Set with natural materials
Before we start explaining and going deeper into the natural materials in the game, we must start from the premise that natural materials are an inexhaustible source of stimuli for children.
The use of natural materials in the Infant Education classroom is the theme chosen for the documentation process. We are interested in knowing the benefits of the use of natural materials in the classroom, discovering their advantages and how to use them as learning tools.
Natural materials are all those materials found in nature. There are three types: vegetable, animal and mineral materials.
Natural materials as an educational medium allow the child to get closer to the environment, to the context that surrounds them and to know its characteristics. In addition, thanks to them they learn that it is possible to play with elements provided by nature, they discover that the same material can be used for many things, that it is not necessary to buy materials or toys since these are always at their disposal and they discover that they are just as interesting, if not more so, than artificial materials.
These natural materials allow children to know and enter into one of the problems that is affecting us most, the environment. That children learn the value of reusing and recycling is essential to curb these environmental problems, such as climate change, pollution, deforestation, water shortages, species extinction … is fundamental, since they are the future and the sooner they understand the importance of having an environmental view, the greater the change.
In addition to the above, natural materials benefit and enhance children’s ability to observe, explore and learn by discovery.
We emphasize the importance of learning by discovery, through which students will possess knowledge or ideas as they discover them for themselves. The school has a fundamental responsibility and it is to manage to make each child think critically and creatively.
One way to guide children towards the construction of their own schemes is that they discover the knowledge by themselves, since in this way they will be able to organize the information and relate it to previous knowledge. In conclusion, they will be able to learn and organize information in order to use that knowledge later in the most correct way.
Learning by discovery generates and strengthens children’s self-confidence, as well as intellectual stimulation and motivation for conflict resolution, which will lead to the formation of creative thinking.
Therefore, working with natural materials, materials that are normally known by the students, simple, easily accessible and with numerous possibilities of use, is fundamental for them to construct their own meanings.
In the daily life of the youngest, there are an infinite number of experiences and materials that can be used to enhance the acquisition of knowledge and the development of critical thinking, such as, for example, a leaf floating in the water, how the leaves of the trees change according to the season?
As teachers we must start from these situations and use the different natural materials with activities that promote different knowledge and learning. We must program and plan the activities in relation to the stage of Infant Education to which it is directed and always taking into account their own interests; collect, organize and prepare the natural materials that we consider appropriate in relation to the season, the knowledge we intend to convey, etc.
It is essential to present the different materials with care, well organized, clean and with an easy access to them. In addition, to create a good atmosphere in the classroom, it is necessary to take into account the richness and variety of the materials, which are familiar to them, and, above all, we must avoid over-stimulation or, on the contrary, the absence of it. A safe, comfortable environment, with good lighting and temperature so that infants can, thanks to the possibility of these natural materials, group, sort, classify, manipulate, introduce, roll… relate and interact with their peers and with adults, perform symbolic play, concentrate and develop skills with different challenges that these involve, and a long list of etceteras.
Authorship
María Ateca y Sandra Bustos, 2020.