A short while back I was talking with Estelle and - I can't remember what the subject was - was it play schemas? - anyway, the subject of water play came up. It was something we both wanted to look into a little more.
We put water out, because it fascinates children. We think they must be learning if they're so active and so fascinated. Children will spend half an hour or more pouring and filling and emptying and much more. But what kinds of things are they investigating? What is interesting them in the water play?
I've been watching students play, asking myself what's going on, sometimes asking students but not getting much reply, and asking my colleagues.
If you haven't thought about this already, you might like to stop and think about what the fascination is with water play, before you've read other people's answers.
I thought I'd try Twitter too. I posted a photo of a student playing, and asked, 'What is it about playing with water that makes it so fascinating?'
What is it about playing with water that makes it so fascinating? pic.twitter.com/VqzyMLooGQ
— Simon Gregg (@Simon_Gregg) November 17, 2020
Syreeta answered the call:
We enter the world via the amniotic sac of fluid. Perhaps it reminds us of our beginning.
It's true, we are water creatures. Not only that, but we come from a very long line of water creatures.
Once I'd made clear that this wasn't a rhetorical question, answers came flowing in.
Kassia tweeted: Filling and pouring seem to interest kids (and adults!) of all ages.
(Filling and emptying had been my first though too: satisfying to get to the end points - full and empty - and then to reverse the process. Maybe satisfying to so easily change the state of something into its opposite. Also, it doesn't have to be water: it can be rice or sand or wood pellets .)
Christopher replied: True. At least 40% of fun of home brewing is playing with water. Which, by the way, involves siphoning. Do these children have access to a siphon? Cuz if you're gonna make a tremendous mess, a siphon is a SUPER fascinating way to do it.
Must siphon!
Aston too was clear, adults have the same pleasure: It’s not just children- I’m 38 and been working on our rink in the back yard. Nothing more satisfying then watching the water spread out and freeze.
Jack wrote: I think in part it hits a sweet spot between something that acts on its own and thus gives a sense of mystery and something that is controllable and thus reassuring. Also their is the slight drag of moving through it which is wonderful tactile feedback from the world.
The tactile feedback links in with what Steph had said: it's a sensory experience in a way that most of the day isn't. Estelle's impression too, putting her hands into the water, was about the sense of touch: how we felt the cold of the water entering it, and the warmth coming out.
David also commented on the meeting of opposites in water:
Maybe it’s because water is so paradoxical:
You can see it’s there, but you can see *through* it. You can feel it, but not grasp it. You can make mess with it, but the mess disappears. You can carry it, but it can carry things too.Westley thought: It's magical, like fire. We can control it but it also has a life of its own.
When I got home, I showed Pam some photos from the day, and asked her too what the fascination is in water play. She had a lot to say:
Water is just the most fantastic material. The way it has so many interesting properties, shapes, colours. The way the light passes through it. The way it twists as you’re pouring it. It doesn’t just go from one place to another. When you pour it, it catches the light, it sometimes has a smooth bent surface, it cascades, it’s in drops, it might fall in zigzags through the air.
You can hold it, but you can’t hold it. You can scoop it, but you can’t control it. If you put your hand in to pick something up, it’s not where you think it will be.
There’s something mysterious about it.
If it’s in a transparent container, it’s different according to what side you put it into. There’s nothing boring about water.
And then there’s bubbles! Even in water without squeezy in, there’s a bubble when you drop something in.
It’s funny as well. You splash it, and it goes on your clothes but there’s no harm – it will dry out. Maybe a bit of water on the floor. But it’s just fun.
You’ve got something floating and then it sinks, you can experiment with it just by playing and having a laugh. It’s fun.
Meanwhile, more tweet answers were washing in.
Dan suggested: I wonder if asking why might not get to the heart of what it's *like* to play with water? What’s it like to ... might get closer to the experience?
Amanda wrote: It's the one substance besides air that we have a lot of regular contact with, but it acts differently than air, in very interesting ways. When we go to the beach, it seems like access to a totally different world. It's incredibly powerful.
We don't think much about air because for the most part it's not visible or tangible to us. But water does cool stuff!
Poly tweeted: I am totally with this little one: watching water move is fascinating! Might be interested in this book by a marine biologist, all about our fascination with all things water and why it makes us happy.
Sarah also spoke about the emotional power of water: When my son was born,he was always unsettled and barely slept. He didn't sleep through the night for four years. Water was the one thing that calmed him.He would immediately relax and was soothed. He's now 19 and still loves water. Water can be restorative as well as fascinating
Maria: It's splishy, splashy fun!
"From one million miles away our planet resembles a small blue marble; from one hundred million miles it’s a tiny, pale blue dot. “How inappropriate to call this planet Earth when it is quite clearly Ocean” Arthur C. Clarke, quoted by Nicole.
All this has of course made me only more keen to have water play as a big part of our provision for our 3, 4 and 5 year olds. This week we've had red strawberry-scented water, (a bit too) blue peppermint-scented water
and yellow lemon-scented water.
