Bean there...and now back again!

We had had beans in our sensory tray for a couple of weeks now and I had noticed, over the last few days, interest in the tray had reduced considerably, to the point where it wasn't really being played with.  Occasionally someone might scatter a few on the floor on their way past but that was about it.

My normal course of action would be to replace the beans with another resource, however, having recently read 'Observing, Assessing and Planning for Children in the Early Years by Sandra Smidt I thought I would have a go at implementing one of her suggestions.  She said that when interest declines in a resource rather than looking to replace it completely, try adding or changing an element of the area to regenerate interest.  I must admit I was quite sceptical about this and had doubts as to whether the childrens interest could so easily be re-captured, but thought I would give it a go. 

What I added to the area was another work surface and some scales (ok thats 2 things, but I decided the table wasn't big enough and maybe that was restricting play and strictly speaking, one set of scales had been there all the time at the bottom of the box).
Well she was right.  It was though this was a completely new resource that had been introduced....

....but thinking about it, it wasn't quite like that, because you could see the children building on their existing knowledge of the beans as they incorporated the new resources into play.

J for example knew it was easier to pour the beans into a container with a small opening if she used the funnel and it was best to pour the beans slowly to prevent them scattering.

The extra work surface gave the children plenty of space to play without disturbing each other, while the scales brought new elements to their play, including weight and numbers.

Although I didn't manage to get any photos, we spent a long time trying to work out why one end of the scales was up in the air and how we could get it to go down (apart from the obvious - pushing it with our hands!)

J also noticed the 'letters' on the scales and this led to discussions about how the 'black line' moved around the numbers as we added more beans and why this was.

There were still plenty of opportunites to explore the beans with our hands as they became 'cakes'....

....and I noticed that the children brought their own resources to the area, which they then incorporated into their play.

(I'm not sure whether the animals were being cooked or being fed!)

Links to EYFS:
CLL: Language for Communication (children talking about and discussing what they are doing)
CLL: Reading (showing an interest in print)
CLL: Handwriting (showing control in their use of equipment)
PSRN: Numbers as Labels and for Counting (using number names in play / recognising numbers)
PSRN: Shapes, Spaces and Measures (talking about how heavy things are / how much space is left, can any more be fitted in)