Plungers, Pulleys, and Pendulums: Setting the Stage for Early Learning

"If I was anyplace else, I would ask why there is a plunger on the piano," remarked my family child care buddy, Tabbi, as my wife and I gave a tour of our new playroom. Tabbi is right. In other settings, a plunger on the piano might seem odd. In our playroom, it fits right in with other early learning materials: PVC pipe building sets; empty oatmeal containers; milk-jug-lid beading sets; homemade blocks; hooks in the ceiling for pulleys, pendulums, and piñatas; a bucket of bolts, nuts, and washers; totes full of shower-curtain rings, cardboard tubes, cable ties, shredded paper; and much more. The plunger is just one of many tools that we use everyday to promote play, exploration, and discovery in our program, and it's just one of many tools that we write about in our Redleaf Press book, Do-It-Yourself Early Learning.

Some people want to improve science, math, and reading education by testing more. They feel this is the path to follow in order to compete technologically with India and China. Around our house, we prefer plungers and pulleys. Children don't learn by studying for tests; they learn by interacting with the environment. If our goal as a nation is to have more children grow into scientists and engineers, we need, from birth, to invest more time (and resources) encouraging children's curiosity, stoking their imaginations, and feeding their spirit of discovery. In early care and education programs, this can be accomplished with simple, easily accessible, inexpensive materials. In most cases it doesn't take a lot of preparation: you put the materials in front of the children and get out of their way. The care provider's job is to set the stage by creating an interesting environment that is safe, healthy, and comfortable. Then, step to the sidelines and let the children get to work. Stepping back also gives a provider time to observe, which helps mindfully set the stage for future learning activities.

Too many early educators make themselves the focus of activities when the heart of the experience should be the interaction of child and environment. We often let our need to teach overshadow their need to learn. Stepping to the sidelines does not mean leaving the room; it means removing ourselves from the spotlight so children can focus on their work. Children need thoughtful supervision. We have to be there for safety sake and so that we can provide assistance if children indicate a need.

Here are some examples of easy and fun learning activities from our program:

• One-year-olds Noah and Kia sit on the kitchen floor in a drift of shredded paper. This is a new experience and their eyes show wariness. They proceed cautiously. They explore the paper, shaking, tasting, and tossing. The cautiousness quickly turns to curiosity and delight, as they work eager muscles and minds.

• Three-year-old Hunter repeatedly swings a pendulum (a plastic chocolate-milk container filled with water that is suspended from a string tied to a hook on the ceiling) so it knocks down a pyramid of empty yogurt containers. He is learning about cause-and-effect relationships, as well as the laws of motion and gravity. He is also developing his vocabulary as he provides a running commentary peppered with words such as "pendulum," "swing," "crash," and "rebuild."

• Four-year-old Jack sits at a table sorting, by size, large steel bolts, nuts, and washers. He is learning all kinds of pre-math and pre-reading skills, such as visual discrimination, object classification, and concepts like large and small. Normally an animated child, he is totally engaged in this activity and spends nearly forty-five minutes at this work.

• Nine-month-old Ty flips through a homemade book made from a half-dozen small freezer bags filled with digital pictures of people and objects he knows, secured together with staples and duct tape. He examines the pictures, stopping periodically to chew on the easy-to-clean pages. He loves "reading" to himself as much as he loves listening to stories.

• A small group of three- to five-year-olds takes turns working a bright orange rope that, through a series of pulleys, goes up to the ten-foot-high ceiling and then down to a suspended ice-cream bucket. The older children are "fishing" for toddlers. Under the bucket, a group of one- and two-year-olds laughs and yells with their hands over their heads as the bucket bounces just out of reach. Everyone is wholly engaged in the process. The bucket is lowered, the toddlers nearly have it in their grasp, and then a swift yank zips it up to the ceiling. The children are learning physics, social skills, humor, cause-and-effect relationships, and much more. The game goes on and on.

• Maddie, three, and Madison, four, play with the plunger. They stick it to walls, tables, rugs, stuffed animals, chairs, tummies, and anything else that pops into their busy minds. They take turns attaching it and yanking the big suction cup. Sometimes it sticks, sometimes it doesn't. Their play teaches them about gravity and friction. It also teaches them to take turns and to share.

Mindfully promoting play, exploration, and discovery in young children is vital for their development. They need first-person experience in how the world works. Learning requires hands-on, up-close, face-to-face contact with people, objects, and ideas. This is easy to do if you: take advantage of the simple tools that are all around you; set the stage; and step aside, so the children can get to work.