Module 4: Abstracting

Topic:

Play/Free Play/ Free Choice

Abstraction:

A cardboard box and a bed sheet.

Abstracting is taking a look at a topic, concept, object, or idea and digging deeper to break them down and taking a closer look at these broken down portions. Helping us to see that even when we break them down they still represent the same overall idea.

Play can be very broad and there can be so many things to think of when thinking of abstracting play. However, the one thing that came to my mind first was pretend play. In Sparks of Genius, the author states in Chapter 8, “We should give children toys that they can use in many ways. Let them adapt blocks, simple dolls, paper cloth, and household items to as many scenarios as they can imagine. Encourage them to imagine a stick to be a sword, a scarf a river, a pair of alphabet blocks a pair of dice” (156). This is exactly what the children do in my classroom. I include many different types of materials in the pretend play area of my classroom. For example, cloth, sheets, rocks, containers of different sizes/shapes, menus, brushes, etc. The possibilities are endless. Now the first abstraction I chose was a cardboard box. Some people might first look at this object as just a cardboard box to transport things/store things, but as a child they see a whole world of exploration. My first kindergarten class used a cardboard box and created a boat.They put flags on it, used tools to make holes, and sailed it out into the deep sea. Due to confidentiality and not having the permission to post pictures of my students I won't be able to show you exactly what they did/made, but we can use our imagination! A cardboard box can be formed into many things: a bus, a boat, a space ship, a rocket, a submarine, a house, a shop, an airplane, etc. Children come up with so many different ideas on how to use simple objects and turn them into something to play with. It is amazing to watch them create such interesting stories and ideas. 

A bed sheet was my next abstraction of play. The same thing goes for a bed sheet. We look at it as something we sleep with, make the bed with, cover a sofa, etc. If you put a sheet in a pretend play area of a classroom your students will take that sheet and turn it into a magic carpet, a veil, a blanket for a picnic, a blanket for a baby, a hood, a ghost, a tent, etc. Do you ever remember turning sheets into a tent in your living room as a child? I do!

It's the simple things that we can look at and think of the endless possibilities to use that object for. When looking at objects like these young children think of how they can play with them and use them to their potential. One of my favorite books when I was younger was called, Beryl's Box by Lisa Taylor. This book is about a young girl named Beryl who goes over to Penelope's house. Their parents are friends, but they don't really like each other. Beryl brings over her cardboard box. At first Penelope makes fun of her cardboard box, but then Beryl helps Penelope see that it is more than just a cardboard box. In fact it is a ship that takes them to a secret island. Than it is a magic carpet that rescues them from the island monsters. Then it is a spaceship that takes them high into space. What Penelope learns from this is that there is a lot a box can be used for besides just being a cardboard box. I love this book because it takes you back to childhood and the imagination young children have that is quite incredible. At the end of the story Penelope gets a new computer for her birthday, but instead of being excited about the computer she is excited about the cardboard box it came in.

Abstracting play helped me see and show others that play isn't just playing with store bought toys. It allows me to take objects and break them down looking closer at them to see what else they can bring to life. How else can these objects be used? The next time you look at an object think in a child's perspective, “What would they make of this object?” It also helped me think about children around the world who don't have money to buy toys. Instead they make use of what is around them. For example, sticks, cardboard boxes, stones, sand, mud, etc. All of these materials can be used and transformed into a form of play. By looking at these objects we can ask ourselves, “Is this really a cardboard box? Or is it a ship, bus, boat, rocket?”