Watching 2 Natural Playgrounds Part II

Earlier this week I spent some time at the newly openned, professionally designed natural playground. Kids have been exploring and enjoying it for about two weeks now. While I was there, a group of toddlers and their teachers were enjoying an unusually mild November day.
Several kids were huddled together in a large tunnel which makes the hill it is carved [...]

Everybody Wins! A Fresh Take on Preschool Games

One day on the way home from preschool my daughter declared, “I hate musical chairs!” I was surprised at the force behind her statement, but not so surprised by her feelings.
My daughter is not exactly a speedy child. She moves at her own pace and in her own good time in spite all of my [...]

Throw Out the Crafts! New Ways to Show the Value of Your Toddler Program

Many toddler teachers feel pressure to do craft projects with their children. I’m not talking about “exploring with crayons” or “experimenting with paint”. I’m talking about crafts that are supposed to look like something in particular like a jack-o-lantern or a classic holiday turkey. Projects where the teacher is doing most of the work, often [...]

Watching 2 Natural Playgrounds Develop

Right now, two of the local preschools I work with are in the process of installing natural playgrounds and they are taking two very different approaches. One school hired a well-known company to plan and build the playground. The other is taking more of a grass roots approach. Teachers are planing the landscape and parents [...]

Re-thinking “Adult’s-Eye-View”

Over the weekend we re-arranged the furniture in our kid’s playroom. As we cleaned and re-organized, we weeded out old out-grown toys, those that I’m not crazy about (mostly cheap party favors that won’t be missed- I hope!) and the ones they just don’t play with…
Then there was the doll house. The beautiful wooden doll [...]