Think & Observe, Act & Experiment

Watching the children getting used to the new environment in our program, we realized how much they grow and learn through play. Whether they learn from teachers or friends, what matters the most is the freedom they have to explore and experiment on their own.

On February 8, 2016, the children were having free play in the room. As I was watching them,  I noticed a child watching another child while she was playing. The child had been playing with a toy for a few minutes when she figured that there is a different way to play with that same toy.

At first, she picked up the wooden ball and threw it on the wooden xylophone holder, it did not matter where the ball hit as long as she could throw it.

The picture above shows how she figured out how to put the ball inside the hole.  She matched the color of the ball to the blue ring on the toy.

The ball got stuck! She tried to pull the ball from the top part as hard as she could, but the ball would not come off. She got a little frustrated. Then she tried again standing up with one of her hands still on the ball, pushing it down accidentally. The ball went right through the hole and rolled onto the floor.  She appeared to be very proud with her success as she smiles. After that, she started doing it over and over again.

Another child was watching from a corner, his legs are showing on the first picture above. After some time, he came closer to join the other child with the play.

This time, he did not spend too much time figuring out how to put the balls in and how to take them out. Since he was watching the other child while she was doing it earlier, he used the idea that he saw and learned from the other child.

The child was holding a mallet. Instead of using his fingers or hands, he tried using his mallet to push the ball down. To his surprise, it worked!

The two children started taking turns pushing the balls down through the holes. The first child continuously used her hands while the other child used his mallet.

Children learn in many ways. Through their own and through the help of others, by watching and experimenting, by thinking and observing. Like how adults think and learn, they put their observations into actions which leads them to teaching one another.


"You gain knowledge by learning something new. You gain wisdom by learning and accepting something contradicting or altering things you'd learnt before." -Majdi Rabah


                                                                                                                                  -Mrs. Javier-