Educating Young Children Volume 1 – Spring 2025 | Page 52

Andy watches as it slides down and exits the other end.“ Bye-bye, car,” I say as the car rolls down. Andy crawls to the end of the tube and picks up the car. He places it on the bottom of the tube, but it rolls back down almost immediately since it has only a short distance to roll. I say,“ Andy, look!” and roll another car from the top of the tube. Andy picks it up and puts the car in the space between the tube and the wall. He laughs and looks at me. I clap, smile, and say,“ Yay!”

A few days later, I notice Andy standing in front of the clear tube holding a car. It is the first time he appears interested in the tube without my prompting. He holds the car in his left hand( his nondominant hand) and places it in the tube, but he seems to have a hard time opening his hand in the tube so he can let the car go. He pulls out his hand and tries again. Andy furrows his brow and babbles. I ask,“ Andy, are you frustrated because the car isn’ t going in the tube?” He looks at me and babbles some more. Wondering if it might be easier for Andy to let go of the car if he uses his dominant hand, I encourage him.“ Try again. Try your other hand.” Andy looks up at me but does not respond to this suggestion. After a few more tries, Andy is able to put the car in the tube and let go of it, but it gets stuck because the car is on its side. Andy puts his whole hand through to push the car, and the car goes halfway down.“ Yay! Andy, you did it! You pushed the car through!” I say enthusiastically. Even though the car did not roll all the way down, I still celebrate Andy’ s efforts to explore cause and effect by manipulating the car so it would fit into the tube.

The following week, I notice that the children are becoming more interested in balls. I decide to focus the curriculum on balls and tie that focus to Andy’ s interest in the tube. I have only soft balls and