It's always interesting to see how a child will play with something that you, as a grown up, may not have a clue what to do with. I can appreciate the attractiveness of the sensory tray play you see on Instagram, but when it comes to knowing quite what to do with it, I'm at a loss much of the time. Possibly because, after 35 years on this earth, my senses are quite overwhelmed enough. But at 3 years old, something as simple as ice can become an adventure.
The other day, my daughter picked some flowers from the garden as they do - just daisies and other such weed blooms, and rather than leaving them to just wilt and die I decided to make something with them; pretty ice!
This early years science experiment was a lovely game, from choosing which flowers to use and placing them into the ice trays, to pouring in the water and popping them in the freezer. When they came out solid the next day, she was so excited to get playing...but what would she do with them? Even as a qualified early years teacher I am rather out of practise now and whilst I considered what items she may like to have with her to play with, she was already exploring the flower cubes; studying the temperature, how the flowers looked, how the ice tasted etc. I brought over some spoons and a straw and she started trying to suck up a cube through the straw whilst I began spinning the cubes in the bowl.
I noticed I had some wilting roses in a bouquet so brought them over to put into the mix. We discussed freezing and melting and studied the insides of the roses too.
Finally, I grabbed a little pot of water, mixed in some red food colouring and in it went and suddenly the whole thing became soup which she promptly began serving to her toy. Next it was perfume, ready to be worn by a princess. We smelt its lovely rose scent, pretended to serve it up, stirred it and sloshed it about, melted the ice to get the flowers out, enjoyed the cool against our sun-heated skin and marvelled at how pretty the whole thing looked.
Suddenly the magic came to life. I may not understand how to play with ice, but when you see it through the eyes of a 3 year old you begin to see the joy and anything can be added to expand the game.
A moment spent playing with a child is never wasted - so grab your ice cube tray and see what exploring you can do together! Add in fruit, sprinkles, squash, food colouring, feathers...let me know how you get on! Tag me in your experienments and have fun.
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Love Charlotte - The Calm Mummy
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