The Sprayers

One day, on a whim, I filled a sprayer with water and a couple of drops of red food colouring, for Ae to take to the park. I thought it would keep her amused while I did some exercise. She was entertained. She sat on the walkway and sprayed all around her. She sprayed on the white tree bark that was falling off the trees. She sprayed on bird shit and stones. It was fun for a while and then she got bored.

The sprayer then sat unused on the shoe rack for a few weeks. Her brother asked about it when he came home from school but he didn't try it. Suddenly, we are hit by sprayer fever in the house. They both want the sprayer. "Oh ! Let it be a lesson in sharing and taking turns.", I thought. But reminding them to share was disrupting my peace in the park. So, we ended up asking by mother for her 'bug sprayer' from the balcony.

The second sprayer is opaque so I didn't fill it with colouring. It is bigger and initially neither of the kids wanted it. So, back to sharing and taking turns. One day, I mentioned to Ew that it had a shooting mode. Now it is the sprayer of his choice.

So what are they learning from using the sprayer at the park besides the abandoned lesson in sharing and taking turns ? Plenty !
1. They are building up fine motor skills to help with their writing.
2. They are improving coordination.
3. They are learning that red colouring only shows on lighter coloured objects like white bird poo but not on mud.
4. They are learning amidst my shouts of "No!" that spraying on the winged termites damages their wings and they can't fly. But if their mother stops them in time, and the bug does not shed his wing and it has a chance to dry, he can fly again.
5. They are learning that you need to stop and let some air into the big sprayer or it won't spray - Bernoulli's principle.
6. They are learning which people to avoid because they will get yelled at for spraying on plants.
7, 8, 9, 10.....