This space doesn’t get used everyday. When it was built last fall (THANK YOU, BITTY!!!), it was announced with little fanfare as to its grand purpose.
Life continued in The Junkyard, and while things happened at the sink, it never developed into deep, immersive play. Mostly the children just randomly dump sand into the sink as they passed or tried to see if everyone could sit in it at the same time.
Today I made a little bench with two tires and a plank of wood. Usually this signals a balance beam, but today I had a different purpose. I gathered some tools from around the yard, scooped a bit of sand, put a handful of clover on a tray. Immediately all three children ran over to see what I was doing and the questions came all at once:
What are you doing? What is that? What is that for?
Can I do it? Why are you putting that in the bowl?
I’m making a potion . . .
Immediately little hands began making their own potions, pulling from ingredients I had brought to the bench and wandering off to find what else they might need. Flowers, seashells, water, and more clover, never enough clover.
The Children's Burrow 