Tag: Natural materials

Categories
Early Childhood Education

Natural materials III

Playing with natural materials

“If by materials we want to indicate everything that can be used to make something, that serves to produce, to invent, to build, we would have to talk about everything that  surrounds us, from water to land, from stones to animals, from body to words … even to meadows and clouds ” (Tonucci, 1990 en Vila & Cardo 2005, p.47).

Natural materials are all those objects that are part of our life, give quality to creativity and games, such as kitchen utensils, food, objects that nature offers us, etc. (Vila & Cardo, 2005). However, we are going to focus on those ones nature gives us, among others, we  will mainly have pinecones, sticks and stones.

Since, as stated in decree 143/2007 of the BOC (2007), one of the pedagogical principles, of this stage of Early Childhood Education, is that children discover the physical and social characteristics of the environment in which they live, something that we will carry out through the manipulation and experimentation of these natural materials.

As stated by Vila & Cardo (2005), those materials are beneficial for several reasons: they offer a wide variety of sensations when manipulated, they have various  qualities  that market materials do not offer, they help to create play spaces, they stimulate creativity, curiosity and the desire to learn, they also offer information about the environment in which we find ourselves and make us use the exterior spaces of the school as educational places.  In addition, we have them at our disposal and they are cheap.

And, we cannot forget that, “children need to explore the environment to know and understand the reality that surrounds them, enjoying a manipulative game, while creating their own experiences on the qualities of each element” (Sugrañes et al, 2012, p.74). For  this reason, it is very enriching to open the school to the natural context that surrounds us.

“The persistence of the same material cannot stimulate the child to maintain his interest, nor can it satisfy the lively and tireless curiosity he has for the world around him, of which he is increasingly aware” (Goldschmied, 2000, p.49).

Finally, we would meet one of the objectives set out in article 5 of the curriculum of the first cycle of Early Childhood Education: h) Encourage the development of sensory and

perceptual capacities to promote curiosity about the immediate environment and the elements that make it up. configure, attributing a significance to them.

In conclusion, all these natural materials also allow us to work on the contents of the different areas of the curriculum, such as logical-mathematical or artistic expression.

References 

BOC. (31 de octubre de 2007).  Consejo de Gobierno. Obtenido de https://boc.cantabria.es/boces/verAnuncioAction.do?idAnuBlob=124522

Goldschmied, E. y Jackson, S. (2000). La educación infantil de 0 a 3 años. Madrid: Morata.

Sugrañes, E., Alós, M., Andrés, N., Casal, S., Castrillo, C., Medina, N. & Yuste, M. 2012. Observar para interpretar. Actividades de vida cotidiana para la educación infantil (2-6). Barcelona: Graó

Vila, B., & Cardo, C. (2005). Materiales de exploración. En B. V. Cardo, Material sensorial (0-3 años) Manipulación y experimentación (pp. 47- 49). Barcelona: Graó

Authorship

Tamara Cagigas y Sara González, 2020.

Categories
Early Childhood Education

Natural materials II

Playing with natural materials

We define materials as «the wide range of objects that are accessible to children. We also include the instruments and objects that might be useful, so that through their handling, observation, reading…learning opportunities might appear. Their value comes from the possibilities they provide, both for performing and relating.» (Red territorial de Educación Infantil en Cataluña, 2012).

Among materials, we can find many types, as some might allow you to experience, others might be better to develop logical thinking, representation or oral language and some might improve your plastic expression. However, this essay is going to focus on natural and daily materials. «Natural materials are those that we can find in our immediate environment. In other words, we are talking about objects that are not only in the nature, but also daily life objects” (Materiales sensoriales 3-6 años: manipulación y experimentación, 2005).

Besides, there is a wide range of natural materials, more than one could imagine. For example, some of them could be stones, sand, pasta, sticks, grass, soil, shells or cooking utensils, among many others. Thanks to natural materials, kids have a chance to explore the world they are surrounded by while interacting with these objects. This type of materials offer numerous benefits, from the sensory point of view to the playful one. 

One of their greatest benefits is that they allow children to learn the real properties of each material. For example, if a classroom works with natural sand, kids will learn about its texture, smell, weight…while purchased or false materials do not give us that chance. On the other hand, if we discover reality through its properties, we must give children the opportunity to interact with natural materials and see what happens. 

It is also worth noticing that one of the great benefits that comes with taking natural materials to the classroom is the great sensory capability that provides. Purchased materials cannot provide that, even when they try to imitate natural ones. In fact, these natural materials teach children about their environment, as well as helping them establish relationships between what they will find both inside and outside the classroom (Red Territorial de Educación Infantil en Cataluña, 2012 quoted in Ceballos, 2019). 

To sum up, natural materials promote action, playing, curiosity, experimentation and learning. They also spark critical thinking in them, as they decide how to use those materials freely as they are presented to them so they can handle them. (Materiales sensoriales 3-6 años: manipulación y experimentación, 2005)

References 

Ceballos, N. (2019). Materiales. [Material docente]. Recuperado del sitio web de Universidad de Cantabria, Aula Virtual, Moodle.

Díez Navarro, MC. (2008). ¿Materiales pobres? ¡Materiales ricos! Cuadernos de pedagogía, 379, 24-27.2

Florez, C. C., & Saborit, B. V. (2005). Materiales de exploración. En Florez, C. C., & Saborit, B. V. Material sensorial (0-3 años): Manipulación y experimentación (Vol. 8) (47-49). Barcelona: Graó.

Authorship

Sara Aragón Ruiz de Villa, Rebeca Barros y Celia Gómez, 2020.

Categories
Early Childhood Education

Natural materials IV

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.

Categories
Early Childhood Education

Materials

The documentation refers to “a process that makes the daily activities, challenges, possibilities, processes and thoughts of children and adults visible and that is open to debate and reflection” (Carr and Lee 2012; Dahlberg, Moss and Pence 2007; Picchio, Di Giandomenico and Musatti 2014; Rinaldi 1998).

This process is relevant both to give visibility to the work of the school to people outside it or not, and to study the processes that are carried out within it. Since the documentation process allows to show the idea of school and childhood, it allows people to have a glimpse of what idea of education they want to show. This is why this documentation process is going to focus on the materials used by children in children´s school (0-3 years).

Materials are a fundamental part in the 0-3-year stage, they are instruments that serve as a resource for manipulation, observation, reading, etc., in this way offering different opportunities to learn, due to the possibilities of action that these provided to students. Authors such as Doménech and Viñas (1997), consider that materials have a very important role in the teaching-learning process and considering their mediating role between the educator and the surrounding environment.

In the 0-3-year stage, the children spend much of their time playing, and it is important that they in turn unconsciously develop different capacities in their development. For this development to take place it is necessary that the materials are presented in a way that captures their attention and it is at their disposal as long as they require it, it is also essential to make a good choice of the materials that are going to be presented to the students in the classroom, so that in this way learning, action, the relationships between equals, play, etc. are promoted.

The materials on which we will focus to carry out this documentation process will be natural materials, that is, objects that come from nature and, therefore, the child can find in their daily life, such as leaves, rocks, sand, sticks., etc. We will also focus on artificial materials, these are made from natural materials, such as paper, cardboard, glass or plastic.

Authorship

Andrea Llata y Rebeca Pereda, 2020.