See What Children Know
Evan (in yellow) and Alex (in red) rearrange bottomless wooden boxes into play props that have qualitatively different functions: a train to sit in, a tunnel to crawl through, a bridge to walk over, an enclosure to hide toy animals inside, and a chute to toss a ball into. When a child is able to change the function of an object by changing his perspective to that object, he learns an important lesson. When I want a new function, I do not have to discard the object. I change the object instead of exchange the object. This important lesson in problem solving, “change without exchange,” was a guiding principle in the design of play spaces in our eBook Constructive Play. You can read this eBook by clicking here.
What follows is a full videative (in depth text analysis with embedded video segments) of Evan and Alex working with these boxes. Watch Alex and Evan transform the function of these bottomless boxes, realizing that boxes with bottoms would not have afforded such creative variations. To view this episode online both as a videative and as a continuous play master clip you can subscribe to the Videatives. Inc. "Video Streaming Service" library that holds over 160 video resources.
To download a personal copy of the full four minute master clip click here. Your download will include a text file with a detailed analysis of the boy’s play and its significance for child development.
Notes from the Field
From the field, …well, our back yard for sure. Many people have asked us, "How do I send your video clips to students enrolled in my online courses or to my staff to view when they have time?" Simple. As a subscriber to the Videatives, Inc. "Video Streaming Service," you browse our video library, select the clips that you want your students/staff to watch (called a playlist), click a button ("set public"), then click a new button ("share") that will give you a unique web address. You simply send your students/staff this web address and when they click on that web address, voila!, your playlist will appear as a web page on their computer. They do not need to create an account with us. The playlist is available at no charge to your students or staff members. How can you top this for an inexpensive way to add real life video to your courses or professional development resources.
