Sometimes you might look out onto the Early Childhood playground and wonder, What are they even doing? It might look chaotic, messy, and like children are just doing whatever they want- and they are! They are creating their own learning environment in real time. The lessons that emerge from that are complex and relevant in every phase of our lives. 

Just this week Pre-K was inspired by long, rounded ramps, and they came up with a problem: How can we use these ramps to get water all the way from a large boulder down to a large hole in the sandbox?

At first, the children simply lined up the ramps and poured water down them. It wasn’t working.

“Why?” they asked me.

“Gravity. Just like gravity holds us to the Earth, it makes water flow from up high to down low. Water always flows from a high point to a low point.”

As I explained this, I pointed out that some parts of their ramp were too low, so we needed to raise them up.

“How can we make this part higher than that part so the water can go down?” I asked.

“Logs!” a student exclaimed.

Three friends immediately ran to grab some logs to place underneath the joints where one ramp met another. The children poured water down again.

“It isn’t reaching the hole!”

Over the next 20 minutes, children tested, retested, and experimented with placing logs and pans and building up sand underneath the ramps so the water could reach its destination.

Finally, we did it!

This story is an obvious example of how children learn science in Pre-K. We learned how to experiment, test, and problem-solve to reach our goal. We tried, failed, and tried again. We learned a new word—gravity—and explored a fundamental concept about how water moves on Earth. We engineered our ramps, supported them, and ultimately succeeded.

But as I observed this process, I noticed more than just science in action.

The children were collaborating with one another and communicating their ideas, theories, and wonderings. They were asking questions, asking for help, and jumping in to achieve a common goal. No idea was “wrong” or unwelcome. Nobody was shouting over another person to make sure their voice was heard. They were speaking up and, more importantly, listening to one another.

The Pre-K class was exemplifying what Friends School is all about: approaching life—and all of its problems and challenges—with curiosity, wonder, and kindness toward others.

It’s something we all need to do more of. And with a little patience and help from our friends, we can achieve amazing things.

So, yes, Pre-K learned about gravity—how it keeps us tied to the Earth and how it makes water move. But I learned something about gravity, too: sometimes, it has a way of bringing us together.