Thursday, January 3, 2013

Pom Pom Maze


In an earlier post I mentioned pom poms in the sensory table.  This week, we placed several wooden curved blocks in various upright and horizontal positions on a low table and scattered a few pom poms around them.  We put out a bowl of straws and let the children explore blowing the pom poms through the maze.  


Some of them discovered blowing through tunnels and experimented with different length tunnels.  This actually became a study of force as they had to adjust the amount of air they pushed through the straw in order to make it through the tunnel.  The boy pictured above also figured out how bending the straw and inserting inside the tunnel helped him achieve his goal.  What terrific problem solving!  











 The maze changed as children played with it. Sometimes the blocks stood up and sometimes the table was all tunnels.



The table had many children around it at times and at other times there'd be one child content to work through his own design over and over again until he was satisfied.




We did monitor the table and had children put the straw in their cubbies when finished in case they wanted to try it again on that same day.  When finished the straws were tossed.  Some children did have to be taught how to blow out air from the straw and how to increase the amount of air to move the pom poms.  

What do you have at home or in your classrooms that you can use to make your own pom pom maze?  Share your ideas with me!

4 comments:

  1. I would like to know where you got those awesome blocks! Perfect for maze building!

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  2. I would also like to know where to get the blocks. They would be terrific for so many different activities. Thanks!

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  3. This is a fantastic idea! I am going to try it with my class this week.

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  4. Here are a few websites where you can find the blocks.

    http://www.babyguru.ca/products/product_info.php?products_id=323

    http://sbkidsco.com/Bamboo-Collection-Creata-Stacking-Blocks-by/M/B000A0YKKQ.htm

    http://www.ebay.com/itm/Hape-Bamboo-Collection-Creata-Skill-Game-NEW-/130341676911

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