Touch and Temperature

Water play is a wonderful device for language and concept development.

Objectives

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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 the procedure in Step Three. 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 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.