Digger Deeper into Loose Parts Part 1

WOW- what an amazing conference! I am at the ILASCD PreK/K Conference and have so far met people from 6 different states. The news is definitely spreading that this is an absolutely fabulous conference and teachers fly in to attend it!!Thank you so much to all of the participants in my morning session on Loose Parts who provided me with such positive, specific feedback. A huge shout out to an awesome teacher on our PreK team who presented with me.As I promised in my last post, we will dig deeper into multiple ways to use loose parts.First idea: Build the Identity of Students using Loose Parts

Children create an image of themselves using loose parts. This process should take at least a week or two. It is an in-depth process of looking at themselves in a mirror and looking at each other. They are making many decisions about what is unique and special about themselves and how they can use the loose parts to reflect that uniqueness. Students can draw multiple images of their faces prior to choosing the loose parts and can set them aside prior to gluing to the pieces to reflect if those pieces truly reflect what they want to portray. The identity faces are hung in one location with a conversation about how the unique qualities of each student add to our classroom community and we are displayed together since we are a classroom family. A photo of the student and their name should be proudly displayed next to their portrait.

Starting Free Choice Play Centers at the Beginning of the Year

One of the most challenging pieces of free choice play for many teachers is how to start without complete chaos. Here are a couple of quick and easy tips for successful free choice play centers…

IT ALL STARTS WITH THE CHILDREN’S OWNERSHIP

OF THE CENTERS AND THEIR ENVIRONMENT

Provide the students with ownership of the free choice play centers from the start.

• While taking a tour of the building, discuss how every room has a name that allows us to know what happens in that place.
• In the classroom, talk about how each center has a purpose and specific activities. Describe some of the options in each center and allow students to brainstorm ideas such as in dramatic play, the students can care for the babies, for the animals, cook dinner, write a recipe, bake cookies, etc.; in the free choice art center, they can build a sculpture, draw or sketch a picture, design a collage picture, etc. Post the ideas that are generated by the students in each center along with a visual.
• Allow the students to determine a name for each center such as Construction Site or Creation Station. The students can also create tags to show where items belong for easier cleanup.
  • Encourage creativity in the drawing and designing of the center signs. Allow students to use found materials to be creative such as pieces of yarn, pictures or letters from magazines, buttons, pipe cleaners, etc. Also show them how they can make objects stand out from the sign with loops, arches and so on
• Have the students be detectives to notice how the center looks in a cleaned-up.  state- paying attention to the details. Allow students to share how we demonstrate respect for materials.
• Allow the students to brainstorm expectations for center time. Generate a list of 3-5 expectations, write them on a poster along with a visual, and have all students sign the class contract for center time.

Clean-up is another common concern of teachers. See Clean Up after Play Centers and Student Jobs for Clean-Up Time

Learning at Home: Let them PLAY

Remote learning at home with young children can be a daunting task. However, remember that the best way for children to learn is to play! Let them PLAY!! Research proves that play is essential to a young child’s development. (Crisis in Kindergarten: Why Young Children Need to Play authored by Joan Almon and Edward Miller, published by Alliance for Children)

Play strengthens and builds a child’s …

Vocabulary

Attention Span

Ability to persist

Problem solving skills

Collaboration

Empathy

Language comprehension

Curiosity

Creativity

Symbolic thinking

Impulse control

Conflict resolution skills

Imagination

Relationship building skills

Critical thinking

and many, many more.

Sharing the Importance of Play with Families

Play based learning builds emotional resilience and strength in children as well as enhances confidence. Through free choice play, children gain empathy and impulse control. Play is essential to the children’s development to build emotional strength. Therefore, lots of child-directed play is crucial, now more than ever.

Encourage parents to allow their children to play; to not feel pressured to engage their child with worksheets or technology programs thinking that they are preparing their child for school. Lots and lots of play, not worksheets and not technology games that are simply worksheets on a screen, will provide the foundation of creativity, resilience, engagement and persistence required for later academic learning.

Below if a a free download containing slides regarding the importance of play as well as some ideas and tips on play for parents. Feel free to share one a week to encourage parents to allow their children to engage in play.

play-tips-and-ideas-journeyintoearlychildhood.com_Download

Reframing Our Words

REFRAME OUR WORDS for POSITIVE OUTCOMES

We can reframe the way we view behavior to look through a lens that all behavior is a form of communication or a need for skill fluency practice (need for the behavior to be explicitly taught with precise language and practiced multiple times in multiple situations).

We also reframe our requests to students to specifically teach what we DO want students to be doing. We are teaching the correct behavior instead of giving attention to the incorrect behavior.

Using positive, precise language to help support the development and practice of social and emotional skills.

EXAMPLES:

STATEMENT	REFRAME to the POSITIVE and/or to the PRECISE
Don’t run.	Use walking feet to stay safe.
Don’t yell.	Use a quiet voice to be ready.
Don’t touch the wall.	Keep your hands locked in front of you to stay safe. (behind you). (make sure students understand the vocabulary of in front and behind)
Walk nice.	Walk on the line a shopping cart length behind your friend to stay safe.
Listen to me	Eyes are watching me, ears are listening to my voice, hands and feet are still to be ready.
Put away your coat.	Hang up your coat on the hook in your cubby to be responsible. (remember that “put away” at home might mean throwing the coat in the corner)
Stop playing with your mask.	The mask needs to stay on your face. We are being kind to ourselves and each other by wearing our mask. We will go outside soon for a break.
Don’t grab it from your friend.	Everyone has their own supplies. Please use the items in front of you or raise your hand if you can’t find yours.

Many children need explicit, direct teaching of skills. Below is a resource that may help.

Two Versions- click on the links to view them at TpT- then sign up for my blog and send me an email at journeyintoearlychildhood@gmail.com and let me know which version you would like to use. I will send it to you at no cost.

I Can Be an Incredible Friend Social Story

Social Story for tools to use when I want a toy or item

Uses the word SAFE to teach tools for when a child wants a toy or item. Send an email to journeyintoearlychildhood.com and I will send you this resourse at no charge.

Weaving Academics and Nature into the Classroom

Nature is an incredibly powerful aspect of classroom environment design. It provides an infinite supply of experiences. It also conveys a sense of calmness and a home-like quality to provide a conducive learning environment for children.

Therefore, we decided to make number posters from sticks and pebbles (in 2019). Note: This is a great activity that can be done while still maintaining social distancing between students!! Add to the activity by taking the class outside for a much-needed breather and break to collect the pebbles and sticks. You can then add in additional objectives prior to gluing them such as counting, sorting, placing in length or size order, patterning, etc.

This activity not only brought in some nature to the environment but it was also incorporated multiple learning targets:

• Numerals- how they are formed= straight and curved lines
• The vocabulary of horizontal, vertical and diagonal
• 10 Frame
• Measurement: measured with cubes to determine the length of the stick needed
• One-to-one correspondence
• Working together collaboratively
• Sharing and taking turns
• Negotiating

Learning at Home: Expanding Children’s Vocabulary through Play

A couple of posts in April discussed the importance of dramatic play (Learning at Home: Dramatic Play and Learning at Home: More Dramatic Play Ideas) and then last week, we expanded children’s play by watching, observing, noticing and adding additional props to encourage extended play and to expand the scenario.

Today, let’s talk about vocabulary. A child’s vocabulary by the end of Kindergarten and first grade is a significant predicator of his/her reading comprehension in later years. Hemphill and Tarvin in their research share with us that vocabulary development needs to become a central focus in our early grade classrooms along with letter identification, phonics and phonemic awareness to build strong skills and knowledge for later reading comprehension (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/248940899_The_Importance_of_Early_Vocabulary_for_Literacy_Achievement_in_High-Poverty_Schools)

Dramatic play is the perfect vehicle for extending a child’s play through authentic, hands-on learning- which is the type of learning that is going to stick with a child.

Play is learning- play with your child to authentically weave in the development and use of new words. While playing with your child, think about how you can pair what they are doing plus the vocabulary in which the child is already familiar with additional words. For example, if your child tells you that she is cooking chicken; you can ask, “Are you frying or baking your chicken? I love including vegetables with my chicken. Should we steam or saute them?” Or if you can playing grocery store, you can ask your child if he/she wants to be the cashier/clerk/merchant or the shopper/purchaser/customer. Use the words interchangably and encourage your child to use multiple words. If we use the words consistently, then the child will start incorporating the words into the play and conversation.

It is also important to help your child transfer the vocabulary to other settings. If they are playing auto shop and you go to an actual auto shop for repairs or an oil change, incorporate the same vocabulary used during play to help your child make connections.

Here are some ideas for vocabulary with the additional prop suggestions from last week…

Deepening Children’s Play through Props and Vocabulary
Scenario	Ideas for additional props to add to expand the play	Ideas for additional vocabulary to incorporate while engaging in the play with the child
Orthopedic Doctor	Encourage the child to take on the role of the engineer who designs the equipment for rehabilitation (crutches, walker, sling, cast) Provide the child with stuff from a recycle bin (boxes, oatmeal containers, cardboard tubes, lids) and allow him/her to design OR encourage the child to take on the role of the physical therapist or occupational therapist and add in props such as icepacks, heat pads, exercise ball, weights, step stool	Physical therapy, rehabilitation, exercise, prevention, sling, cast, occupational therapist, heat, icepack, client, patient
Auto Shop	Encourage the child to begin to take calls from drivers that are stranded on the road- that cannot get into the shop for repairs and add props such as a big box to make a tow truck, empty, clean gas can, play tools, appointment sheet for phone numbers, play cell phone	Repair, roadside assistance, stranded, frantic, emergency, fuel delivery, insurance, peace of mind, on call 24 hours a day, dispatch, guarantee, customer, rescue
Home Living	If the child likes to engage in a lot of pretend cooking expand the utensils available by adding chopsticks, tongs, materials for cake decorating, wok, pie pan: then observe and notice- what direction is the child taking the play, if he/she starts decorating cakes, then you can begin weaving in play about decorating for weddings or birthdays, taking orders and selling the cakes, etc. OR Remove all plastic play food and add vase gems, dice, plastic or foam alphabet letters, building blocks, wood cookies (tree branches cut into round disks) and have fun observing the child’s creativity as the items become all kinds of different food. (remember to add items that are appropriate for your child’s age and developmental level so that they do not become a choking hazard.)	Sauté, fry, bake, decorate, fondant, glaze, buttercream icing, stir-fry, steam, roast, temperature, boil, whip, cream, fold, presentation, blend, shake, place settings, utensils, measure

Expanding Children’s Vocabulary through Play journeyintoearlychildhood.com

Learning at Home: More Dramatic Play Ideas

Why is play important to your child?

Play is a vital part of your child’s development. Play allows children to use their creativity while developing their imagination, dexterity, physical, cognitive, and emotional strength.  For young children, play and learning are one and the same, they cannot be differentiated.

Through play, important brain development is established. Play is not a break from or a reward for learning- Play is Learning!

Play is learning journeyintoearlychildhood.com

Dramatic Play journeyintoearlychildhood.com

Dramatic Play

There is documented research that demonstrates

the high level of cognitive, social, and emotional benefits

from children’s engagement in dramatic play.

Children learn through imaginative play- more skills 

(see post on April 1st for the first list)…

Social/Emotional Skills:

• Negotiating
• Compromising
• Self-control
• Managing feelings

Critical Thinking Skills:

• Problem-solving
• Predicting

 Academic Skills:

• Storytelling
• Increasing vocabulary

 

 

MORE Dramatic Play Ideas for Home that

Include VERY Little Set-Up or Supplies…

(see post on April 1st for more ideas)

• Airplane or Train:
  • Supply Ideas:
    • Put 5 chairs together (pairs side by side and one in the front).
    • Paper, crayons, markers
  • Suggestions:
    • Help your child design tickets and travel brochures.
    • Have your child take on the role of pilot, flight attendant or passenger.
      • Where are you going?
      • What will you see?
      • Are you flying to Africa and can see the giraffes and elephants as you travel across the safari on a train?
      • Or maybe in Australia and can see the koalas and kangaroos?
      • Or to a big city?
      • What will you do when you arrive?
      • Where do the passengers store their luggage? How do they get their luggage when they arrive at their destination? How to they tag their luggage?

 

• Hairdresser
  • Supply Ideas
    • Comb and brush
    • Barrettes and other hair accessories
    • Hair Blow dryer (not plugged in)
    • Straighter (not plugged in)
      • Suggestions
        • Allow your child to pretend to cut and style your hair.
        • Add in some additional literacy by remembering to call to make an appointment so your child can keep a schedule of appointments.
        • Don’t forget to have your child write a receipt and for you to pay.

 

• Trudging through the Rain Forest, Woods or Jungle
  • Supplies Needed
    • Pillows
    • Blankets
    • Toilet paper cardboard tubes
  • Suggestions
    • Have your child help you set up obstacles that you might face in one of those environments such as pillows that you have to step on to cross the marsh, trees (stairs) you have to climb to see to the other side, a blanket across a chair and couch or a table that becomes low hanging branches that you have crawl under.
    • What animals do you see? Do you need binoculars to see the animals? (make some from two toilet paper cardboard tubes taped together)
    • What supplies might you need?
  • Carry a picnic with you and stop at the “clearing” (kitchen floor) to eat your lunch

 

• Movie Theatre (Do you already have plans to watch a movie together? Turn your living room into a movie theatre.)
  • Supply Ideas:
    • Tickets, brochure, money, and concession signs and prices- allow your child to make. Only need paper and crayons or markers
  • Suggestions:
    • What roles will your child play? Ticket taker, concession stand clerk or is it a dine-in theatre and he/she needs to take your order and deliver the snacks?
    • Have your child name the theatre and make a sign, make tickets and make signs for the concession stand- how much will popcorn, pop, apple, chips, candy bar, etc. cost (whatever you are willing to serve at your theatre!) Cut apart some paper and write a number on it to use as money. Allow your child to “make change” for you.
    • Have your child make a movie brochure by drawing pictures of 3-4 movies and then collecting a vote from each family member. Show your child how to make tally marks to show each person’s vote.
    • Office
      • Supply Ideas
        • Keyboard
        • Clipboard
        • Phone (not plugged in)
        • Paper
        • Pens/pencils
        • Phone book
        • Notepad

Office Play journeyintoearlychildhood.com

Office Set Up journeyintoearlychildhood.com

Dramatic Play Office journeyintoearlychildhood.com

Open-Ended Questions to Expand Children’s Play in a Dramatic Play Center:

• What do you need to…                             * How is it different than…
• How is it the same as…                             * What else can you do with…
• What would happen now/ next if…       * What is your plan…
• How would you describe…                      * How many different ways…
• I notice…. Tell me more….                       * How does someone know…

Home Learning – Dramatic Play Suggestions: PRINTABLE VERSION fREE DOWNLOAD

Learning at Home: Teaching the When and the How of Taking Deep Breaths

Teaching Your Child When to Take a Deep Breath (noticing signs in their bodies)

and How to Take Deep Breaths

We, most likely,  all need some deep breaths right now.

Sit with your spine in a line, feet flat on the floor, inhale through your nose, exhale through your mouth.

Repeat 3 times.

Why- there is scientific evidence that taking deep breaths truly slows down our stress response- it is like slowing but firmly stepping on the gas pedal. It also produces a feeling of calm, it is relaxing, we don’t need any equipment, it provides more oxygen to the brain which improves our thinking and we can take deep breaths anywhere!

Children need to be taught when they need to take deep breaths and how to take deep breaths. If a child is already escalated and upset, this is NOT the time to start teaching how to take deep breaths. It would be like someone telling us to slow down, stay calm and take deep breaths when we are out camping and running from a bear that just spotted us! If your child is upset, let them see you taking deep breaths- gift them your calm BEFORE you tell them to take deep breaths. After they see and respond to your calm, then you can gently encourage them to breathe like a bunny or smell the flower and blow out the candle.

Remember to gift your calm – when you exhibit calm behavior and slow, even, deep breathing, the child will start to mimic. An escalated adult cannot deescaluate a frustrated child.

Teach different ways to take deep breaths when the child is calm. Have fun! Make it into a game.

How to Teach Deep Breathing:

• Choose one metaphor or way of taking deep breaths that your child can relate to, when your child is calm and in a good mood.
• Show a visual of the method and hang it on the refrigerator, in the play area or in the child’s sleeping area.
• Practice, Practice, Practice at all times of the day. Students need lots and lots of practice so that the techniques can be used automatically in times of stress. It takes LOTS of practice to become an expert.
• Teach your child to recognize signs of stress, frustration, and anger such as face getting hot, clenched fists, heavy breathing, crying, sweating, scrunched eyebrows, pounding heart.
• Teach your child the difference between short, quick, shallow breaths and long, deep, calming breaths. We want students to be using deep breathing since short breaths can actually make anxious feelings increase.
• Model and role-play different situations practicing self-talk such as “I am upset that he took my toy. I can breathe like a bear 7 times.” “I am nervous about your mom working at the hospital today. I can take 7 bunny breaths.” “I’m frustrated that I don’t know what to make for dinner but I can take 7 deep breaths and that will help me think better.”

I have opened my packet of 11 different ways to teach deep breathing as a FREE DOWNLOAD. I hope the visuals and ideas for different methods of teaching deep breathing are helpful for both you and your child.

 

Learning at Home: DRAMATIC PLAY

Why is play important to your child

Play is a vital part of your child’s development. Play allows children to use their creativity while developing their imagination, dexterity, physical, cognitive, and emotional strength.  For young children, play and learning are one and the same, they cannot be differentiated.

Through play, important brain development is established. Play is not a break from or a reward for learning- Play is Learning!

Dramatic Play journeyintoearlychildhood.com

Play is learning journeyintoearlychildhood.com

What is your child learning by playing?

Through child-directed, free-choice play,

• … children solve problems and pursue ideas
• … healthy connections are made in the brain
• … there is an increase in academic skills as noted in multiple research studies
• … children are learning how to learn- how to persist and persevere through challenges.
• … creative and critical thinking are developed
• … social skills such as collaboration, turn-taking, and conflict resolution are developed
• … emotional skills such as empathy and self-control increase significantly
• … children engage in science, engineering, and math skills including hypothesizing, experimenting, testing and concluding
• … vocabulary and language skills grow

Dramatic Play

There is documented research that demonstrates

the high level of cognitive, social, and emotional benefits

from children’s engagement in dramatic play.

Social/Emotional Skills:

• Sharing
• Cooperating
• Building empathy as they take on the role of someone else
• Solving social problems
• Building of compromise
• Persisting

Critical Thinking Skills:

• Expressing their creativity
• Flexibility in thinking
• Connections of experiences and learning
• Problem-solving
• Predicting

 Academic Skills:

• Storytelling
• One to one correspondence
• Thinking symbolically
• Writing to convey meaning (treatment plan, check-up form, pet information)
• Identification of letters/numbers/shapes

Communication Skills

• Using an expressive vocabulary- often will use more complex vocabulary such as in this center, we may hear them saying words such as examination, stethoscope, illness, fractured, etc.
• Engaging in turn-taking conversation

 

Dramatic Play Ideas for Home that

Include VERY Little Set-Up or Supplies…

• Build a fort, cave, or shelter
  • Supply Ideas:
    • Two chairs and a blanket
    • Big box
  • Suggestions:
    • Let your child’s imagination soar as he/she decides what the shelter will become and what is happening outside of the shelter.
      • Is it a cave near an ocean? Can you find seashells near the cave, go swimming, lay on the beach, dig up calms and cook them over a fire?
      • Is it a bear cave? Read books such as Bear Snores On, Bear Can’t Sleep or Bear Wants More by Karma Wilson and have your child design the cave and then react the story or make up their own using the same characters.
      • Are they on the island of lost boys with Peter Pan and it is a hideout from the pirates?
      • Are they stranded on an island?
      • Is it Rapunzel’s tower?
      • Is it Elsa’s ice fort?
    • Forts also allow your child space to be alone, to chill, to read, to play with puzzles, etc.

 

• Window Washer
  • Supply Ideas
    • Spray bottle with water
    • Rag
    • Paper to schedule appointments
    • Phone (not plugged in)
  • Suggestions
    • Call to make an appointment with the window washer, have your child keep a schedule of appointments.
    • Give him/her a spray bottle with water and a cloth and allow him/her to clean your windows.
    • Don’t forget to have your child write a receipt and for you to pay. Do you need change? How much change?

• Basic Home Living and Grocery Store

Let your child’s imagination take off while taking on the role of mom, dad, brother, baby, dishwasher repair person, mail carrier, etc. in a basic home set up- add a grocery store for some extra fun and creativity

• Supply ideas
  

  Add a grocery store to the kitchen play area Learning through Play journeyintoearlychildhood.com

  

  Washing Machine and Dryer Learning through Play journeyintoearlychildhood.com

  

  Learning through Play journeyintoearlychildhood.com

  

  Learning through Play journeyintoearlychildhood.com

  

  Change kitchen area into a restaurant Learning through Play journeyintoearlychildhood.com

  

  Learning through Play journeyintoearlychildhood.com
  • Bowls, spoons, pots, plates, etc.
  • Empty big boxes to become the stove, dishwasher, washing machine and dryer
  • Bottle caps, corks, shells or jar lids with letters of the alphabet written on them to become food- “Can you bake me cookies that spell your name?”
  • Old clothes, old iron or iron not plugged in
  • Paper to write grocery lists and recipes
  • Cookbook
• Empty and clean up food containers (cereal boxes, egg carton, cracker box, oatmeal container)
• Suggestions:
  • Add a grocery store by setting up empty and clean food containers (tin cans, boxes, water bottles)
  • Turn the home living area into a restaurant by adding some menus and paper for ordering. You can use take out menus but even better is to allow your child to make his/her own menu- drawing pictures is great! There is no need to force writing – if your child is developmentally ready to start adding in some words, they can even start with just the beginning letter.

• School
  • Supply Ideas

    

    Learning through Play journeyintoearlychildhood.com

    Books

    • Stuffed animals
    • Paper, crayons, markers
    • Magazines
    • Scissors

 

 

Open-Ended Questions to Expand Children’s Play in a Dramatic Play Center:

• What do you need to…                             * How is it different than…
• How is it the same as…                             * What else can you do with…
• What would happen now/ next if…       * What is your plan…
• How would you describe…                      * How many different ways…
• I notice…. Tell me more….                       * How does someone know…

 

Home Learning – Dramatic Play Suggestions: PRINTABLE VERSION FREE DOWNLOAD