Week 1, day 4: Sink or float

New material: sink or float


Yesterday, at the end of our work time, Nugget was asking about things sinking and floating. I think it was in the context of wondering if the Pink Tower would sink or float -- which I am NOT going to investigate! :)

But I offered to set up a sink/float material for her for this morning. I wandered around the house in the evening, gathering up small things that I wouldn't mind getting wet. I ended up with a screw, coin, Duplo block, string bracket, and a few more random things. No Pink Tower cube!

This material was her first stop this morning. I filled the small pitcher and allowed her to pour the water into the container, using the towel for a few rouge drops that ended up on the tray. I tried to get her to predict what each item would do, but she was much more interested in putting things into the water -- and who could blame her?!

After each item, she sorted it into a paper onto which I'd drawn something sinking and something floating (as best I could).

She really loved this, and repeated it at least 3 times in the morning (and again a time or two to demonstrate for Daddy in the afternoon).

That took up most of our short-ish work period (maybe 20-30 minutes). We worked together on the Cylinder Block a time or two, then I tried to entice her to the Pink Tower again. She really wanted to do the extension where we lay the Pink Tower next to the Brown Stair, which required we assemble the Brown Stair. I helped -- she gets especially lost if she gets one in the wrong order. But we did it together, and she set about to laying the Pink Tower next to it on her own.


We "check our work" by making a finger spider run up and down the stairs.


Lastly, she pretended to be the teacher and helped me assemble the Pink Tower (she picked the next block and I placed it).

It was a shortened work time -- we had someplace to be in the morning -- and most of the work choices were driven by me. But we still had fun, and I think sink/float was a real hit.

It might be a few days before we work again. The midwife is coming over tomorrow morning, and my husband sleeps in our Montessori room/master bedroom during the day over the weekend. We might grab a bit of time here and there if she wants, but my plan is to be back Tuesday with some new activities!