When I go shopping, I look at things differently than perhaps many people do.
For instance, for several years I've eyed the ticket rolls at various stores thinking to myself "oh my goodness...I would have LOVED playing with those as a child. I should buy them for the preschoolers." Somehow though I've talked myself out of that purchase at least one hundred times by saying back to myself, "how on earth do you expect 16 children to use a couple rolls of tickets?! They will just unwrap them and be done." I somehow told myself that the value in the ticket rolls wasn't great enough to justify the purchase.
Well I finally stopped listening to myself and went ahead and bought some ticket rolls.
Here is what happened...
It's hard to tell what he is doing exactly, but look at this...
I had no idea they would think to find such a tiny little space to use as a ticket sales distribution slot!
And what must one use in a preschool to purchase tickets?
Flowers seemed to work as payment!
All of the ticket rolls were in use, and this girl wanted a roll of her own so...
She found a way to make one herself.
These tickets enjoyed a life in the hands of these children for many days. Some were even sent home with friends in little ticket envelopes with ticket cards made by little hands.
The uses for these tickets were uncountable...from a sensory experience piling up strand after strand of tickets and jumping or sitting on it to carefully placing tickets one by one in a hole-in-the-lid yogurt container to fill the entire thing!
The learning here was TREMENDOUS. So very many opporutnities to practice fine motor skills, gross motor skills, hand-eye coordination, social skills, conflict resolution, problem solving, creativity, and SO MUCH MORE!
I'm so so glad that I finally followed that instinct of "I would have loved this as a child" and allowed these children such wonderful opportunity of experience!