-themed ice cube trays and a variety of materials, including large erasers, pom-poms and Christmas lights, that they can pick up and place in the trays. Sometimes they even work on matching and sorting, although we let them sort the materials in any way they see fit. This activity gives us the chance to work on language skills and some concepts in a playful way. We often talk about colors, textures, and shapes along with concepts like same and different when we have these activities out.  We get to introduce new language, like squeeze, and talk about the hard work it takes to squeeze the tongs and actually hold onto the item in the question.

Moving them from the floor to the shelf and back again became a great challenge that they took on with delight.

We have been sorting Christmas ornaments by color but we really like to fill the buckets and dump them out. Sometimes we even experiment with the ornaments in the ball tubes or on the ramp.

And I have to include a few more pictures of the snow painting we started earlier this week. The young toddlers finally got their turn and tasting and feeling the paint was the highlight for them.

What surprised me the most about this activity was the interest the older toddlers took in making hand prints after we made one for their parents' gift. I honestly thought they would spend most of their time finger painting or simply exploring but almost all of them continued to make their own hand prints when they had more opportunities to paint later in the week.

The Wonder of Glue

Making rain drops.

I wrote a week or so ago about a magical day where everything went as planned and the children spent the day exploring, completely engrossed their activities. One of the activities that had them so engaged was making nature collages. When we make collages, I give the toddlers bottles of real Elmer'sTM glue. I've been doing this for years, to the surprise of most other toddler teachers I meet. There are several reasons for this. The basic reason is that not every project I have come up with can be completed effectively with glue. Some items just won't stick once the glue is dry.  The act of squeezing the glue out of the bottle helps develop fine motor and, sometimes, problem solving skills. By using real glue, the children learn so many things and can explore with it in ways they just can't so with a glue stick. So while glue sticks might be easier and more convenient for us teachers, the regular, old-fashioned glue is much better for the children.

Feeling the glue.

Last week was the first time this school year that I have pulled out the glue bottles. The older toddlers were familiar with them since we had used them often in the spring and summer. The only thing I had to do to get them interested was ask one older toddler if they wanted to use the glue and I had a table full before I knew it and children willing to wait for their turn as patiently as a two-year-old can. As they worked on the nature collages, the main focus simply shifted to the glue and what they could do with it. They made raindrops, roads, and imaginary places that included mountains cash registers, just to start with. Since their focus and interest was in the glue itself, I decided it was time to pull out the colored glue and glitter glue so they could continue exploring.

I've purchased different versions of glitter glue and colored glue over the years but the children have struggles with them. Either the glue comes out so fast that it's gone in an instant or the bottles are designed in a way that the toddlers cannot squeeze hard enough (and they will try!) to get the glue to come out. I've tried to make different kinds of glitter or colored glue over the years with varying levels of success. So this time, we made our own colored glue by mixing powder paint with white glue and then putting it in some squeeze bottles that we had been using for paint. I also found some airtight containers to save the extra glue in so we don't have to make it every day. We can go through a lot of glue in a day and running out was one of the issues we were having.

Getting started

A parent had recently gotten a huge pile of mat board donated from a framer that was closing up shop, which was perfect for the glue pictures.  Because we have so much, this project has been happening every day.  It wasn't until the middle of the week that I came up with the idea of using the old paint bottles for the glue and that is when the exploration really took off.  By Thursday, their interest was still strong in the glue so the the new glue bottles came out. There were only four bottles and it just happened that four children wanted to play. They each went to the stack of mat board, chose their board and brought it to the table. Each child was given a bottle of glue and they got to work. They were excited to be using the new bottles and seeing the vibrant colors of the glue.  

Some of them started out by continuing their exploration from earlier in the week. We had more children making raindrops by holding the bottles up high and squeezing slowly. They would watch the drops fall onto their board and try to make the drops change size or fall into a particular spot. There were some who squeezed glue into their hands and rubbed it in as if they were washing them. Toddlers are still very sensory oriented so I let them explore without interruption. If I stop them from trying things like this, they will still find a way and usually a less desirable way to explore. 

Then something really amazing happened. I had turned my back to write something down and when I was finished and turned back to the table, S. was telling me that he and D. had traded glue. Apparently they wanted to try another color so they figured out a way to make that happen. As I watched and they continued to explore, this spontaneous trading of glue bottles happened again and again. There were occasional disagreements about how long they should wait for their next turn or which color they wanted but, they worked it all out themselves. No temper tantrums, no crying and no need for adult intervention. These two-year-olds talked through each situation, listening to their peers and negotiating to the best of their abilities.

They started trading glue bottles so they could have more colors on their boards.

The irony is that my co-teacher and I had just recently been discussing how much they had been relying on us for help because the staff, the student staff and the two of us, had been stepping in too often and rescuing them when they probably could have solved their problems on their own or with less help. This is a pattern we have noticed over the last two years. Each semester, we get several new children so they need a little more support as they get used to the routines and tasks associated with full-day child care. The 'old' children that have been with us need help adjusting to the new children, sharing their primary caregiver's time with the new children and figuring out what their place or role is now. But there comes a time when we need to let them try more on their own. And we had passed that point a couple of several weeks ago.

Some glue spilled onto the table so he decided to clean it up, which lead to cleaning up his picture as well.

The finished, dry project.

So over that last few weeks we have been stepping in less often, usually only for repeated problems or when things looks like they may get physical. We are also watching more, and coaching the new staff to watch, for each child's non-verbal cues that they are reaching that peak of frustration and really do need some help.  Watching them work out the turn-taking and social problem-solving shows me that we have been doing the right thing. As an added benefit, we ended up with some amazing pictures. The pictures are another sensory activity as they love to run their hands over them to feel the glue patterns and textures. And they are learning about the properties of glue and what happens when it is left out to dry.

Toddlers are capable of doing much more on their own than we sometimes give them credit for. So when I look at wonderful pictures they created, I will be reminded of all the things these toddlers are capable of doing on their own and what great problem solving skills they have.