Tapestry of Faith: Sing to the Power: A Social Justice Program for Children Grades 4-5

Alternate Activity 2: Building a Water Channel

Activity time: 30 minutes

Materials for Activity

  • Tarp or plastic tablecloth
  • Large bowl
  • Pitcher of water
  • Duct tape
  • Scissors, including left-handed scissors and tin snips
  • Recyclables such as plastic bottles, plastic bags, aluminum cans, cardboard or plastic tubes, and plastic and/or cardboard milk containers

Preparation for Activity

  • Set out materials on top of plastic tarp or tablecloth, in a space that will not be damaged by water. If weather permits, it is probably best to do this activity outside.

Description of Activity

Children explore the power of water in a hands-on experiment. They work together to construct a channel through which water can flow-a challenge which uses cooperation, creativity, and flexibility as participants negotiate which ideas to use and how to combine ideas.

Invite the children to work together to use the materials you have provided to plan and then build a path where water can flow.

Have them construct the channel. Then, place a large bowl at the bottom of the channel to capture water, and use the pitcher to pour water in the top and see where it goes. Engage analysis of the experiment with these questions:

  • Does the water go where you anticipated?
  • Does the water go places the builders did not anticipate?
  • What do you learn about the power of water from this experiment?
  • How easy or hard do you think water is to control?

Including All Participants

Engage participants who lack manual dexterity for building in planning and analyzing construction.