Child Involvement and Adult Inclusion

Growing up in a home daycare in the early 90's, my mother always had the silliest, messiest, and sometimes loudest, hands-on activities. This was very different from some of the other environments provided for children around this time. Much of the time, the activities were set up for the children based on what their interests were that particular day. I can remember one day, my mom wore a tie-dyed shirt that she had made the weekend before and 3 of the children showed interest in the colors and patterns. That day, my mom took out all of the big white t-shirts that my dad didn't wear anymore and all of the materials to create tie-dyed shirts with us children. Twenty years later, and I will never forget that learning experience because it was something I was interested in that moment.

Families would sometimes cringe when they would arrive early to pick up their child if we were in the middle of one of these 'outlandish' activities. Seeing play dough sprawled across the tables (and floors), water and sand being splashed and mixed in sensory tables, or hearing loud banging from pots and pans sent some families running for the hills. The cringe factor of families almost always came from the fear of the children learning a new unacceptable behavior or the children ruining the house because, let's face it, these activities were always VERY messy! This is sometimes also the result of society’s impression of what teaching young children should be about. Explaining to families and educators that hands-on, child-centered activities were going to influence their child's social-emotional skills, physical development, and understanding of the world around them was sometimes impossible, especially in the 90's. Today, there are more resources for parents and educators explaining the importance of child-directed play, but we are still experiencing the same concerns from families. 

A Q&A session with an online author from the National Association for Educating Young Children (NAEYC) suggests, "One way to help parents appreciate the importance of play is to encourage them to observe in the classroom and to share anecdotes with them about the 'academic' learning that happens in play situations" (Epstein, 2011). Adults have the opportunity to facilitate activities that children will enjoy when they observe the interest the child takes in the world around them. Experiences become more meaningful and new concepts, social rules, and critical thinking can be learned when adults provide open-ended questions, new vocabulary, and most importantly, patience and consideration of the child's interest.

Yesterday, Annalit, Aria, and I decided we would have a day together. I brought with me a huge box of quartz and other various rocks I had gathered for a previous rocks and minerals activity for the Space Center. Aria collects seashells, rocks, and other natural materials from outdoors so I decided I would bring some over for her and she could help put them back into the wild on a hike. As many of you know, plans including children almost always change, and Aria was ready for a nap by the time I came over. When she awoke, we decided that we would stay home and explore the rocks instead.

If we take a closer look at the activities that Annalit and I provided, we can observe the different learning experiences that took place within their home. 

Painting Rocks:

           

Above we can see Aria working on her self-helps skills as well as her fine motor development. She is developing her self-help skills when challenging herself to difficult feats as well as fine motor dexterity when she practices opening and closing the paint bottles. Here are some other everyday activities to help influence children's self-help and fine motor skills. 

Attempting to fit paintbrushes into paint containers

           Shortly after this picture was taken, Aria showed frustration when she couldn't fit a large paintbrush into the opening of a paint container. This would be a perfect opportunity for adults to ask open-ended questions to get children to critically think. Annalit asked Aria if she knew why the paintbrush wasn't fitting into the opening and what we could do to fix this. When Aria still showed frustration, Annalit took the time to help her find materials to get the paint from one container into another, using full sentences to explain what she was doing and why. Annalit is modeling problem solving skills, spatial reasoning, language development, and self-coping mechanisms for her daughter when she takes the time to understand, explain, include, and model appropriate techniques for Aria so that they may diminish uncomfortable situations appropriately.

Aria's switched interest from painting to bubbles

If the child's interest changes, don't fret! The interest is more important than the activity. Although it is important to help challenge children to be persistent when an activity becomes difficult, an adult can take this opportunity to understand if the child is having trouble with the activity or if they are just not interested anymore. Adults show children that they care about their curiosity and interest when they follow the child's cues instead of taking them away from a new important learning experience.

Shortly after this photo was taken, Annalit asked Aria if she wanted to wash the rocks with soapy bubbles. Annalit took into consideration Aria's new interest in blowing bubbles and included her previous interest of painting/observing rocks.

 Setting up Activities:

Aria helping fill water into the table

Providing the soap for the rock bath

                               Learning the science behind bubbles through guidance and experience

                                                       

Children can miss a multitude of learning experiences when adults set up activities alone. Let’s take a closer look at what Aria learned when we included her in the process of setting up the next activity:

1. She learned the steps that go into setting up the activity when Annalit and I explained everything we needed for the next activity and we guided her through the steps of setting it up.

2. She worked on her gross motor development when helping carry large pots of water to the table outside.

3. She worked on learning new scientific concepts when she was guided through making the bubbles, using her hands to swish back-and-forth, forcing air into the water to create them.

4. She can learn rules and safety such as where we keep the water (no splashing mommy or Sarah) or why we walk when around water.

         We can see that she was enjoying herself as the bubbles appeared, leaving a potentially lasting memory and new neural connections.

Washing/Exploring Rocks in Water:

Exploring the physical properties of water 

     Adding various materials to water such as cups, strainers, rocks, containers, spray bottles, and/or sponges can create opportunity for children to learn about volume, buoyancy, mass, and the dynamics of liquid. This is also a great opportunity for adults to include new vocabulary for children as well as opportunity for dramatic play,  fine motor dexterity, and social/emotional development. Here is a resource with some tips for water play! 

Male/Father Involvement:

      Men are often secluded from the learning process due to social stigma. An analysis from Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development states:

 "It becomes imperative, now more than ever, to better understand the role of fathers in child development and child outcomes. Generalizing the effects of mother involvement as representative of the effects of overall parent involvement threatens the veracity of the conclusions that can be drawn from such work. This tendency also disregards the growing body of research that demonstrates that fathers uniquely contribute to their children’s development as distinct from the contributions of mothers" (Harris, 2010).

 Fathers are just as much a part of the learning process as mothers and when included, fathers can provide an array of learning experiences a mother may not provide. The importance of attachment cannot be stressed enough in the learning process and our parents are our primary attachments from the get go, unless specific circumstances arise. 
          Aria's father comes home from work to find us playing on the front porch. He takes the time to play with Aria and show interest in what she is learning. Aria can see that her father cares about her curiosity and that he wants to be involved in her world.

            

             As we have read, many windows for development emerged with only a few activities provided. Overall, we can see that learning opportunities are always present and when we take the time to see them as learning opportunities we can help children unfold an understanding of the world around them.

            What are your thoughts and concerns in male involvement, child-centered play, and adult inclusion? Feel free to leave any comments, questions, and/or concerns!