Roll and Wonder
Hello, friends! Curiosity Club is rolling right along this school year! This month, we became motion investigators during Roll and Wonder, a session all about ramps, movement, and the surprising ways objects can travel. Even a small change, such as making a ramp taller, trying a bumpier surface, or choosing a different object, can lead to a completely different result.
Wondering About Motion
Motion is everywhere. Objects can roll, slide, tumble, wobble, speed up, slow down, or change direction. When children explore ramps, they can notice how an object’s shape, the surface it travels on, and the height or angle of the ramp can affect its movement.
At Curiosity Club, we provided children with materials, questions, and space to investigate motion for themselves. Rather than focusing on finding one “right” answer, children were invited to make predictions, test their ideas, notice what happened, and decide what to try next.
Our Roll and Wonder Stations
Station 1: Rolling Objects
At our first station, children chose from a collection of toys to test on a ramp. Before letting an object go, they were encouraged to pause and make a prediction: Would it roll, slide, wobble, tumble, or stay still?
After making their guesses came the exciting part: watching closely! Children compared objects with different shapes, sizes, and materials. A round object might roll quickly, while an uneven object could wobble down the ramp.
My personal favorite object to test was a small, squishy ice cream cone toy. Because of its shape, it traveled diagonally down the ramp! By trying many different toys, children could observe what made each one move in its own way.
Station 2: Surface Surprise
Next, children explored how a surface can change the way an object travels. Using toy cars, we tested ramps covered with smooth plastic wrap, scratchy towel fabric, and bumpy bubble wrap.
The same car could travel very differently depending on the surface beneath it. Some children noticed that cars moved more quickly on smoother materials, while other surfaces slowed them down or made their paths bumpier. The bubble-wrap ramp was a fan favorite!
Children also noticed that some toy cars traveled more smoothly than others. A Paw Patrol car was especially popular. This station gave children the chance to compare surfaces, repeat their tests, and see how changing one part of an investigation can lead to new results.
Station 3: Slope Scientists
How does the height of a ramp affect movement? At Slope Scientists, children tested mini cornhole bags on ramps set at different angles. They released the same bag from the same starting place and watched to see how far it traveled.
Then, they compared what happened when the ramp was lower or steeper. Did the bag move farther on one ramp? Did it move faster? What changed when the ramp angle changed?
We got creative and used books and boxes to adjust the slope, investigating how high a ramp needed to be for the mini corn
hole bag to move.
Station 4: Build-a-Ramp
Our final, and most popular, station gave children and their families the chance to become ramp designers and engineers. Using cardboard, blocks, books, tape, and a collection of recyclable objects, they built their own ramps and chose what they wanted their objects to do.
Children enjoyed designing waterslides, skateboard ramps, tunnels, and many other creative structures. They tested their designs, made changes, and tried again when something did not work as planned.
Build-a-Ramp was a wonderful reminder that curiosity often includes persistence, problem-solving, and a little creativity!
How We Supported Curiosity
Roll and Wonder was designed around several ways caregivers can help children build curiosity at home:
Making time to think deeply: Children had time to pause, look carefully, make predictions, and consider what they wanted to try.
Using different strategies: Every station invited children to change one part of the ramp investigation. Trying more than one strategy helps children recognize patterns and discover new ways to explore a question.
Freely exploring: Children had the chance to follow their own interests and questions.
These practices connect with the Curiosity in Classrooms framework developed by Jirout et al. (2022), which highlights the value of supporting children as they encounter uncertainty, consider possibilities, and actively seek information.
Try It at Home
You can continue ramp exploration at home with a book and a pillow. Prop one end of the book on the pillow to create a small ramp, then gather a few safe household objects to test, perhaps a toy car, ball, block, paper tube, or small container.
Start with a question: “What do you think will happen?”
Then, change one thing at a time:
Try a different object.
Make the ramp higher or lower.
Cover the ramp with a towel, blanket, or another safe surface.
Move the starting point higher or lower on the ramp.
Build a curve or a new path with cardboard and blocks.
As your child investigates, focus on what they notice rather than whether their prediction was “right.” Small moments of wondering show children that everyday materials can become tools for discovery.
Thank you to all the children and families who joined us for Roll and Wonder, and a special shout-out to the Northside Library for hosting us! We loved seeing the creative designs and enthusiastic testing that filled the room.
See you soon,
Camila Pueblitz :)
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