Hands on Learning

Many times, as adults, we consider that all learning must be conducted at a desk or table. But, in a young child's life the opposite is true. Children are concrete thinkers, and need hands on experiences to order their world and their learning. And besides, LEARNING SHOULD BE FUN! Many of our activities are not the "take home" variety, but are experienced in games and activities we participate in throughout the day. Here is a Valentine Box of Chocolates with hidden capital letters. We had a lot of fun with this activity, and then ate chocolates from a REAL box of chocolates!

What Children Learn Through Art Projects

A good art project teaches a child that his creativity is limited only by his own imagination. By transforming everyday objects, such as empty paper towel rolls and egg cartons into sculptures, imaginary bugs, or spyglasses, a child discovers that he can create a world of play. Some of our art projects are based on our theme and some are free expression. All have a purpose in the child's development.

Using materials in an art project reinforces and expands on the informationn a child has already learned in other contexts. For example, let's assume that the art project of the day is to make rubbings of leaves collected during a nature walk the day before. If from a pile on the table, the child selects a dry leaf that crumbles easily, the youngster learns, in a concrete way, about life cycles in nature. Through trial and error, just like the scientist in a lab, the student might find that green leaves or shiny leaves hold up better for this art project.

Another art project might have the youngsters create a fall mural by pasting leaves, pine cones, and acorns on a large roll of paper. They might organize the project by sorting and classifying the leaves, by color, shape, and size. These are prereading and premath skills--as well as fun. In this same project, the group also learns social skills such as cooperative and group dynamics. Do the three-year-olds know this as they happily create a fall mural--probably not, but their teachers certainly do.

Art projects are also excellent for developing a child's fine-motor skills. It takes small-muscle control in order to manipulate clay, cut with scissors, paint with a brush, and color with markers or crayons. As these skills are practiced, they help a child gain mastery to cut with a knife, button his own shirt, and print his name.

Art projects build a child's self-esteem. The finished product, on display on the refrigerator, validates a child's sense of worth. It's another opportunity for a child to say "I can do it!"

The process, not the product, is the most important element of preschool art projects.

Play Dough

Play Dough is a great way to develop small motor skills.

Groundhog Day

How can you have Groundhog Day without a groundhog? You can't!
We used our small motor skills to rip brown paper for Punxsutawney Phil's fur. But, Phil didn't see his shadow, so we're looking forward to an early Spring!

Learning in All Things Play

At first glance, it may seem that children are playing without a purpose. But, if you look closer at the play children are engaged in, you'll find purpose, learning and development in all that the do.
Here Lily is playing with the pegs from the peg board, but you'll notice, she's classified them in neat rows of green, red, blue and yellow. Important skills for reading and math!



Lily plays (and works) hard with her small motor skills to neatly place the pegs together in color sorted rows.








I love watching the pure joy of children playing in the water table, but it's more than just a fun experience.
Many math and science learning opportunities come from water play. Volume, gravity, floating or not floating, temperature, measurements and numbers are just a few of the things children can learn.

Play is FUNdamental

At times, it may seem that all our children do, or want to do all day long is play.
But, before we dismiss what seems like a counter-productive activity to children's development and learning, we need to look at the need and benefits of allowing children to play freely. An ever increasing body of research has overwhelmingly shown what these benefits are. In fact, play has been demonstrated to be so important in a child's development that the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has listed "The Right To Play" as a fundamental right of children world wide!
Play allows children to use their creativity while developing their imagination, dexterity, and physical, cognitive, and emotional strength. Play is important to healthy brain development. It is through play that children at a very early age engage and interact in the world around them. Play allows children to create and explore a world they can master, conquering their fears
while practicing adult roles, sometimes in conjunction with other children or adult caregivers. As they master their world, play helps children develop new competencies that lead to enhanced confidence and the resiliency they will need to face future challenges. Undirected play allows children to learn how to work in groups, to share, to negotiate, to resolve conflicts, and to
learn self-advocacy skills. When play is allowed to be child driven, children practice decision-making skills, move at their own pace, discover their own areas of interest, and ultimately engage fully in the passions they wish to pursue. Ideally, much of play involves adults, but when play is controlled by adults, children acquiesce to adult rules and concerns and lose some of
the benefits play offers them, particularly in developing creativity, leadership, and group skills. In contrast to passive entertainment, play builds active, healthy bodies. In fact, it has been suggested that encouraging unstructured play may be an exceptional way to increase physical activity levels in children, which is one important strategy in the resolution of the obesity epidemic. Perhaps above all, play is a simple joy that is a cherished part of childhood.
Children’s developmental growth is effected by appropriate, affective relationships with loving
and consistent caregivers as they relate to children through play. When parents and child care providers observe children in play or join with them in child-driven play, they are given a unique opportunity to see the world from their child’s vantage point as the child navigates a world perfectly created just to fit his or her needs. The interactions that occur through play tell children that adults are fully paying attention to them and help to build
enduring relationships. Adults who have the opportunity to glimpse into a child's world learn
to communicate more effectively with children and are given another setting to offer gentle, nurturing guidance.
Less verbal children may be able to express their views, experiences, and even frustrations through play, allowing adults an opportunity to gain a fuller understanding of their perspective. Quite simply, play offers adults a wonderful opportunity to engage fully with children.
Play is integral to the academic environment. It ensures that the school setting attends to the social and emotional development of children as well as their cognitive development. It has been shown to help children adjust to the school setting and even to enhance children’s learning readiness, learning behaviors, and problem-solving skills. Social-emotional learning is best
integrated with academic learning; it is concerning if some of the forces that enhance children’s ability to learn are elevated at the expense of others. Play and unscheduled time that allow for peer interactions are important components of social-emotional learning.