Sand and Water Table Play

Teaching Children Mathematics
March 2010, Volume 16, Issue 7, Page 394

In this article, the teacher emphasizes the value of play in mathematical learning of young children. Children left alone to play may not develop mathematically, but children playing with a teacher in close proximity prompting them to think while playing offers great possibilities. This teacher kept a table in her kindergarten classroom filled with sand. She placed geometric containers, beakers, and bottles in the sandbox. At first, the students were allowed to play and the teacher simply observed the students' discourses and mathematical play, and considered possible math interventions that would naturally flow from the students' play. Then, the teacher played with the students. She asked only a few simple questions to enrich their play - to get them thinking about their play. Finally, when she noticed a frustration with some mathematical concept within the students' playing, she developed lessons from those frustrations to meet the state standards for kindergarten mathematics.

I am always in favor of hands-on learning, as long as the play truly causes learning and is not simply play. This article provided a good example of how to use play to interest the children and to make their learning relevent to them. I think that I will attempt to use such student-centered learning in my future classroom of (hopefully) intermediate or middle school students. I may not provide as much time for free-play with older grades, but I hope to allow a measure of freedom so that I can learn the subjects that matter most to my students, thereby creating lesson that they can relate to.