Touch and Temperature
Water play is a
wonderful device for language and concept development.
Objectives
Children ages 3-4 can use temperature to describe a
substance Cog. I
and they can identify objects as hotter than or colder than Cog. IIIB
Children ages 2-2 ½ years can fill and dump containers of water FM I
Materials
Plastic dish pans,
half filled with cold water; pitcher filled with hot water; different sized
containers for filling and dumping; eye dropper.
Procedures
l. Seat children on the floor or around a table with one pan of
water for each child or pair of children. Tell the children not to touch the
water—just look—and to figure out whether it is hot or cold. Can they tell by
looking? No. How could they find out? Have them touch the outside of the pan.
Does it feel cold or hot? Try it with closed eyes. Still the same? Tell
children that the water is indeed cold and that it is OK to play in the water
with the containers.
2. As the children play, review the discussion of temperature (cold-hot), and
review the idea that they can't see temperature but they can feel it through
their skin.
3. Go to each child in turn. Ask him to close his eyes and drop some cold water
on his arm with the eyedropper. Ask the child where he feels the water and
whether it feels hot or cold.
4. Ask the children to cover their eyes with one hand and leave the other hand
in the water pans. Slowly pour hot (but not painfully hot) water into the pans.
Ask children to tell you when the water feels different. How does it feel? Put
some ice cubes in the water. Ask children to try to feel the cold of the ice
cubes floating on top and the warmer water below.
5. Using hot water (i.e., SLIGHTLY above lukewarm), repeat Step 3. Alternate
hot and cold drops of water, and try other parts of the body. NOTE: Some children seem
to understand hot-cold when water is poured in the pans, but they can’t discriminate
between hot and cold water dropped on their arms, back, neck, etc. If you find
a child who responds this way, try some textures. For example, rub the child’s
arm or back with a terrycloth towel and with fake fur. Ask the child to touch the two cloths (with
hands) and tell which one they felt each time. |