The Four Elements
Ancient cultures often conceived matter in terms of four simple substances:
earth, air, fire and water.
This beautiful way of understanding the nature and complexity of our world remains compelling to this day. The four elements are not just all around us but within us – they are considered essential to life, and maintaining a balance between them is thought necessary to our physical and psychological well-being.
Water
We start this series with water, children’s favourite element! Water is the symbol not just of life, regeneration, and fertility but also of dreaming and unconditional love. Children’s relationship with water starts before they are born when they swim and dance in their mother’s belly. During the first years of life children are naturally curious about water; through play and exploration they try to understand concepts like volume, evaporation, sinking and floating, weight, cause and effect. Open ended water play, splashing, filling and emptying, playing make-believe: these can all help children develop their communication and social skills and foster collaboration.
How to play
With this Fun-Sheet your child will become a little architect and design the pool of their dreams following inspiration from amazing projects all around the world. Your child has a big ‘pool of curiosity’ within them. Let them “fill up” this pool with everything they wish to discover this summer. It’s an opportunity to plan ahead and make the best of this beautiful season.
Inspiration
We have put together some images of pools as inspiration: from ancient sites to playful tranquil exterior pool and soaring fountains…
Throughout the centuries, architecture has engaged with water in endlessly innovative ways. While the swimming pool is a common feature of residential homes in warm climates, some architects have been able to push the boundaries of the conventional format of the pool. Exterior water feature can grace houses as well as commercial structures in the form of fountains, channels or miniature waterfalls. While landscape features utilize pools or fountains mainly for aesthetic purposes, other architects have integrated the water as functional element. More recently, water features serve the multiple purpose of natural cooling and fun-making on top of being beautiful features -is the case of some pools at the top of flat roof.
What you need
- A pencil or a pen, some colour pencils or colour pens
- A print of the fun sheets below
Fun Sheets
- Page 1 and 2: Pools from around the world – inspiration sheets
- Page 3: My Dream Pool
- Page 4: My Curiosity Pool