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Contemporary Journal of Research in Early Childhood Care & Education
Vol. 1, Jan. 2020, pp. 17-27
ISSN: 2736-0628
© 2020 Dept. of ECCE, Adeyemi College of Education, Ondo
Water and Sand Play: More than Just Fun for Pre-school
Children
Peter K. OLOWE PhD, Bukola A.OJOKO PhD & Ijeoma E.
ONUEGBU
Department of Early Childhood Care & Education, Adeyemi College of
Education, Ondo
Corresponding author: OLOWE, olowepk@aceondo.edu.ng, 0806 873 0546
Abstract
During the pre-school years, children need a lot of learning
opportunities that can ensure their development in mental, physical,
social, emotional and creative domains. Play, especially water and
sand play, can provide these learning opportunities. Observation has
revealed however that many pre-primary schools in Nigeria do not
give children opportunities to engage in these two important plays.
Therefore, as a way of advocating for the use of water and sand play
in fostering holistic development of pre-school children, this study
carried out an experiment with water and sand to document the skills
that pre-school children can demonstrate during water and sand play.
Qualitative research method was adopted. Seven pre-school age
children were purposively selected for the study. Data was collected
through observational technique that involves the use of field note,
photo and video camera. Findings from the experiment revealed that
water and sand play hold a lot of oportunities for children to develop
mathematical, language, scientific, physical, social, emotional and
creative skills. Ministry of Education through SUBEB therefore needs
to enforce the policy on method of teaching at pre-primary school
level. Workshops and seminars are needed to train pre-school heads
and caregivers on how to use water and sand play in facilitating
children’s learning and development.
Keywords: Pre-school children, Play, Water play, Sand play
Peter K. OLOWE, Bukola A.OJOKO & Ijeoma E. ONUEGBU 18
© 2020 Dept. of ECCE, Adeyemi College of Education, Ondo
Introduction
Pre-school children are active beings who learn through
various forms of activities and interaction. They love to explore,
investigate, experiment and get engaged in lots of rewarding
experiences. Consequently, they show astonishing gains in
cognitive, language, physical, social and emotional skills. These
skills are developed only when they can experience new materials,
roles, ideas and activities through play. This is because play has a
necessary element of healthy development for children of all ages
as it influences all areas of development. Authors like Crowther
and Wellhousen (2004), Catron and Allen (2007), Copple and
Bredekamp (2009), Anderson-McNamee and Bailey (2010),
Goldstein (2012) and Christie and Roskos (2013) have all lend
their voices to the fact that play encourages aspects of holistic
development that cannot be achieved through any other way.
Various international and national child right documents also
consider the fact that play is a right of children (United Nations
Conventions on the Rights of the Child, 1989; African Charter on
Rights and Welfare of Children, ACRWC, 1990; Child Right Act,
2003). Meanwhile, since it is necessary for pre-school children to
experience development in cognitive, language, physical, social
and emotional domains, it is interesting to note that water and sand
play can provide children opportunities to experience development
in all the domains and they can serve as means of guaranteeing
right of children to play. According to McMillan (2014), water
play is suited to all children regardless of the child’s ability or
disability, age, language, gender, culture or needs, and is a
wonderful learning tool. Children are always eager to explore
water because it is fascinating and intriguing (McMillan, 2014).
In their words, Crowther and Wellhousen (2004) submitted
that water play is a magical medium as it has been used to soothe,
relax, teach, enjoy and sustain. Water play can help in diverse
ways to help children acquire problem-solving and thinking skills
(Crowther & Wellhousen, 2004; Wallace, White & Stone, 2010;
McMillan, 2012) as it can make children to challenge the existing
Water and sand play: More than just fun for pre-school children 19
© 2020 Dept. of ECCE, Adeyemi College of Education, Ondo
way of thinking (McMillan, 2012). It particularly helps the
development of the foundations of Mathematics because during
water play, children can learn concepts such as empty, full, more,
less, heavy, light, shallow, deep, greater than, less than (Crowther
& Wellhousen, 2004; Wallace, et al, 2010; Gross, 2012; McMillan,
2014; ). Again, water play can help the development of scientific
skills as it creates curiosity in children and makes them to ask
questions such as “what does it do”?, “How can I change it”?
(Crowther & Wellhousen, 2004; Gross, 2012; McMillan, 2014).
Apart from this, children can develop physical skills during water
play because it allows them to use small and large muscles as they
lift buckets, fit plastic tubes on to funnels, pour water from
container to container or to squeeze bottles and sponges.
Also, eye-hand coordination is practiced as they pick things
in water, scoops and sieves. Learning social skills is also among
the many opportunities of water play for pre-school children.
Water play can help children to learn important social skills like
sharing, cooperation, respect, friendship, team spirit, love,
appreciation and acceptance. Similarly, when children play, they
use and learn language naturally. Words such as sieve, funnel,
pour, flow add to the young children’s vocabularies and allow
them to express themselves more clearly. Other words that grow
naturally out of water play experiences are words about position -
beside, above, over, under and words about how one thing relates
to another - larger, smaller (Crowther & Wellhousen, 2004;
McMillan, 2014).
According to Jarrett, French-Lee, Bulunuz, and Bulunuz
(2010), sand is a material with a particular particle size, technically
between 2 millimeters (1/12 inches.) and .06 millimeters (1/400
inches). The authors submitted further that sand is a granular
material, which can be mounded, poured and measured when dry.
When sand is wet, the surface tension of water causes the grains to
stick together (Welland 2009 as cited in Jarrett et al., 2010). The
tactile qualities of sand fit well with the sensory emphasis of
preschool education recommended by Friedrich Froebel, Montes-
sori, and Jean Piaget (Jarrett et al., 2010). According to Hogben
Peter K. OLOWE, Bukola A.OJOKO & Ijeoma E. ONUEGBU 20
© 2020 Dept. of ECCE, Adeyemi College of Education, Ondo
and Wasley (1996) as cited in Crowther and Wellhousen (2004),
sand is a versatile medium that allows for the development of
creative abilities, imaginations and appreciation, and awareness of
a natural material. Crowther and Wellhousen (2004) averred
further that the nature of sand encourages exploration and
experimentation leading to concept formation. The authors noted
further that sand play is nonthreatening, enjoyable and explorative
(Crowther & Wellhousen, 2004).
Sand play, just like water play, holds a lot of opportunities
for children to experience learning and development. For example,
children learn science and math principles relating to mass, weight
and capacity when they scope, pour and measure sand. Sand play
helps children to engage in making careful observations and in
classification, comparison, measurement, and problem-solving
activities (Crowther & Wellhousen, 2004; Wallace, et al., 2010;
Jarrett, et al., 2010). Sand play can help children to experience
physical development relating to fine and gross motor skills. For
instance, children can learn to balance themselves as they hold
bucket, turn it over, and squat to be close enough to the ground
(Crowther & Wellhousen, 2004). Another benefit of sand play is
the fact that children can acquire language skills as they talk about
what they do (Crowther & Wellhousen, 2004). Children learn
words such as measure, mould, make, build, etc. During sand play,
children learn social skills. For instance, they learn friendship,
sharing, cooperation, turn taking and team spirit among others
(Crowther & Wellhousen, 2004). Boyle (2006) submitted that sand
play can enhance the environmental experiences of children when
they use recycled plastic containers as sand scoops and play with
natural materials such as stones, twigs, bark, and leaves in the
sandbox.
It may be interesting to note however that despite the fact
that water and sand play can foster holistic development of
children and can serve as means of guaranteeing children’s their
right to play, painstaking and close observation from a visit to
quite a large number of pre-primary schools in Ondo and Oyo
States in Nigeria revealed that children are not given opportunity to
Water and sand play: More than just fun for pre-school children 21
© 2020 Dept. of ECCE, Adeyemi College of Education, Ondo
engage in meaningful play activities including water and sand play.
This observation has lend credence to the submission of
Whitebread (2012) and Gleave and Cole-Hamilton (2012) that the
actual time children spend on playing continues to decrease. Elkind
(2008) has also noted that today, children play eight hours less
each week than their counterparts did two decades ago.
In fact, what is observed in many of the pre-primary
schools visited is that children are placed under pressure of
academic activities from opening of the day till closing hour. It
was observed that play is being replaced by other book related
activities because there are no play materials to help children
engage in playful activities. Parents in the pre-primary schools are,
on many occasions, made to believe that children should not be
allowed too much time of play as it would not allow them to be
successful academically. One may be tempted to logically
conclude therefore that this situation that is observed in the pre-
primary schools visited could be the order of the day in many of
our pre-primary schools in Nigeria. The consequence of this may
be very grave for the children that are enrolled in such pre-primary
schools. This is because such children may never be able to
experience development in all domains and this could hinder them
from developing their full potentials. Therefore, as a way of
advocating for the use of play, especially water and sand play, to
foster holistic development of pre-school children and, to give
them access to enjoy their right to play, this study experimented
with water and sand to document the skills that pre-school children
can acquire when they are allowed to engage in water and sand
play.
Research Questions
1. How enthusiastic are pre-school children when they engage
in water and sand play?
2. What are the specific skills that pre-school children can
demonstrate when they engage in water and sand play?
Peter K. OLOWE, Bukola A.OJOKO & Ijeoma E. ONUEGBU 22
© 2020 Dept. of ECCE, Adeyemi College of Education, Ondo
Method
The researchers adopted qualitative approach of the
phenomenological type in this study as this is the only approach
that can offer opportunity to directly observe and document
learning and activities during the experiment. The researchers
chose a public school purposively in Ondo West Local
Government Area based on accessibility of the school, availability
of pre-primary section in the school and readiness of the head of
the school to allow the experiment. After securing permission from
the head teacher of the school, all the eighteen children in pre-
primary section were sampled for the study.
The researchers wrote a letter to the parents of the children
in order to secure their consent to engage their children in the
experiment since water and sand play were not part of the school’s
regular learning activities. The researchers then gave two weeks
interval to allow the parents send back their reply. After the two
weeks, it was only seven parents that gave their consent out of the
fifteen that replied. The remaining three parents failed to reply.
Therefore, it was only seven pre-school children who were
between 4 and 6 years old that were involved in the study.
Having done this, the researchers selected three days of the
week, that is, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday for the experiment.
This was discussed with the head teacher, the class teachers and
the parents were informed about the days so that they would give
extra clothing to their children on the three days. The researchers
purchased some materials which include scoop, spoons, water
bowls, funnel, sponge, plastic blocks, measuring cups ofdifferent
sizes and pails. Some other materials like leaves, empty paint
containers, dry sticks, empty water bottle containers and small
stones were also collected from the environment. The experiment
on water was first conducted for a week on the three days chosen
and the following week was dedicated to that of sand play. Each
time the experiment was conducted, it lasted for about 50 to 60
minutes.
Water and sand play: More than just fun for pre-school children 23
© 2020 Dept. of ECCE, Adeyemi College of Education, Ondo
Data Collection Procedure
During the experiment, the researchers involved four
research assistants who were all trained by the researchers before
the experiment. Two of the assistants helped in guiding the
children while the other two assistants joined the researchers in
collecting data through the use of field note, photo camera, video
and audio recording. The field note used was thematised into
science, mathematics, language, cognitive, socio-emotional and
physical domain. Each time a child demonstrated a particular skill,
it was quickly noted in the field note by placing the skill
demonstrated under appropriate theme. Video tape and
photographs were also used. The researchers as well as the
research assistants guided the children’s learning by discussing
what they were doing with them and by providing them
appropriate names or words for what they did.
Data Analysis Procedure
The qualitative data gathered were subjected to the process
transcriptions to reveal a number of relevant skills demonstrated by
the children. The video recorded and the photographs taken helped
to discover other skills demonstrated which the researchers and the
research assistants did not notice initially. All the skills recorded
were placed under the headings identified in the field note for easy
discussion.
Results and Discussion
In relation to the first research question, it was observed
that the pre-school children who participated in the experiment felt
great and were always looking forward to another day. The
children were seen, especially during water play splashing water,
scooping it and pouring it. They moved enthusiastically from one
angle to the other talking, laughing and jiggling. The children of
course could not have exhibited less enthusiasm during the
experiment since it provided them the opportunity which they
seem not to have ever had. They were probably happy because
they had opportunity to engage in what Gross (2012) and Crowther
and Wellhousen (2004) referred to as free and explorative play.
Peter K. OLOWE, Bukola A.OJOKO & Ijeoma E. ONUEGBU 24
© 2020 Dept. of ECCE, Adeyemi College of Education, Ondo
This finding upholds the belief that play help children to let out
their emotion. The finding substantiates the opinion expressed by
McMillan (2014) that children are always eager to explore water
because it is fascinating and intriguing. Similarly, it upholds the
submission of Crowther and Wellhousen (2004) that water play is
a magical medium as it has been used to soothe, relax, teach, enjoy
and sustain. The result further lays credence to the position of
Crowther and Wellhousen (2004) that sand play is nonthreatening,
enjoyable and explorative.
In regards to question two, the children demonstrated
several of skills that are related to science, mathematics, language,
cognitive, socio-emotional and physical domains. For instance, the
children were able to observe the consequences of what they did.
When they dip floating objects into water, it reappears again. They
were able to compare weights of two pails by scooping sand into
them and carrying them. Likewise, the children were able to
improve their mathematical skills as they were able to learn
concepts like empty, full, heavy, light and deep. On one occasion,
one of the children raised her voice by saying “My own is full”!
Crowther & Wellhousen (2004), Wallace, et al, (2010), Jarrett, et
al, (2010), Gross, (2012) and McMillan (2014) have all maintained
this same position that children develop several unique and
academic skills when they engage in water and sand play.
The children also had opportunity to enhance their
cognitive skills. Some of the children were seen engaging in
thinking processes before manipulating sand into what they have
thought about. Besides, the children were able to learn problem-
solving skills as some of them decided to add water to their sand
when it refused to stick together. Physical development was
glaringly noted. As the children picked objects, scooped and
sieved, they exercised their small muscles. Likewise, the children
tapped their feet, jumped on sand and hopped on one legs. Again,
the two types of play helped the children to engage in interaction
and thereby they learned some social skills including sharing,
cooperation, friendship, interaction and acceptance. Besides social
skills, the children learned some new words such as measure,
funnel, pour, scoop, mould and build among others.
Water and sand play: More than just fun for pre-school children 25
© 2020 Dept. of ECCE, Adeyemi College of Education, Ondo
Although some of the children demonstrated the knowledge of
these words in Yoruba Language, many of them sticked to them
once they were heard from the research assistants or the
researchers. These findings strongly upheld the submissions of
many authors on sand and water play (Crowther & Wellhousen,
2004; Wallace, et al, 2010; Jarrett, et al, 2010 and Gross, 2012)
Conclusion
It has been established that water and sand play can
guarantee children opportunity to experience holistic development
and to fully enjoy their right to play. This study was carried out
therefore to lay credence to this. Consequently, the study
demonstrated that water and sand play hold a lot of learning
opportunities for pre-school children as they can help them to
experience learning and development in all domains.
Recommendations
The government has an active role to play if pre-school
children must enjoy their right to play and if they must be given
opportunity to experience holistic development through water and
sand play. The government should enforce the policy on method of
teaching at pre-primary school level. To do this, the government
should ensure that educational officers at federal, state and local
government levels to visit both private and public pre-primary
schools to ensure that they make play a principal method of
teaching. Again, government should organise training and
workshops programmes for pre-primary school teachers in Nigeria
so that they can learn how to use play, especially water and sand
play, to facilitate children’s learning and development. Besides,
government should make available, necessary materials that can
facilitate the use of water and sand play in public schools. Pre-
school teachers would need to avail themselves the opportunity of
attending short time course, such as Diploma, on Early Childhood
Education in order to learn about water and sand play with
preschool children. In addition, parenting education programme
could be made available to parents of pre-school children to expose
them to the importance of water and sand play. Doing this would
Peter K. OLOWE, Bukola A.OJOKO & Ijeoma E. ONUEGBU 26
© 2020 Dept. of ECCE, Adeyemi College of Education, Ondo
enable them to give opportunity to their children of pre-school age
to engage in water and sand play
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