Problem-solving, Object inquiry skills
Toddlers explore size differences in toy bears during guided water play.
Be Prepared: Secure two toy bears for each toddler, one big and one small. Each toddler’s two bears should be the same color. Different colors may be used across toddlers who participate. Example: one toddler has two (big and small) green bears, another toddler has two (big and small) blue bears. A possibility for sorting bears is Lakeshore® My First Sorting Bears. Put warm water in several containers for pouring into the sensory table at the beginning of the activity.
Invite 3–4 toddlers to play at the water table with toy bears. Put some warm water in the table after toddlers join you. Invite each toddler to also pour water from a container into the table. Provide verbal and/or hands-on assistance as needed. While toddlers are watching, add two tablespoons of tear-free shampoo and encourage toddlers to move their hands in the water to create bubbles. Draw attention to differences in big and little bubbles. Encourage toddlers to find and point to big and little bubbles. Toddlers may wish to gently pop the bubbles.
Kneel at the end of the water table and give each toddler one toy bear. Distribute a mix of big and small bears across the toddlers so there is an opportunity for toddlers to compare size. Explain that some bears are big and some bears are little.
Provide time and encouragement for toddlers to explore their bear in the water. Move around the table to talk with each toddler. Observe a toddler before beginning a conversation about his/her play. Then invite toddlers to look at other bears held by toddlers. Ask size-comparison questions. Examples: “Jamie, is your bear bigger or littler than Samantha’s bear?” “James, you have a big bear. Who else has a big bear in our table?”
Next, give each toddler a second bear. Each toddler’s second bear should be the same color as his/her first bear but a different size. See Be Prepared. After a brief time for toddlers to explore their second bear, ask each toddler to put his/her two bears next to each other and hold up or point to the big (or little) bear. Then invite toddlers to put their little (or big) bear in the middle of the water table, so all bears of the same size are together. Ask about the bear that is not in the middle of the table. Example: “All of our little bears are in the middle of our water table. Where are our big bears?”
Conclude the activity by describing what happened. Invite toddlers to dry off their toy bears with towels you provide.
This play-based activity is for toddlers who are learning about size. Notice that the concept of size is not explicitly introduced in the activity description. But there are three intentional opportunities in the activity for toddlers to notice big and small differences in the toy bears. Look for additional, unplanned opportunities, such as a toddler’s comment about the size of bear he/she received at the beginning of the activity.
Toddlers may notice color differences. Positively acknowledge their attention to color while also focusing on size. Example: “You have green bears. One bear is big. One bear is little.”
If a toddler holds a bear out for you to see, describe it by size. Example: “You are showing me a little bear.” If the toddler presents a second bear, ask “Would you like to tell me about the bear?”
Some toddlers may refer to the big-size bears as mommy or daddy. Repeat a toddler’s words and extend them into a sentence. Example: If a toddler shows you a big bear and says, “It’s a daddy,” you might respond by saying, “You are showing me a daddy bear. The daddy bear is a big bear.”
Extra support
Enrichment
Problem-solving, Object inquiry skills
Toddlers use play dough to create small and big items for small and big toy bears.
Be Prepared: Prepare one ball of play dough about the size of an apple for each toddler and yourself. Place up to four bears of different sizes (two big, two small) for each child on the tray. Two bears (one big, one small) are used by each child for most of the activity. Each child should have the same color of bears; this helps a toddler focus on size differences, not color differences. A possibility for sorting bears is Lakeshore® My First Sorting Bears.
[Invite toddlers to join a gathering at a table. Give each toddler and yourself a ball of play dough plus one big bear and one small bear. Put the tray of remaining bears aside, not on the table.]
Each of us has two bears. We have a big bear and we have a small bear. Let’s use our play dough to make things for our bears.
I am going to make pretend cookies for my two bears. I am going to make a small cookie for my small bear. I am going to make a big cookie for my big bear. Please watch me make my cookies.
[Make a small cookie and big cookie as you describe your actions. Example: “I am pinching off a small piece of play dough and making it flat. This will be a small cookie for my small bear.”
Draw attention to placing the small and big cookies by their respective small and big bears. This is a beginning form of matching. Example: “Here is a small cookie for my small bear. Here is a big cookie for my big bear.”
Invite toddlers to make items of their choice (such as chairs or beds) for their two bears. Encourage toddlers to tell what they intend to make and then describe what they made. Toddlers may make as many items as they wish for each bear.
Use your play dough to make additional items for your two bears, preferably items that are suggested by toddlers. Do not lead children’s work with their play dough. Example: “Tanya is making beds for her two bears. I am going to do what Tanya is doing. I am going to make a big bed for my big bear and a small bed for my small bear.”
Emphasize small and big in describing items made by toddlers. Example: “Eli is making a small chair for his small bear.” Encourage toddlers to place small items by the small bear and big items by the big bear.
If time permits and a toddler(s) wants to continue working with play dough and bears, provide an additional bear(s). Ask the toddler whether he/she wants a small bear or a big bear from the tray of available bears. Or if the toddler takes a bear from the tray, ask whether it is a big bear or a small bear.]
We used play dough to make things for our toy bears. We made some big things for our big bear. We made some small things for our small bear.
Toddlers may refer to the big bears as Daddy or Mommy and the small bears as Baby. Affirm these observations. Example: “This small bear does look like a baby.” Work with play dough can represent a toddler’s everyday experiences with food, sitting, or sleeping.
Generally, toddlers do not create recognizable objects. Holding an idea in his/her mind while manipulating the dough is a valuable process at this age, not shaping the dough in a particular way.
Some toddlers may see humor in making a big cookie for a small bear or a small cookie for a big bear. Appreciate the toddlers’ fun. What is important (and evident in this instance of humor) is toddlers’ awareness of size differences. Also, what looks like a small item to a toddler may appear to be a big item to you.
You may wish to refrain from emphasizing color differences across the bears if you anticipate drawing attention to color will distract from the activity’s intended focus on bear size.
Some toddlers may finish the activity after 5–10 minutes, whereas other toddlers may maintain a longer focus.
Extra support
Enrichment
Problem-solving, Object inquiry skills
A toddler matches toy bears by size and color with caregiver guidance.
Be Prepared: Secure up to 10 sorting bears that differ in size (big, little) and color (2–3 colors). Include at least one pair of big/little bears that are the same color and at least two bears of the same size (big or little) that are the same color. A possibility for sorting bears is Lakeshore® My First Sorting Bears. Place all bears in a basket.
Invite a toddler to join you at a low table or on the floor to play with toy bears. Encourage the toddler to help you remove all of the bears from the basket. Explain that some of the bears are big and some of the bears are little. Point to an example of each. Also, explain that there are different colors of bears. Point to several different colors of bears as you name colors. Describe the size and color of some bears you and the toddler remove from the basket. Example: “You are putting a little green bear on our table.”
Tell the toddler that we can have fun putting together bears that look the same and bears that look different. Demonstrate the concepts of same and different as follows:
Put the bears used for demonstration purposes in random places among the other bears.
Invite the toddler to put together some bears that are the same. Begin with the characteristic (color or size) that you anticipate will be relatively easy for the toddler to match. Do not specify a number to put together. Example: “Please put together some little bears. The bears can be different colors.” “Please put together some green bears. Remember, this is the color green. The bears can be little or big.” Describe and talk with the toddler about what he/she put together.
If the toddler remains interested, invite him/her to put together some bears that are different. Remind the toddler that things that are different are not the same. Again, do not specify a number to put together. Examples: “Please put together a little bear and a big bear. They can be the same color or different colors.” “Please put together some bears that are different colors. They can be big or little.” Describe and talk with the toddler about what he/she put together.
Conclude the activity by describing what happened and enthusiastically acknowledging the toddler’s efforts to pay attention to the toy bears.
This is a challenging activity that supports object inquiry skills in noticing characteristics of the toy bears plus self-regulation skills in paying attention to characteristics of objects. Especially important in paying attention is to ignore an object characteristic (color or size) that is not involved in putting together bears that are the same or different. The activity can be made less challenging by omitting size or color in the selection of sorting bears (see Extra Support tip).
Tailor the activity to a toddler’s emerging skills in noticing and comparing object characteristics. Promptly limit or expand the activity according to the toddler’s initial reactions.
The activity is not intended to teach about numbers. This is the reason the activity description suggests not specifying the number of bears to put together. For certain, some toddlers may work hard to put together all available bears that meet the request, such as all little bears or all red bears. Eagerly support their interest without imposing a number goal.
Extra support
Enrichment
Materials Needed: small blocks, sorting bears, blanket or thick fabric, dollhouse and furnishings, scissors, paper, narrow strips of paper in different lengths and in two different colors
Arrange small blocks and sorting bears of different sizes on a blanket or thick fabric on a low table to create a quiet play spot for open-ended play. Another possibility is to put big and little teddy bears with the dollhouse and furnishings. Participation in any of the activity options may prompt toddler interest in size differences as part of their play.
If toddlers enjoy cutting with scissors, provide a basket of narrow strips one half inch wide and in varying lengths. Cut the strips from two colors. Toddlers may arrange the cut bits on the table or glue them onto paper. Hold a strip at each end and encourage a child new to cutting to snip the strip of paper.
Materials Needed: variety of big and small play materials, basket of jar lids in different sizes, stacking rings, cloth bags, larger sheets of paper, crayons, play dough, fat drinking straws
Provide a variety of play materials that are big and small. Infants will enjoy playing with a basket of jar lids in different sizes. Sit with infants and describe their actions. On another day, place stacking rings in a cloth bag for mobile infants to explore. Talk with infants about the big and little sizes.
In addition to offering Options 1, 2, or 3, identify the interests of the toddlers in your care and select play materials in different sizes. Provide large sheets of paper and crayons for toddlers to make big marks. Use different words to describe size, such as little, small, tiny, large, and enormous!
Preschool-age children may enjoy making play dough birthday cakes for the bears. Provide fat drinking straws cut in half to represent each year. Consider sharing the rhyme “Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear” while children are at the table with little and big bears. Encourage children to move the little (or big) bears as you adapt the rhyme. Example: “Little bear, little bear, turn around. Big bear, big bear, touch the ground.”
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