I consider art mediums, materials, and toys to be resources for play. They are the props and tools that children can use to transform their ideas into something they can hold onto. In this tangible state, children can suppose, test, and re-evaluate their ideas.   Children do not need loads of toys for play, but [...]

  Starting a collection of natural materials sounds easy enough. Take a walk, pick up a few things . . .  I figured I’d have a buckets of things in no time. I didn’t realize that 95% of the time the treasures the girls gathered were rocks. Rocks are great, they just did not make [...]

What do Reggio Emilia art experiences look like in the first three years?   When I first started learning about Reggio Emilia’s approach, most of the project work I was reading about and had seen occured with preschool-aged children.  I had a hard time finding examples of what infant and toddler play with art materials [...]

Like so many things in our lives, our daily “Have a good, fun, day!” routines with Mike have changed as the girls do.   Young children may be ready to say good-bye one day and may hold on tight to you the next.  Even within healthy attachments and positive environments, children may feel ready to [...]

In education, assessment is the follow-up to any learning activity. Quizzes, tests, and final products are all intended to be evidence of what children are learning. At home, we too have a less intrusive way to get a glimpse into our children’s understanding, by just listening and watching their play.   In play, children can [...]

  Light. Natural light. Artificial light. Light can change the way objects look. It can make familiar paper or toys look bright. It can highlight an object’s properties making translucent things vibrant. It can create increased contrast between lit materials and those that lay out of light’s path.   At an age when children know [...]

Infant/toddler center-based care is an uncommon occurrence. I worked for many years in a group care setting with children ages three months to three years. This age range was, and is, uncommon because the state (California) discourages it.  It was only through a loophole and a signed physician’s note that we were able to care [...]

Who doesn’t love a challenge? When Rachelle from TinkerLab identified egg crates as the material to be used for this month’s creative challenge, I was excited. Tinkerlab describes: “The objective of these challenges is to help children learn to trust their own ideas, build creative confidence, and envision new purposes for common objects.”   However, after [...]

  The educators of Reggio Emilia understand that children are embedded in relationships, with their families, peers, and the world around them.   With this principle in mind, I am always on the lookout for playthings that support relationships both with the material itself and also with others. These homemade toys are a great way [...]

With nature as a possible source for inspiration, I set up watercolors for Greysen underneath our lemon tree. We do not have an easel, so I hang an art board from our fence. I offer her two jars of watercolor, blue and yellow.   Today, I hung up her watercolor higher than I usually do [...]