“I-am-a-robot! I-can-do-anything!” squeaks Terrell in his best four-year-old robot voice. “Oh, I like that you used that octagon for your robot’s head,” says Michaela. “I am going to try that!” We are deep into robot construction this month and robots are popping up all over our play spaces. We are constructing robots from clay. We […]
A pair of four-year-olds in my classroom are happily playing “dice wars,” a simple but fast-paced game. To play, each child rolls a die and the player who rolls the highest number wins. No one is keeping score today—and nobody seems to care who wins each round. I watch as Juan shakes the die between […]
James bounces into our early childhood center on a gloomy March morning and asks, “Can we make muffins today?” “Yes! Muffins!” the other children shout, jumping up and down in what just moments before had been a calm, quiet and sleepy classroom. We cook a lot, and over the years I have learned to stretch […]
Today is one of those magical winter mornings when snow blankets the ground and clings to the trees around our center. The sun is shining and the world looks so sparkly and irresistible that we head outside in spite of the freezing temperatures. “Hey! Who has the smiling boot?” Jacoby calls out to the […]
“Five green and speckled frogs…sat on a speckled log…eating some delicious bugs. Yum yum!” I hear a chorus of voices singing in our outdoor classroom as three young friends hold hands and frolic around in a circle When we sing counting songs such as “Five Green and Speckled Frogs” or “This Old Man,” we […]
“Five green and speckled frogs…sat on a speckled log…eating some delicious bugs. Yum yum! I hear a chorus of young voices singing in our outdoor classroom as three young friends hold hands and frolic around in a circle. When we sing counting songs such as “Five Green and Speckled Frogs” or “This Old Man,” […]
We recently learned about Surprise Powerz STEM dolls, which can be used in early childhood settings to encourage young children—especially young girls—to engage in STEM play. Research shows that preschool teachers often lack confidence in their ability to teach STEM topics—and some harbor gender-based assumptions about STEM learning. These attitudes and biases can be […]
Sing and clap along to the tune of “Bingo.” There was a boy with dark brown eyes and Timmy was his name – O! T – I – M – M – Y, T – I – M – M – Y, T – I – M – M – Y and Timmy was […]
“Do you know about our Magic Tree?” four-year-old Rowan asks Alex. She pauses dramatically before passing on the secret of the beloved old tree that has long been a source of delight and inquiry for the children in our early learning program. “Watch, Alex!” she instructs. “I will push this stick into the tree, way […]
“Who wants soup? I am making soup for lunch today!” Eleanor shouts to anyone willing to join her as she “cooks up” her concoction. Eleanor is our concoction wizard. She can often be found adding loose parts to a large pot of water, mixing away while she muses about the ingredients she needs to […]