magnets

I went on a little Goodwill shopping binge last night and spent $20.  That is a lot of stuff for the classroom!  Most of the $20 was spent on pots and pans for dramatic play (which I'll share more about soon), but I also spent 99 cents on something that proved to be engaging in a different way.

We have a large white board in our classroom - it used to be an elementary school classroom.  We have scribbled with marker and played with some random magnets on it, but this 99 cent "Monkey Puzzle" that I purchased drew children to the whiteboard.  Magnets were shifted constantly; no one was possessive about their creation after they left it, making this natural flow of work throughout the morning.  I would have loved to see a time lapse of the changes on the board - perhaps that will be for another day.  

How do we know what is going to be engaging for children?  What can I learn from this experience today?  How will the children feel about the magnets tomorrow, next week, in a month?