Natural materials, in particular sand and water, are satisfying and familiar to children and their experiences of them may include puddles, bath time, holidays at the seaside, ponds, rivers and waterfalls. Sand and water respond to rough and gentle treatment and encourage children to be inquisitive.
There are no set ways to use the materials; children are in control. Both sand and water can be enjoyed when playing alone, give rise to co-operative play and encourage the use of language.
Playing in this way allows children to wallow in the sensory experience of water or dry sand trickling through fingers, the sensation of hands pushed deep into very wet sand. It provides opportunities for schemas such as enveloping and enclosing to be explored.
All the senses are involved, children become absorbed in their play and concentrate for long periods.
POSSIBLE LEARNING OUTCOMES
In well-organised and well-resourced sand and water areas, there will be opportunities for:
- selecting appropriate resources
- concentrating, persevering and using initiative
- collaborating, co-operating, sharing
- counting, ordering, comparing and exploring pattern
- developing vocabulary
- investigating, problem-solving, predicting and testing
- moulding, forming, measuring
- experimenting, exploring and estimating
- imagining, communicating, thinking, talking, expressing ideas
- questioning, describing
- developing motor skills
- responding to challenges and drawing simple conclusions
- finding out about processes such as water freezing
- representing using a range of objects and mark-makers.
LONG-TERM PLANNING
INDOORS
Long-term planning for an area of provision begins with organisation and resources. How this is done depends on the space available, but ideally there should be a water area and two sand areas inside.
Providing a wet and a dry sand area allows for different learning experiences. If space is at a premium, try to offer a tray on a table to ensure both experiences are available on a daily basis.
Thought will also need to be given to outside provision, which enables children to work on a larger scale and where messy play is more acceptable. A 'sloppy' sand area will prove to be very popular, and opens up a whole new area of discovery!
When organising sand and water areas, aim to:
- make the range of equipment and material continually available and easily accessible
- reduce the need for adult management and so release practitioners for observation and interaction with children
- increase the opportunity for children to use their own initiative, self-reliance and responsibility.
To make this happen:
- plan around children's interests. Using a knowledge of children's predictable interests (schemas) to plan provision ensures they will be quickly absorbed and involved in their play. If we know that at any one time we may have children who are exploring common schemas, for example enveloping, enclosure, connection and transporting, we can include provision that supports these threads in our long-term planning (see resource lists)
- areas need to be available daily
- children should have plenty of uninterrupted time to play
- the water area needs to be located near to a tap and on an easily mopped floor surface
- sand and water should be situated away from carpeted areas. Provide sawn-down mop and brush, mop bucket, dustpan and brush so that the children can take responsibility for cleaning up spills
- child-height open shelves and screens limit visual distraction, and are ideal for enabling children to self-select equipment
- where appropriate, resources can be silhouetted, for example, a set of graded jugs or different-sized buckets. Small resources can be stored in plastic boxes, which can be simply labelled with a word and photograph or picture. These arrangements enable children to find and replace things easily and offers adults the opportunity to introduce mathematical language of size, position and shape
- some basic resources can be hung on hooks if space is limited
- in the water area, hooks for tabards should be at an accessible height. The number available will help limit access to the area
- it is easier for resources to be replaced correctly if all the equipment in one area is in the same colour. It also looks better
- include a display space to support children's interests and somewhere to store relevant books.
OUTDOORS
Zoning the outside area is now common practice in many early years settings, allowing the same care and thought to go into the day-to-day provision as inside.
Having a designated area for sand and water and other areas means children can return to an activity the following day. Adults can plan much more efficiently to extend learning, and outdoor play is recognised as being an important aspect of the early years curriculum.
Outside offers opportunities to work with sand and water on a larger scale and to transport the materials around. Providing a storage container with tap allows easy access and helps children learn not to waste water.
Examples of outside play include mixing cement, constructing waterways and investigating the flow of water with pipes and guttering, washing the doll's clothes. Children are able to study natural water experiences such as rain and puddles. Practitioners need to build up resources based on what children are doing.
MEDIUM- AND SHORT-TERM PLANNING
Enhance provision in response to what is observed. For example:
- spark children's interest in hiding things by adding 'treasure' that can be buried in the sand
- add a curriculum focus - 'Five Little Frogs'
- develop a story linked to a schematic interest - 'Snail Trail' (enveloping and enclosing, tracking/lines, circularity)
- develop a focus such as a builder's yard (visit a building site)
- set up an interactive tray nearby
- provide props to develop a story
- make links with other areas by adding, for example, found resources from the workshop area
BEST BUYS
Practitioners should concentrate on good basic provision for long-term planning. Early Excellence (www.earlyexcellence.com) provides an extensive range of quality basic provision in primary colours for colour-coding areas, graded sets of clear plastic jugs, funnels, sieves, colanders, graded spoons and loads more. Also recommended are Community Playthings' water/sand trays (www.communityplaythings.co.uk) CHECKLIST: RESOURCES to be available daily
WATER AREA
- waterproof aprons
- a water tray with stand at child height, large enough for a group of children to play comfortably, and deep enough for satisfying investigations
- a plank or shelf to rest across for containers to be stood for filling containers such as jugs, beakers, cylinders, funnels; a basket of interchangeable non-standard containers, such as yoghurt pots; watering cans; soap dispensers; buckets and bowls; sieves and colanders
- tools such as spoons, ladles and scoops in varying materials, sizes and styles such as perforated; whisks; water wheel, water pump
- collections such as tubing, pipes, guttering, wood, corks, pebbles, shells
- small-world figures, sea creatures, boats, etc; teaset, plastic glasses
- cleaning equipment: floor cloth, short-handled mop
SAND AREAS
- large, deep sand tray at child height
- wooden plank or shelf to fit across tray
- smaller individual trays and a builder's tray
- long- and short-handled brushes and dustpan
- rakes, combs and found objects for pattern-making
- buckets of various sizes
- containers of varying sizes, shapes and styles
- tools such as graded spades, spoons and scoops
- graded plant pots
- set of bowls
- small range of moulds
- flags, small-world people, animals, vehicles, insects, reptiles, dinosaurs
- baking/cooking equipment such as pans and bun tins
- small wooden bricks and wood for bridges etc
- found and natural objects such as shells, leaves, twigs, bark and pebbles
- sand wheel
- objects with holes such as tea strainers, sieves, colanders
- simple weighing scales
