Disconnect

Observation

G crawled over to a basket of magnatiles on the floor. He grabbed the basket and dumped out half of the magnatiles onto the floor in front of him. G picked up several magnatiles that were stacked together. He held them up and shook them, letting out a little excited scream. 

Then he dropped the magnatiles and picked up a different stack. There were four large squares connected together. G tried pulling them apart. He grabbed the corner with one outstretched palm. He grabbed the other side with his fingers. He seemed to be pulling in opposite directions with his hands. The squares didn't move. Then G put the squares back down. 

G picked up a few triangle magnatiles. He tried pulling them apart in a similar way. The triangle on top came off! It fell down on the floor. G picked it up and connected it back onto the other triangles. 

Reflection

G, you seemed so intrigued by the magnatiles this morning! You showed wonder as you played and experimented in a way to figure out how the magnatiles interact with each other. You showed an urge to connect and disconnect these materials. You explored cause and effect where the tiles would snap together when they came close. You are discovering the exciting world of magnetic forces! I loved watching your curiosity lead you as you tried pulling the magnatiles apart. You persevered through the challenge, tried different tiles, and eventually pulled them apart!

This experience also showed your fine motor development. You tried different grasping techniques. You held the tiles with one hand and pulled with the other. This demonstrated bilateral coordination and using opposing force. You are developing finger strength, control, and dexterity as you use your hands to experiment and explore!