Sand-The many ways it can inspire us at FCCC-Rideau Heights

The preschoolers are full of life and curiosity. They enjoy the many experiences provided by the educators, as well as the ones that come naturally in our outdoor classroom. They play as a group or they play alone; one thing they have in common is the love for the sandbox. A place where they can kick off their shoes, dig their toes in deep and feel that cool, rough texture. It’s a place to make cakes, cookies and mud pies in a bakery, to drive trucks around the construction site or dig for dinosaur bones. Their imaginations can run wild and there are no limits to what they can do. For the majority of the time the sand is outside but, when that interest is so big we want them to explore it anytime! The construction site that was built in the tough table was admired, enjoyed and eventually destroyed. It creates smiles, encouraged conversations between friends and educators and expanded on the interests of the children, supporting the emergent curriculum. This interest was then used as a creative experience with glue. The sand was sprinkled so carefully onto paper plates. This was then pushed further into science where it was mixed with flour and oil to create “sand dough”. Small pots were used to plant a garden using beans as seeds. That garden encouraged the need for soil, where basil was planted and cared for until it was talked about during circle time and the topic of conversation at the lunch table. We see sandboxes in every playground, we walk through it at the beach and we sweep it from our kitchens floors. Do you ever stop to think about the many ways sand can inspire us?