Explore and Play: Introduce Flexible Ramps

Materials

• flexible tubes, such as foam pipe insulation (1-inch diameter is ideal for large marbles)—found in hardware stores—some of which can be cut in half to make open troughs
• other flexible tubing, such as hoses from sump pumps or shop vacs—found in the plumbing section of hardware stores—cut into 4- to 6-foot lengths
• masking tape or duct tape for securing flexible tubing in place
• large marbles

Key Science Concepts

• A ramp is a surface with one end higher than the other.

Vocabulary

Introduce the word flexible—something that can be bent or twisted without breaking. Demonstrate with one of the tubes how easily it can be moved.

Directions

Introduce children to the new materials you’ve added to the indoor ramps learning center this week: flexible tubes. After they’ve had a chance to examine and play with the new materials, ask:

• What are some of the differences between the cardboard tube ramps we’ve been building with and these flexible tube ramps? 
• What do you think you can do with a flexible tube ramp that you can’t do with a cardboard tube ramp?

Explain that they’ll have many more opportunities to play and experiment with the flexible tubes this week.