Did somebody say water?

Class: Nursery Year: 2016 - 2017

Nursery have had a fantastic week of exploration, challenges, creating and fun.

A lovely mild morning to be playing in the water outside, Isaac accidently dropped his bucket and with it the water gushed out around his feet. He expressed his frustrations and asked Mrs Finegan why water wouldn't just stay in the bucket.

Mrs Finegan explained to Isaac that it was something called gravity which pulls everything down to the ground, just like how we come back down when we jump.

Mrs Finegan demonstrated however that if we move the buckets fast enough, even upside down the water will remain inside because of gravity.
"Magic!" Said Isaac P.

Fascinated, the children began to test out this tricky technique themselves. A few empty buckets and wet faces later, the children mastered the skill independently.

This got us thinking about gravity an its affect on water. We decided to experiment with the flow of water using pipes and crates. The children shared lots of their own ideas and suggestions to overcome the obstacles we faced. The children discovered that the water became 'stuck' if the pipes did not flow downward, they persevered using different resources and approaches.

Thomas commented, "I can't see it, I can't see if its gone down,". Mrs Finegan and Mrs Jackson asked the children to have a think about what we could add to the water to help us to see it better once it was inside the tubes. The children came to the conclusion of food colouring.

We were now ready to test the structure. Using the food colouring we could now see that it was effective in allowing water to flow down through it.

Thomas commented that the pipes looked like a slide. Mrs Finegan suggested we test whether the construction functioned as a water slide. The children had a think how best to go about this as we concluded that we would not be able to fit in those pipes ourselves! Instead we chose a Lego figure and prepared to send him on his maiden voyage down the pipes.

We soon realised that not every container was suitable to transfer the water into the pipes. Joseph tried a watering can but the water pressure was not high enough to push the Lego figure down the slide.
"He's stuck, the water isn't fast enough," said Isaac P. We needed a container with a smaller and more concentrated flow of water.

It was a success! Our Lego figure slid all the way down our slide (Many, many times!). It was lots of fun.

During carpet time we discussed what we had been doing, which led to us looking at some real life water slides and researching different types, observing their similarities and their differences.

We concluded that some of the people going on the slides were very brave! (Much braver than Mrs Finegan, Mrs Jackson and Mrs Cripps).

Some children decided to make their own water slides using a range of resources and materials from around our nursery.

Lucy and Jacob made some swirling slides using the Popoids.

Khaleesi wanted to make her water slide in the workshop area. It consisted of a double slide, that even had a ladder to enable the rider to climb up to the top of the slide. Lucy F, Lucy W, Thomas, Max and Harper worked cooperatively to create a waterfall.

All the children had a brilliant time sharing and imagining, playing with the new small world resources that they had created themselves.

Thomas and Max wanted to recreate the waterslide outside that had been made earlier in the week. Mrs Finegan suggested that this time with all their new found knowledge and research that they create their own plans to take outside and make changes and improvements to their waterslide. Tallinn joined in creating her own plan too.

Waterproofs and wellies back on, it was time to get to work! Thomas and Max consulted their plans and collected their resources. We needed a lot more twists and turns this time.

Using their experiences from earlier in the week alongside their research and experimentation, the children were able to work together to create a fantastic waterslide in no time at all. That of course was tested by our trusty lego figure, nicknamed 'Batman'.

Later in the week the children decided to experiment with how to manipulate water to make it go upwards instead of flowing down. The children researched how Elephants and Whales blow their water into the air.

Outside Mrs Cripps demonstrated how to blow the water into the air using the plastic tubing. After a few tries, a lot of splashes and a complete soaking for Mrs Cripps the children mastered the technique.

So much fun and involvement, that led to a week of learning and collaboration (For the adults too!).