The children are 24–36 months old in the room where Francine, a child care provider, works. Francine saw five children squeezed around the water table, which was placed against one wall. In the water table were three containers and a yellow boat.
As Francine came closer to the water table, she heard Anna, another child care provider, say to the children, “I told you before, if you don’t play nicely I’ll have to close the water table again!” Francine knew there had been problems since the table had been set up, so she continued to watch.
The children at one end of the water table were pushing each other as they tried to reach over the edge to the toys. When three children began to fight over the boat, one child pushed another. Soon both children were crying. Anna said, “It is time for snack anyway!” Anna turned to Francine and said, “I really don’t like the water table no matter what type of learning occurs. I’m keeping it closed until the children can behave!”
The children are 24–36 months old in the room where Shala, a child care provider, works. Shala saw four children playing in the water table beside Johia, the other child care worker in the room. The table was filled with water coloured blue with food coloring. The table held several containers and was placed away from the wall.
Johia was asking the children if they could fill up the containers with water and then dump the water back into the table again. Several of the children were laughing as they dumped the water from the containers. Johia commented to the children, “I really like the way you pour the water slowly and quickly back into the table.”
Shala leaned over the table and commented to the children, “You all look like you’re having fun! If you’re finished here, wash your hands and join us for snack.” Slowly Johia has the children take off their aprons, wash their hands, and then join the other children at the snack table. She said, “You all played really well at the water table. I will open it again this afternoon.”