Giant Basketball Roll

Inspired by these:

Pink and Green Mama
Teacher Tom and here
Let the Children Play
Brick by Brick


we did this:

(they literally could not keep their hands out of it! )

and then it became this

and this

(they loved throwing the ball at the paper)


and soon it inspired this

Sometimes I start doing an activity with the children with the fear that it will get out of control, and I compensate by trying to control the process and the outcome.  After all these years, I'm still learning the very basic skill of letting go and following the children's lead.  This activity reminded me that the allowing children to think outside of the box (or the wading pool, in this case) can lead to a whole new dynamism in the activity.  And the bottom line is--it's more fun when they have the freedom to explore.

And thank you, Maria, for taking all these great pictures!

*Stephanie*