A special quality flowing water is that it links parts of the environment it moves through connecting the activities of those who play along its course. A boat created and launched at the top of the river can float down to pass a under bridge created by a different participant downstream. This kind of spontaneous, relational play presents opportunities for participants - particularly children - to negotiate with each other and develop self regulation. If they can get they're hands into water most children and many will spend untold hours experimenting with buoyancy, currents, gravity, eddies, waterfalls, boatbuilding ... totally refuting the myth of young children having short attention spans! Engaged children can give their caregivers have the opportunity to catch their breath, socialize and perhaps get creative themselves. ​The metaphor of the stream is unique in its capacity to spark the narrative imagination. With the addition of tiny figures, animals, boats and architectural elements, the play creek becomes a miniature river world. Guiding your tiny figure upstream, downstream or across the river to another land can take on epic meaning. A running water environment is more than an object, idea or principle, it is a dynamic system with results and consequences. Interaction is inspired by the phenomena of water instead of in response to direction from a teacher or facilitator. By its very nature it's educational without being academic.