With just one humble dice you can create a whole world of learning in Kindergarten! You don’t even have to buy a dice. A simple homemade dice made out of a building block can be used in countless activities. I’ve been a teacher of this kind of age range for the last 12 years, and …
Mirrors help young children develop an awareness of many things. They begin to understand reflection and symmetry. They also make children more aware of their own physical presence, and their movement. Mirrors can be used alongside loose parts to add visual intrigue to provocations. You can create portraits or pictures on mirrors. Mirrors can be …
Do you have a child that loves endlessly connecting Lego blocks and one giant tower? Or you might have a child that has a fascination with sticking objects to velcro, and will do this for a huge amount of time. It’s highly likely that these children are demonstrating a connecting schema. Put simply, a connection …
Do you have children that enjoy tipping everything out of baskets? Or a kid that likes spreading objects all over the place with their hands, arms, or feet? It is highly likely that these children are demonstrating a scattering schema. A scattering schema is not one of the more commonly talked about schemas, but nevertheless …
Mandalas are beautiful geometric patterns. In my many years of teaching, I have found them to be a fantastic tool to inspire artistic exploration and children. They are also a fantastic mindful tool, and many people use them as an aid to meditation. For kids, they are a great way to experiment with form, color, …
Do you have a child that spends hours putting things in pots? Or do you have one that loves climbing into any available box and hiding in there? More than likely these children are demonstrating a containment schema. Simply put, a containment schema is when a child is interested in putting objects into containers. They …
Schemas are repeated patterns of behavior that children exhibit in their play. There are nine schemas that are understood to be the most common in children’s play. These are: Trajectory Transformation Transporting Rotation Positioning Orientation Enveloping Enclosure Connection In this post, I’ll give you a brief overview of each of these 9 schemas. I’ll talk …
Have you got children that will happily run around chasing leaves in the wind for hours at a time? Or maybe you have a kid that can’t stop throwing pretty much anything that comes into their path? It’s highly likely that these kids are demonstrating a trajectory schema. This means that they are interested in …
If you’ve ever wondered why some children spend pretty much all their time moving objects around a room, then it’s this…transporting schemas. A transporting schema is an interest in carrying an item from one place to another. By doing this, children are learning many things, including understanding about journeys, distance, and where things belong. I …
In my twelve years of teaching children aged 3 to 5, I’ve used transient art opportunities in my learning environment more or less continually. It’s just fantastic! It offers a way of: Constructing and deconstructing Exploring ideas Experimenting with shape and form Storytelling Talking through their ideas Being creative And exploring famous art and artists …