“LOOK!” Ellie summons us with such joy that there’s no doubt she has spotted something wonderful.

Our eyes follow the four-year-old as she dashes to a very large, very hollow tree. A tree that is still alive and thriving—with an opening over four feet tall just inviting a group of children and their teacher to peek inside.

“Who lives in there?” asks Clare as she summons up the courage to move closer.

Can we go inside the tree?” asks Veronica, although the question is a rhetorical one because the three-year-old has no intention of venturing inside.

“Is the tree hollow all the way up to the top?” Alex asks in wonder as he approaches the tree and glances upward to assess the tree’s height.

“I think a whole family of squirrels might live in there . . . or bats!” Harper’s pronouncement prompts her peers to quickly back away from the tree.

It’s so quiet and still as everyone contemplates the hollow tree that I’m not sure if the children are even breathing. All eyes are locked on Ellie, our resident risk-taker.

Emboldened by the children’s curiosity, Ellie inches her way closer to the tree’s interior. She is cautious but curious, brave yet apprehensive as she simultaneously challenges herself and calculates the risk at hand. 

Research tells us that children won’t take risks if they think they can’t succeed. But I know Ellie. She is an amazing observer and a visual learner who tends to rely on her senses when approaching an unfamiliar situation.

Today is no different. I watch as Ellie inspects the size, strength and thickness of the trunk. She inspects the ground outside of the tree cavity for animal droppings. She pokes her head into the hole and peers up, down, left and right before stepping inside. Ellie thrives on moments like these and trusts herself to evaluate the situation.

I trust Ellie as much as she trusts herself. These moments of risk-taking and assessment help a child develop cognitive, social-emotional, and self-regulatory skills—traits that make Ellie a natural leader.

Suddenly, Ellie pops back out of the hole in the tree, looks around and beams at the rest of us. “It’s so cool!” she exclaims. “You have to come in!”

One by one, slowly but surely, the children all make their way into this amazing gift from Mother Nature. Children grow in their ability to appraise risk by observing other children at play.

When children observe their friends taking risks and succeeding, they become more confident about taking risks themselves. This confidence carries over to the classroom and prepares them to try something new, possibly fail, and try again.

This hollow tree trunk has evoked wonder and curiosity in the entire gang, sparking a STEM investigation that helps lay the foundation for later math, science, and engineering concepts.

When we let children learn through play, movement, and trial and error, we lay the groundwork for the kind of deep learning that builds new neural connections. These are the moments that inspire our early learners to investigate the possibilities.

Today, nature has provided the ultimate learning tool and transformed a moment of outdoor play into an exploration of the concepts of spatial relationships and geometry. An understanding of spatial relationships helps children talk about where things are located. I hear them use words such as in, out, down, over, under and next to, vocabulary that helps lay the foundation for geometry. 

When children use words such as wide, heavy and light, they are using descriptors for measurement. We begin to get a better sense of measurement as we visually estimate the height of the tree, the height of the entrance hole, and the number of friends who might be able to fit inside the tree. 

When children are guessing, predicting and classifying their ideas, they are engaging in early algebra, the scientific method, and basic engineering design. This morning of play is strengthening their understanding of these concepts as they use the vocabulary words repeatedly throughout their investigation.

Hands-on learning enables children to take their understanding to a deeper level so that they can analyze the information that they have collected and then apply this knowledge when they create their own structures during block play, art projects and clay play.

These are opportunities that are rich in learning, creativity and friendship. Whether they are on the playground or in the classroom, children must take risks that enable them to develop new skills and explore their ideas in a safe and supportive environment.  

Look for opportunities that can build your student’s risk-taking skills. Like our exploration of the hollow tree, these learning adventures will not only build their confidence and self-esteem but lay the foundation for academic success!

“Hey, Evelyn!  Go get your cell phone and meet me at the stumps!” calls Noa.

My head whirls around as I check the classroom to see if a cell phone has actually made its way into school today. Then I see Evelyn running to the basket of dominoes to get her “cell phone.”

Whew! Instant relief and a touch of humor added to my day.

Dominoes have been around for centuries. They’ve been used for all sorts of games around the globe. We have baskets of dominoes scattered around the classroom. We use them for everything from building and matching to chain reactions. I’m fairly sure that we’ve never played an actual game of dominoes with these versatile learning tools!

I love these little blocks. Whatever the game, dominoes are always a Developmentally Appropriate Play (DAP) item, regardless of the ages of the children playing with them.

This morning’s “cell phone” incident got me thinking about Developmentally Appropriate Practice.

We need to trust that the teachers who work with young children on a daily basis know what’s appropriate for these children and understand how they use their materials.

Dominoes may not be designed for toddlers and preschoolers—and may even be considered to be Developmentally Inappropriate if used as intended.

Yet, by adding dominoes to our play areas and using them as manipulatives and loose parts, we can expose our early learners to a wealth of STEM learning opportunities such as building, counting, matching and even dramatic play.

Whether we’re building with our dominoes or standing each domino on end to create a chain reaction, we are laying the foundation for strong math and science skills.

This is when parents and administrators may misconstrue active learning for mere play.

When this happens, it’s our responsibility to help parents and administrators “see” the learning that is taking place. Show them how their children are developing spatial skills and an understanding of concepts such as “location” and “ordinal position.”

“Wow, Michela, your tower is getting really big!” Jameson stops to watch as Michela carefully adds another block to her structure.

Jameson has been struggling to build a tower that rivals Michela’s in height. “My tower is too wobbly,” he moans. “It keeps falling down. It’s impossible!” He stomps his foot in frustration and crosses his arms over his chest.

“You need to go very slow, like this,” responds Michela without taking her eyes off of her tower.

Michela is demonstrating the practice of science and engineering. We have geometry unfolding before our eyes as Michela uses symmetry, visualization, spatial reasoning and geometric modeling to solve problems such as balance and continuity.

By observing and asking questions, sharing ideas and solving problems, the children are working as a team to build a greater understanding of what works and what doesn’t.

This is a form of early data collection. If you are studying force and motion, a domino chain reaction is a great activity to demonstrate potential and kinetic energy.

I watch as four-year-old Thompson counts the pips (dots) on his dominoes and begins exploring concepts such as quantities and attributes.

Across the table, two-year-old Joseph is learning rote counting skills and gaining a rudimentary sense of one-to-one correspondence. By playing with the dominoes, he is also seeing the grouped pips (dots) in number formations that he will continue to see throughout his life.

I watch as an older friend mentors Joseph. In no time, Joseph is matching attributes—sometimes by pattern and sometimes by color. This is math!

We are exploring concepts such as “matching,” “same and different” and “up and down.” We are counting and beginning to understand numbers and number names. We are comparing quantities, subitizing and measuring objects and quantities. We are identifying common attributes, patterns and object relationships.

We are engaged in deep, hands-on, child-led play—without worksheets, themes or circle times. This is developmentally appropriate learning!

By providing more opportunities for children to explore, discover and investigate through active play, we are meeting one of the most important goals of early childhood education.

Invest in a variety of materials to meet the needs of children with different learning styles. It’s worth the cost. Think of it as an investment that will pay off in the future success of your early learners.

So grab those dominoes off of the shelf, place them in a basket and let the STEM learning begin!

Enjoy!

“Hey everybody! Look at all of the tomatoes that are ripe today!” shouts Jacob to the gang.

“Can we eat them for lunch? Can we?” asks Lucus.

“Can we eat them now?” pleads Elizabeth.

It’s early September and preschoolers around the country are learning about apples, but we have tomatoes at our fingertips. The same tomatoes that we planted in the spring, watered, watched and then forgot about and ignored. But today these plants are full of red, ripe, juicy tomatoes. For the foreseeable future, our curriculum will revolve around tomatoes!

There’s been a lot of talk recently about curriculum themes and how they fit into early childhood education. So much of the learning that takes place in early childhood settings is spontaneous, rather than intentional. This doesn’t mean that early childhood educators shouldn’t be intentional about their curriculum development. They should. But great teachers are always willing to set their planned activities aside to seize a great learning opportunity when it arises.

I call these unplanned learning opportunities “teachable moments.” In so many ways, the child is the curriculum. By observing our early learners closely to see what ignites their curiosity, we can identify and build on the teachable moments that we encounter throughout the day.

Once we’ve identified a teachable moment, we can make the most of these spontaneous early learning adventures (and meet our early learning standards) by sharing our insights and asking questions that encourage children to dig deeper and make more connections as they engage in rich, authentic, hands-on learning that only looks like play.

After we engage in these impromptu investigations with our early learners, we can share the fruits of their learning adventures with parents and administrators, so that they can begin to understand how teachable moments can be harnessed to help prepare young children for the transition to kindergarten and success in the larger arena of life.

Soon, the stores will be filled with crisp, delicious fall apples, which will give rise to many of their own teachable moments, beginning with the letter “A.”  But today we have tomatoes, so we’re seizing the moment to harvest, sort, count, compare and investigate nature’s bounty!

It is only through genuine interactions and availability that teachers can identify these moments and act accordingly and spontaneously. Teachable moments require you to “think on your feet” and be flexible enough to stray from your planned path. If children’s interests take them in a direction that you hadn’t anticipated or planned for, you have to be ready to seize the moment and use it as a gift. Follow the joy of your students and your curriculum will develop organically!

“Look how many tomatoes are growing on this one vine!” Owen exclaims to his friends.

We are now collecting data and comparing attributes. Spontaneous discussions unfold as the children explore topics such as where the sun shines in the morning and which tomato plants get the most sunshine.

But how do the tomatoes ripen and turn red under all of those leaves? By observing, investigating and learning that living things grow and change, the children are building a strong foundation for future learning in earth science and life science.

We keep it simple. This type of learning is always developmentally appropriate because the children’s investigations are guided by each individual’s level of brain development.

“Avery, don’t eat them all!” cries one child as Avery pops a couple of freshly plucked tomatoes into her mouth.

We are exploring the concept of “many vs. few.”  But some of the children are too young to care about this concept and just want to experience the sweet deliciousness of a ripe tomato straight from the vine.

Our tomato harvest has all of the hallmarks of a true STEM learning adventure: investigation, discovery, collaboration and discussion. The children are learning through their senses: the visual task of surveying the tomato plants and comparing and categorizing the tomatoes as unripe (green or pale orange) or ripe and ready for harvest (deep orange); the tactile pleasure of separating a plump ripe tomato from its green stem; and the delicious sensation of biting into a tomato, still warm from the sun, and feeling it explode on the tongue. All of the goodness of nature and little brains in motion!

While two-year-old Lauren is more focused on picking the tomatoes and filling her bowl, some of the preschool-age children are busy trying to collect as many as possible. “Look how many I have!” squeals Linnea. “I have more than you!”

As the children explore the physical properties of the tomatoes, we are suddenly counting, estimating, comparing attributes and organizing by color and size. We have vocabulary and math flowing off of the children’s lips, which are stained with the juice of the ripe tomatoes. We are meeting our early learning standards—and the children are developing their own curriculum as they go!

Children construct their own understanding of the world when we provide them with a rich learning environment (in this case, our tomato garden) and ample time to explore, discover and investigate. We want children to think for themselves and not simply follow a preconceived curriculum or theme.

By taking advantage of authentic learning experiences in sensory-rich environments, we are setting the stage for the natural integration of early learning standards and successfully incorporating STEM knowledge into the daily lives of our early learners.

When you foster the development of a creative learning environment where children can find joy in learning, you will discover that your curriculum and lesson themes will spontaneously arise. In other words, let the children lead and the curriculum will follow!

Once the children have “followed their bliss,” introduce the books and thematic materials that support their interests. Build on their energy, enthusiasm and inquisitiveness.

If you head to the tomato garden, I think you’ll agree: early childhood STEM education has never tasted so good!

As I look around me, I see busy, contented children. Jimmy and Tali are seeing how high they can stack their rocks. Eve and Noa are creating a tea party for fairies near the sandbox. Eleanor and Salli are creating homes and meals for the squirrels who frequent the rain garden. Everyone is happy and learning. We call this a “play buzz.”

When I stop and take a closer look, I see that the children are not only playing happily, but working on math and science early learning standards through play with loose parts.

Architect Simon Nicholson, who developed the theory of loose parts in 1972, believed that loose materials that could be carried, combined, rearranged, lined up or taken apart and put back together in multiple ways provided more opportunities for creative play than static or fixed materials and environments.

Loose parts are materials that can be used alone or combined with other materials (Kabel, 2010). By creating opportunities to introduce math and science concepts—along with observations, predictions and data collection through loose-part play—we allow our students to experiment and work their way through their STEM explorations.

In outdoor classrooms or family backyards, educators and parents are discovering the beauty of loose parts in children’s learning and play experiences. The environment IS our curriculum. When we add natural elements to play areas, we create STEM-rich environments with myriad opportunities to solve problems in deep and complex ways.

As more and more classrooms and families return to the outdoors, simply giving our children the gift of time will facilitate STEM learning. This type of play comes easily to young children and can be far more productive than the worksheets, number cards and memorization activities that may be too advanced for your earliest learners.

We like to think of loose parts as acorns, bark, dirt, fabric, feathers, flower petals, leaves, moss, pebbles, pinecones, pine needles, rocks, sand, seeds, shells, sticks and whatever else may be native to your region.

We rarely take walks without bringing home all kinds of loose-part “treasures.”

Use what you have. If your loose parts are small and your early learners carry them around in containers to create “things” with, they are still playing with loose parts!

Take advantage of what you have around you and use these loose parts to set up a STEM-rich environment. We also use blocks, people, animals and other manipulatives. Loose parts can range from dramatic play props to toy cars to pots, pans and pouring devices. If your environment doesn’t already contain a collection of loose parts, I strongly suggest that you add them. Then stand back and observe your early learners to see how their play is transformed!

The beauty of loose parts is that they can be moved, which gives children the power to create new learning adventures every day. When materials are displayed in visually pleasing ways, this sends a message that you respect the materials and the creativity that they inspire.

Storage is another important piece of the loose-parts puzzle. A well-organized storage system imparts a sense of order and helps the children access the parts more easily. Children need to know where the loose parts are stored to be able to design their play experience—and to put their materials away when their project has been completed.

Outdoors, we use galvanized buckets, plant containers, crates or other containers for loose-parts storage. Use your imagination. I can tell you from practice that the happier the container makes you, the more relaxed you will be with loose parts.

Your outdoor storage will be more successful if you carefully determine the placement of your storage before you begin. If you move the storage every day, it will cause confusion.

Also, I know that some people think that more is better with regard to loose parts. But loose parts encourage divergent thinking (a thought process used to generate creative ideas by exploring a variety of potential solutions). So less is actually more.

Also, be aware that your buckets and baskets will likely get dumped out and used as loose parts instead of storage containers.

That’s a struggle for me. Usually, it means that I need more containers for the children to use in their loose-parts play. I recently added colanders for outdoor loose-parts storage. This has been a game-changer. Rain and snow drip through the holes, allowing the loose parts to drain and dry quickly. Look for them at your local resale shop or scout some out at garage sales to start your collection. They are truly the ideal container for outdoor storage.

Indoors, I try to keep our natural loose-part materials in wood bowls or sturdy baskets that are soothing to the eye and create a sense of order and tranquility.

STEM is all about discovery and exploring the world around us. When our early learners ask questions or wonder how or why something works, they are building a STEM knowledge base. So create an environment rich in loose parts and let the learning begin!

Document the children’s progress as they work through their theories, predictions and observations. You will witness design thinking, cause-and-effect epiphanies and collaboration between children like never before!

“LOOK!” screams a four-year-old with such joy that we know this isn’t a garden-variety “I want to share something with you” moment.

As the gang rushes to her side, they come to a complete standstill, frozen in awe.

Oh happy day! Some kind souls have shared a fort with the community! There before us stands the most wonderful teepee-shaped fort that we have ever seen. Forts have been popping up all over town this year—and I couldn’t be happier about this trend.

This 14-foot high monument has sparked wonder and curiosity in all of us. We have stumbled upon a STEM adventure! This is math, science and engineering play that allows the learning to come naturally and at each child’s developmental level. This is also sharing. It teaches children that our community creates beautiful spaces to be enjoyed by all.

“Who lives here?” asks Liam as he bravely ventures closer.

“Can we go in?” questions three-year-old Madison, not sure that she really wants to.

We do go in, and the investigation into fort building sets us in motion for the day. Do you remember building forts when you were a kid? Did the memory of that fort just resurface? If it did, you retained that memory and are likely able to build another.

These are the moments that we like to create for our early learners. Hands-on learning enables children to take their understanding to a deeper level so that they can analyze the information that they have collected and then apply this knowledge when they create their own forts.

After giving everyone a turn to observe and discuss the masterpiece in front of us, we take a good hard look at the fort and investigate how it was constructed so that we can build a fort of our own.

We discovered this fort (above) while hiking in our neighborhood.

“I think this fort was started from that fallen branch!” Harper hypothesizes.

This leads to closer observation as we determine that this fort has sides that were built with sticks ranging in size from large to small. By leaning them against the main branch, the architects made the fort longer and wider. We begin to get a better sense of measurement as we visually estimate the length and width of the fort.

We always add a few sticks or branches to any fort that we discover, and today is no different. The older children quickly begin to add branches—an activity that reinforces our perception of the fort as a communal structure. When our younger learners hesitate, we reassure them that they really can’t go wrong by adding a stick or two.

“It looks like a triangle!” shouts Elizabeth. This declaration leads to an animated discussion about shapes and ways to incorporate doors, windows and other shapes into our fort.

We have a geometry class happening before our very eyes! We are looking at two- and three-dimensional shapes and using visualization, spatial reasoning and geometric modeling to solve problems.

These are opportunities that are rich in learning, creativity and team building. We share theories and develop hypotheses about the number of people it might have taken to build the fort, how they got the biggest branches up so high and how they created a base to stabilize the entire structure. We also examine the bottoms of the branches and hypothesize that they were probably broken off during a storm, rather than cut cleanly with a saw.

We know that our forts won’t look like the ones that we’ve encountered. We’ll have to use whatever materials we can find in our own play spaces. But our observations give us a better understanding of the fundamentals of fort and teepee construction. These found structures are the spark of inspiration that we need to design a fort of our own!

It’s time to bring out the assessment chart because this gang is on fire! This playful experience in engineering involves concepts such as angles, inclines, balance and elevation. When we let children learn through play, movement and trial and error, we lay the groundwork for the kind of deep learning that builds new neural connections.

Once the seeds are planted, the children often continue to develop their fort-building skills in our program or in their own backyards.

When the Midwest experienced a rare derecho in August 2020—and every house in our area suddenly had a backyard full of branches—our students immediately began collecting the fallen branches to build forts in their neighborhoods.

They had joined the community-wide fort-building movement!

Notice the similarities? By giving our children long periods of uninterrupted time to play and investigate, we empower them to build their own forts and develop new STEM skills and insights that they will be able to transfer to worksheets when the time is right.

When our students returned to our program this fall, we began napping outdoors on a daily basis. Not surprisingly, when a parent suggested a weekend nap to their child, the child insisted on napping outdoors—in her fort. When children build structures, the joy comes not only from the building but from returning to this place that they have created by themselves, for themselves.

These are the moments when I thank our anonymous community of fort builders for “planting the seeds” of fort building with our young learners. These industrious fort architects may be 12 years old or 90 years old. They may be building these impromptu structures to offer protection from the weather, bring joy to others or simply provide a peaceful place for fellow community members to commune with the natural world.

These lovely forts are gifts of time, hard work and beautiful design that bring science, math and engineering into the lives of our youngest citizens.

Thank you for making so many moments of STEM learning possible through play with the children of our community! You inspire all of us! Thank you! You are truly changing our world!

“AAAAUUUUGHHHHHHH! Worms! Look, look! They are everywhere!” Eleanor is jumping up and down hysterically. Nothing will bring our crew running faster than a good worm sighting!

Let the earthworm exploration begin. We love worms!

Last spring, we witnessed an unusual natural phenomenon as a mass of earthworms wiggled out of their subterranean homes in the soil and squirmed onto our sidewalk.

This weird worm event elicited great joy and excitement from our early learners as they raced over to investigate.

There are a number of names for a large group of earthworms, including a bed, a bunch, a clat or a clew. So if you casually refer to a squirming mass of earthworms as a bunch, you are technically correct!

Why are there so many?  Why are they tangled?  Will they bite me? Where is the worm’s mouth?

The curiosity is flowing faster than the answers. When you see excitement at this level, embrace the moment! Grab a camera and start documenting the Illinois Early Learning Standards that you’ll be meeting today!

Worms can be used to teach length—and we sometimes measure them with tape measures. But this is just one of the ways that worms spark investigation, inquiry and analysis in our outdoor curriculum.

Our love of worms has afforded us days and days of study. In the photo above, you can see collaboration, hypothesizing, theorizing and prediction in action.

This is a group of three-year-old scientific investigators—and their brains are on fire! This is STEM exploration at its most engaging as we measure, count, estimate and subtilize while learning about earth science and life science.

Our students are learning that living things grow and change. They are drawing conclusions from their investigations as they scrutinize the worms’ anatomy and behavior.

This fact-finding mission also fosters a respect for life in all its forms. We try really hard not to hurt our worms. When a two-year-old child engages in hands-on investigations with an earthworm, it doesn’t always end so well for the worm. To protect the worms from overzealous handling, we’ve taught the older children to monitor the well-being of the worms in the hands of their younger peers. This is hands-on learning, coupled with collaboration!

As your early learners explore the world of earthworms, encourage them to ask questions that will guide their investigations. By encouraging them to engage in deeper scientific inquiry, you’ll be setting them up for academic success in the years to come.

“Can I hold it? ” asks two-year-old Alex.

As an older friend passes a worm to Alex, she pulls her hand back a few times before she is ready to receive it.

We offer Alex a glove, but she wants to be like the “big kids” and go gloveless. After we reassure her that the worm has no teeth or pincers, she tries again. This is a good example of the importance of time and patience as we guide children through the investigative process.

People often ask how we “get” our kids to hold a worm. We read a lot of books about worms and I make sure that there are worm books on our shelves from March through October. We also observe worms for long periods of time. If our early learners have one brave friend who is willing to pick up a worm, that’s all it takes to persuade the others to persevere, despite their initial trepidation.

As the children engage in their hands-on worm investigations, we throw out facts, often in whispered voices: “Did you know that worms do not have teeth? Worms also do not have pincers or stingers. They have no eyes, legs or arms. They will never hurt us.”

These are the facts that I share with young learners who are anxious or experiencing worms for the first time. A child who investigated worms as a two-year-old last fall may not have retained that memory as a three-year-old—and we may need to reintroduce worms this spring.

Retention and problem-solving skills continue to evolve as students seek answers to their questions through active investigation. Last fall’s observer may be this spring’s hands-on investigator. Our students need long periods of time to observe and learn as this curriculum unfolds in front of their eyes.

By creating an environment that leads to discovery, you are setting your curriculum in motion. Add large rocks, tree cookies or even soil-filled planters that can serve as worm habitats. Some teachers add soil and worms to their sand and water tables to create worm farms in their classrooms. Our goal is to foster the development of inquisitive minds.

We extend our learning with songs and finger-play. We enjoy “Eat Like a Worm Day” as we snack on vegetables such as carrots, cucumbers, lettuce and apples. We make “worms” out of clay—some thick, some thin, some short and some very, very long.

Mr. Nicky (pictured above) has a wonderfully funny song titled “Earthworm,” that has taught our children so much about the vital role that worms play in keeping our soil healthy. There are many silly worm songs, but this has a great hook and gets our children moving as they learn new facts about worms while having fun. It’s one of our favorites.

We always try to return worms to their natural habitat when our observations are over. We thank the worms for doing their part to make our lawn healthy and beautiful as we release them back into the place where we found them. We send them home to their families, which resonates with our young learners.

We wish you many happy STEM adventures as you and your early learners study these champions of the soil.

Happy worm hunting!

“I found an empty nest! Can we keep it?” Owen’s joyful discovery captures everyone’s attention.

Three-year-old Avery comes running. “Are there eggs?” she asks her older and wiser five-year-old friend. “Can I see?” she begs. “Please let me see?”

“There are no eggs, just an old nest. Can we please keep it?” pleads Owen.

After a quick glance to confirm that the nest cradled in Owen’s hands is not harboring a feathered inhabitant, I grant my permission.

Owen handles the nest gingerly before realizing that it is sturdier than it looks. After a few tugs and a few moments of studying the nest, he very gently hands it over to the others.

We have a collection of nests. We love to study the materials used to build each nest, as well as the nest construction methods used by different local bird species.

We also try to guess the type of bird that built each nest and how many eggs might have been laid in these cozy homes crafted from sticks, grass, leaves, string, mud and other found objects.

I watch Ave silently investigating and collecting data as she turns the nest in one direction and then another. You can almost see the wheels turning.

“I think the bird used some litter [drinking straws, food wrappers and other debris] to build this nest.” Ave giggles. “And there are like a million sticks in here!”

“A million?” I echo.

“Maybe more!” Ave theorizes.

This moment gives me a valuable insight into Ave’s nascent number sense. Connecting numbers to quantities is a skill that will continue to emerge and evolve with age and brain development.

“The bird added string—and look at this piece of wire she wove in!” shares Maya. “It’s lightweight but very strong. How long does it take her to make this nest? I think this nest is smaller than the others we have.”

This is how we set our curriculum for the day—by following the interests of the children. When we return to our indoor classroom, we will dig out our books to learn more about the various engineering practices that local birds use to build their homes and compare this newest nest to the others in our collection.

Living along the Mississippi River as we do, we are blessed with the return of our beloved bald eagles each winter and spring. From December to March, these magnificent birds migrate south from Canada and often make our area their winter home. Some even like it so much that they make it their permanent home.

In the fall and winter, the eagles rebuild their nests to prepare for the hatching of the eaglets. Eagles nesting in our area typically lay their eggs in mid-to-late February, and the eggs hatch by mid-to-late March.

Once the eggs have hatched, the female stays with the eaglets while the male leaves to find food for the female and her hatchlings.

The eaglets grow quickly and are ready to fly—or “fledge”—by late May or early June. A number of webcams have been set up by organizations in the area so that we can watch the life cycle of the eagles playing out before our eyes.

This is where I struggle. We are a screen-free environment. I know that we can link to so much learning with technology. I know that I need to stop being so stubborn. I am that old-school playground leader who hasn’t embraced the many educational benefits of 21st-century technologies.

We weren’t always screen-free—and I have fond memories of the year when we observed a wee bit of eagle life via webcam.

I hated the screen, but I loved learning about our local eagles. When an eagle brought a large fish to the nest, we were spellbound. But the fact that we’d been sucked into spending time staring at a screen contradicted everything that I believed in regarding early education—and I was overcome with guilt.

So when the first warm day of spring arrived, we created our own eagle’s nest in the center’s outdoor play area.

“Declan, how big is an eagle’s nest?” I asked, measuring tape in hand.

“Seven feet wide,” he responded. “What are you doing?”

I quickly measured out seven feet and put a heavy rock from the rain garden on the spot. The children began adding rocks until we had a circle that was seven feet in diameter.

For a few minutes, the children pretended to be eagles living in a happy little rock nest—until one perspicacious preschooler called me out.

“Wait! This isn’t a nest!” Asa declared. “We need to add sticks and leaves and yarn. We need more!”

“We do need branches and sticks!” agreed four-year-old Joshua.

“Over here!” directed two-year-old Gabe.

Game on! Now we were learning, creating and analyzing. We’d taken what we’d learned during our screen time and translated it into real-life, hands-on learning that met so many of the math and science standards that they would struggled to achieve on a worksheet!

This was when we grabbed our books and discovered that an eagle has a wingspan of 6-8 feet. We also learned that a mature eagle has 7,000 feathers, weighs 8-11 pounds and has vision so keen that it can see the print on a newspaper at a distance equal to the length of a football field. These are the details that young children are likely to absorb.

Because bald eagles are most active from sunrise to 11 a.m. as they feed along the open water of our locks and dams, this coincides quite well with our outdoor times. Lucky for us, they return to their roosting areas in the afternoon hours.

After lunch, some time spent browsing through eagle books and a nap, the boys made their way back out to their new eagle’s nest. If they build it, they will play in it. They had been playing there for a good long time when, sure enough, up in the sky, an eagle appeared!

Yes, a  real live eagle! Would she think this was HER nest? Could she see the boys in HER nest?

As the boys contemplated the possibility of the eagle swooping down and landing amongst them, they scrambled out of their nest in pure terror.

The eagle did not land in our nest. But, sadly, our frightened little learners never returned. I left the nest in place for over a week, and some of the younger children played in it, but the boys who built it kept their distance!

I often find that most of the fun is in the building phase of the project. The collaborating, creating, adding, subtracting, analyzing and evaluating with friends is actually the play for building kids. This is the good stuff that happens with play; enough time to engage in deep, investigative learning; and, sometimes, just the right amount of technology.

Take time to follow the lead of your students and see where their interests and curiosity take you. Then match their learning up with your early learning standards.

This link will take you to the Arconic Eagle Cam.

Full disclosure: The male eagle will bring food back to the nest. This could be a raccoon, a fish or a mouse. It is nature. It is graphic. It can be addicting or terribly uneventful at any given moment!

When we build nests of our own, we often use this Scientific American site as a reference. But if you’ve lingered too long on the Arconic Eagle Cam link provided above and feel guilty about overdoing the screen time, you can just WING it—pun intended!

Ha! Let’s get outside and play.

“Do our shadows look like the monsters in the book?” asks James.

I glance over and see James and Noa connecting their shadows by overlapping their arms. When we engage children in outdoor shadow play to support active exploration and discovery, their creativity is endless!

James and Noa are playing out their version of the book, The Dark, Dark Night by M. Christina Butler. This charming children’s tale follows a frog heading home to his pond after a long winter’s sleep. Along the way, he stops to frolic with his friends Badger, Hedgehog, Rabbit and Mouse. As darkness falls, Frog borrows a lantern from his friend, Mouse, to light the way home.

But, as Frog approaches the reeds at the edge of the pond, he finds himself face to face with a HUGE pond monster with enormous claws. Terrified, Frog hightails it back to his friends. Each friend returns to the pond with Frog—only to flee when the monster reappears. But the friends ultimately realize that the fearsome “pond monster” is not a monster at all—just some scary shadows created by light from the lantern.

Our four- and five-year-old students love this tale. But we had to read The Dark, Dark Night many times before the shadow storyline finally sank in for the younger children in the group. It also took a bit of time and investigation for these younger learners to observe that, when we move, our shadows move too!

When we’re outside, we often engage in body-shadow play with the sun as our light source. Exploring the ways that shadows change as we move our bodies is a great way to get kids engaged and excited about learning. Our road is often closed to traffic during the winter months, and we always take the opportunity to grab tape measures to see how long our shadows are.

I often challenge our friends to see if they can disconnect from their shadows. After a few minutes of contorting our bodies to see if we can separate from our shadows, we decide that we can’t, but that never stops the fun and silliness of trying!

We create math shadow games by calling out different shapes and encouraging the children to do their best to create shadows in these shapes. Movements like standing on one foot, reaching up high to touch the sky and walking on all fours all help children develop body awareness.

Here’s a great way to practice fine-motor skills during shadow play: Use the sun, a projector light or a flashlight to create shadows of tiny hands on a wall. The children can work on finger isolation (e.g. pointing with the index finger, counting out the fingers on their hands and wiggling all of the fingers individually); thumb opposition (e.g. touching the thumb to each finger); and other hand positions to create different types of shadows, an activity that helps build dexterity while laying the foundation for later STEM learning. We also play “Follow the Shadow Leader” and encourage the children to recreate the leader’s shadow by duplicating his or her movements.

Shadow play also helps children develop a rudimentary understanding of cause and effect as they observe what makes a shadow and where the light needs to be to cast a shadow. By moving their shadows around, they can investigate different shapes and sizes.

“Look how dark my shadow is today! Yesterday, we could not see it very well.” Owen is the first to recognize that sunnier days and brighter lights create darker shadows. Observations like Owen’s are often followed by other STEM activities such as creating hypotheses, developing theories and collecting data as the children continue their investigations and deepen their understanding of the nature of light and shadow.

Your students may also notice that their shadows are different sizes at different times of the day. Depending on the amount of sunlight that illuminates our play space, their shadows can be longer, shorter or nonexistent.

You can also show the children how to change the size of a shadow. Move an object closer to a light source and the shadow becomes bigger. Move it away from the light source and the shadow becomes smaller.

Light and shadow play is an amazing way for children to explore their world. If the sun is shining, why not meet your Illinois Early Learning Standards for math and science while playing with shadows. Have fun!

” Hey guys! Look over here! My magnet sticks to the bike!”

On this warm November morning, our magnetic wands have brought STEM learning to our outdoor classroom. By leaving the other magnetic materials behind, I am hoping to encourage the children to harness their curiosity and creativity for other forms of magnetic exploration. Opportunities like this allow children to learn independently, as well as collectively, as they explore on their own and then share what they have discovered with their fellow magnetic explorers.

This morning’s investigation introduces the children to scientific methods such as forming hypotheses, setting up experiments to test out their hypotheses, analyzing data and recording results. We have math exploration as they learn about spatial awareness, as well as math vocabulary building as they begin to understand and label concepts such as location and ordinal positioning—all in a morning of play with friends.

“Oh, wait! It sticks on the red part, but not on the black seat,” exclaims Harrison.

As the children race over to view Harrison’s latest discovery, I note with satisfaction that they have found their own way on this morning of STEM exploration.

“Why won’t it stick on the black seat, Harrison?” I ask.

“Because it’s not metal,” Harrison shares with the group.

“It’s not metal!” the other children repeat in a chorus of little voices. We are in that modeling stage of language this month. A comment made by one child is repeated by every child, like a group of enthusiastic parrots. This behavior has been making me a bit crazy lately. But, at this moment, I am grateful.

“Wait! This part is black but my magnet sticks here.” Harrison is thinking out loud, and his comment is met with silence as the other children test out his observation and come to the same conclusion.

“Wow, Harrison, I am confused. Why does your magnet stick on the black part there but not on the black seat or the black tires?” I ask.

“This black line is metal,” Harrison shares. “It is black metal.”

The other children parrot his response as the learning continues: “Yes! It is metal—black metal!”

Harrison continues to educate his peers. “The red part of the bike is metal and this black strip here is metal. The tires and the seat are not metal.”

Soon, the magnetic exploration moves to the swings, which leads to another deep dive into STEM learning as the children use their wands to determine which parts of the swingset are magnetic and which are non-magnetic. It is also a great opportunity for us to document our research and meet more Illinois early learning benchmark standards.

We use red and green tape to document our results. Magnetic surfaces are marked with green tape (go) and non-magnetic surfaces are marked with red tape (stop).

We could also record our findings on a clipboard, but this is a fun and visual way to document our data—and it is easier for the children to understand than checkmarks on a piece of paper.

This group doesn’t read yet—and drawing pictures would have slowed down the learning process. If you happen to have an artistic child who loves charts, this is a dream day for them. Make this child your research assistant!

I love it when children learn while moving, playing and sharing with friends.

Experimenting with magnets encourages children to learn by exploring, observing and figuring out how things work. A longer period of time for discovery gives our students more opportunities to learn. I look over at the stump circle and see Eleanor quietly working her way through a solitary study of magnetic fields. Eleanor is deep in concentration as she studies and researches, collecting data and reanalyzing the magnetic poles and the attraction of the multiple magnetic wands.

“It’s called a magnetic field,” I explain. Eleanor is working through her understanding and doesn’t look up from her investigation. I watch her speculate her way through different scenarios and then I try again.

“It’s invisible!” I whisper, and Eleanor’s head pops up.

“Who doesn’t love invisible?”  I continue to whisper: “It’s that invisible power called a magnetic field that is making your magnets push or pull each other. I love invisible.”

“It’s magic!” chirps Eleanor. “I can feel it pulling me!”

Eleanor smiles as she shares her understanding with me. It never gets old for me to observe the excitement and wonder that goes hand in hand with little brains making new connections and discoveries.

The next time you head outdoors with your students, grab the magnetic wands and let the invisible magic of magnetism lead them to a new understanding of magnetic forces and fields. If you’ve gone virtual this new year, magnetic play is a great way to get your little learners to venture out into their own backyards to get some fresh air and learn about magnetism through play.

Stay safe, my friends!