Spotlight On Malleable And Tactile Learning

The firework filled bonfire tray was set up to excite and encourage the children to use their busy fingers to explore. We watched as they used paintbrushes to draw firework shapes and make ‘swirly whirly’ patterns in the sand – whilst making some excellent sound effects at the same time! Some focussed on exploring texture as they used both ends of the brush, the wooden end scratched the surface, whilst the brush end made wide marks in the sand. One child used the pipe cleaners to make her own sparkler, waving it as she would a real one, and another focussed on the shiny capital letters, finding the one that he needed for his name. Some children explored the area using great big arm movements, while others kept things small and neat, threading tiny beads onto the pipe cleaner fireworks, or pinching up fingerfuls of coloured sand to watch it fall.

The malleable tray is a doorway to different tactile adventures, and all the children access it in their own way, following their own individual learning journey as they explore, develop and most of all play.