By Todd Erickson, Head Teacher
There is a symphony of sound and movement unfolding in the East Room sand area on a cool spring morning: the scraping of shovels as diggers heave scoopfuls of sand from one spot to another. The shouting of plans as excavators sculpt a river that snakes through a large swath of untouched sand. The dribbling of water, carefully added to large, sand-filled bowls by child chefs at the playhouse restaurant.
In our morning program, also known as EAM, the children explore and engage with their whole bodies. Their play is inspired by the sensory and physical aspects of their classroom. Nowhere is this more evident than in their work with what the teachers call our basic materials. These materials—blocks, clay, paint, sand, and water—are available every day in our classrooms. They are open-ended, complex, and fundamental to the experiences of children (and adults), and offer limitless possibilities for play, exploration, and understanding.
Sand’s unique properties provide our EAM children with a particularly rich opportunity for learning and growth. At its most basic level, sand delights the young (and the young at heart!) with an evolving sensorial feast. A handful of dry sand might feel soft and slip freely between the fingers. Rub that same sand between the hands, however, and it might feel a bit rougher. Dry sand can be collected in a hand or a container, but it does not retain its form when poured or emptied. By adding water to the sand, children notice that its composition begins to change and that it’s able to retain its shape.
Located in the corner of EAM’s outdoor classroom and nestled among towering redwood trees, the sand area, or sand pit, is the largest offering of any of our classroom’s five basic materials. It is approximately 200 square feet of sand, trees, pinecones and needles, medium-sized boulders, climbing equipment, a slide, and a playhouse. When parents notice that their children spend much of their mornings playing in the sand, our response is usually, “How great to hear it!” That is because the sand area is an oasis of integrated opportunities for physical, social/emotional, linguistic, and cognitive expansion.
The sand area is a place where children can flex their motor skills. Shovels, scoopers, buckets, cups, molds, and wheelbarrows make it possible to dig, collect, and transport sand around the space. When a child digs or scoops sand or carries it across the sand pit, they are testing their large motor capacities, which include muscles across the legs, core, shoulders, and arms; they are also building balance, stamina, and spatial awareness. Early in the spring quarter, the children engaged in what the teachers called a “big hole project,” which involved a week’s worth of digging and scooping sand from what became a large ovular pit. As the big hole project was taking shape, other children were near the playhouse, using stirring spoons to scoop, pour, and stir sand (along with water and other found materials like pinecones, sticks, and small rocks) in a variety of bowls, tins, and pans to make soup, cake, salad, and other delectable dishes. This process involves fine motor work, including the use of fingers, hands, and wrists as ingredients are added, sifted, and stirred. Along with fine motor skills such as dexterity and precision, this sand area “cooking” also requires coordination, planning, and overall muscle strength.
A visit to the sand area would not be complete without time spent on the geoclimber or the slide. Much like the sand itself, this equipment greets and challenges children at all developmental levels. While less experienced children might find it exciting to climb the steps and zoom down the slide or pull themselves up to the first level of interwoven ropes that comprise the inside of the geoclimber, the more confident or competent children will pull or walk themselves up the slide or ascend to the very top of the geoclimber, some 15 feet in the air, to take in the sights and sounds from their lofty perch. We often ask, “How’s the weather up there?” once they’ve progressed to the next stage of their geoclimber mastery.
There is a wonderful sense of camaraderie that builds as groups of children team up to dig a river, an almost daily endeavor in the sand area, or to prepare a meal. The teachers might begin the morning with the question, “Who’s feeling strong today?” which quickly brings together a team ready to craft the latest sand area river. While digging, children hone their perspective-taking skills as they consider the thoughts and feelings of their teammates while also building negotiation and collaboration skills. And if, say, the red shovels are in high demand, children might have to plan to take turns, which bolsters patience and delayed gratification. Another vital aspect of this dynamic teamwork is the expressive (outgoing) language skills practiced by the children as they make plans, debate ideas, and self-advocate. At the sand area kitchen, the children might list and classify the recipe items needed for their special soup. The chefs might also deliberate the various steps and timing needed for gathering and mixing ingredients, baking, and serving. As the children listen carefully to the ideas offered by their peers, they also form their receptive (incoming) language skills. In this way, communication and language are “baked” into the children’s play. We are fortunate to be able to teach in what the EAM teachers call a “language laboratory,” where both expressive and receptive language is imbued with meaning and agency as it is integrated into all aspects of our indoor and outdoor classrooms.
When a sand area river needs to be rerouted, the hard-working children might use their hands and shovels to create a dam. Similarly, the sand area chefs might use sticks for candles on their birthday cake. In both instances, the children are engaging in symbolic thinking, a mental process through which one object might symbolize or represent another. Symbolic thinking is found across the play of young children and is vital for future learning. If children can deftly use sand to symbolize a river dam, for example, it will pave the way for the cognitive switching that will take place as they grapple with very significant symbols: letters (where a “T” symbolizes a sound and part of a word) and numbers (where a “2” symbolizes an amount). Sand-area work also affords children greater cognitive flexibility. For instance, as they consider the perspectives of their peers and adapt their own ideas or needs accordingly, they become more adaptable. And naturally, playing in the sand can get quite messy, which allows children to build their cognitive and emotional elasticity when it comes to sandy clothing and mucky hands.
Sand area play often involves another Bing basic material. Water from the hose might help fill the riverbeds so diligently created by sand area diggers. Water collected in a large bin might be painstakingly added to the chocolate pie concocted by a team of sand area cooks. As children add water to sand, they begin to notice how it changes in terms of density and texture. “The sand used to be dry, now it looks like chocolate,” observed Gil one morning. “It’s really muddy,” added Kian. We welcome the children’s ideas all day, every day, and are interested to hear how they perceive the changes brought to sand when water gets added. Our intrepid thinkers might also enjoy hands-on experiences with water as it enters the riverbed. While the children might not head home and tell their parents, “We worked with erosion today,” these are the hands-on and foundational experiences that begin to open their thinking to more abstract ideas like erosion and infiltration.
The sand area offers something for everyone—and each domain of development (physical, social/emotional, language, cognitive) tends to inform and be informed by the other domains. Rarely is there a moment of social opportunity that does not include emotional or language benefits, for example. This intense and organic integration is yet another benefit offered by all of our basic materials. For an example of how sand area play can touch many domains simultaneously, see the sidebar, “More Than Just a Pipe Dream,” by my colleague Melissa Gier. This extended sand area experience, which took place in the spring quarter of 2023, is an excellent illustration of the resonant play and hands-on learning that takes place in EAM’s sand area every day.
When time allows, spend a few minutes in the sand with your child, whether at a local playground, the beach, or Bing’s sand area. Dig deep into the immense benefits and undeniable fun that sand play offers us all.
More Than Just a Pipe Dream
By Melissa Gier, Teacher
Sand and water are two of Bing’s five basic materials (along with blocks, clay, and paint). These two materials often go hand in hand with each other, promoting a child’s development and challenging them physically and cognitively. They offer opportunities for collaboration, deep critical thinking, and trial-and-error, all of which were on display in an ongoing pipe exploration on a chilly April morning in East AM.
William and Sloan were both in the sand area but playing separately. Their usual playmates were absent that day, and William decided to explore how the PVC pipes worked in relation to water, which intrigued and drew in Sloan. Eventually, the two decided they needed three long pipes to be connected, with the pipe in the middle being slightly raised. Sloan brought the hose over and inserted it into one of the end pipes. William said, “Wait, Sloan! I have to close up this extra hole, so the water doesn’t escape through.” He proceeded to seal the hole by covering it with sand then said, “OK! It’s ready!”
The hose was inserted into the pipe, and when the water was turned on, it splashed back out the same way, much to their disappointment. William was certain it was because the hose was smaller than the pipe and decided to “close” the gap between the hose and pipe by filling it with sand. Unfortunately, the water continued to exit back through the hose entry point.
Sloan and William spent the next several minutes discussing other strategies, implementing more ideas, and seeing them not reach the desired result. They then thought the water must be going down because the pipe was going down. Sloan brought over a chair and laid that first pipe on it, inserted the hose, and turned on the water and … success! The water finally made it all the way through the first pipe, only to exit out the gaps in the middle pipe. Unphased, William exclaimed, “I know! It needs more sand! Help me, Sloan,” and together they blocked the gap with sand, forcing the water out of the last pipe. William and Sloan danced around and squealed with joy.
These two children spent that entire morning, and the following five months, adding more pipes and children to their play. Each day, their pipe/water exploration expanded, as children created new challenges for themselves. One day, they dug a hole in the middle of the sand area, with the goal of connecting the pipes from the start of the hose to the hole, then filling the hole by guiding the water through the pipes. Another day, the children decided the end pipe should stick straight up to make a “volcano” with the water erupting through the top. And one day, their goal was to ensure no water exited any of the pipes. While not every challenge was successful, they all facilitated teamwork, creativity, observation, critical thinking, patience, and perseverance.
This extensive child-driven project speaks to the array of possibilities that occur daily in the sand area, where water, sand, and a variety of other materials (including pipes) are available to spark the imagination and spur development among the East AM children.