Name Tag Mailboxes-A Simple Way to Encourage Writing in Preschool

With limited wall space in my classroom, I was looking for a creative way to allow each student to have a mailbox without taking up a bulletin board area.

To solve this problem these cubby label mailboxes were invented.

Simply take a business size envelope, decorate it how you would like and then laminate the entire envelope closed.  After it is laminated cut about 1/4 inch along the top of the envelope allowing it to open.  Then punch a hole through the front side and attach the arrow with a brad.  The arrows had also been laminated and cut out.

This allows the arrow to be down if the mailbox is empty and turned up when it is full.

The children enjoy writing each other notes and giving and receiving mail throughout the year.  We discuss how it is important to write your own name as well as the person you are sending it to, so that person will know who to write back to after receiving mail.  

It is exciting for them to look across the room as they are playing and see their flag up.  "I have mail!" can be heard happily expressed as the children rush over to open their messages.

Having the mailboxes double as their cubby labels saves a lot of space and allows the mailboxes to be in a more central location in the classroom rather than a corner or area they may not frequent as often. The teachers and the working parent also have a mailbox...and we always respond to mail.  

A Justification For Loose Parts Play In This Competitive Society-A Professional Development Workshop

I recently enjoyed giving a workshop on loose parts play to the staff of United Methodist Preschool held at Community Cooperative Nursery School.  We started off with the theory behind this kind of play, reflections on current classroom practices and a slide show of the children from CCNS in action.

But the most important part of this workshop is giving the teachers time to actually play and interact with the materials and investigate the kinds of learning that they can envision their students experiencing.  They were asked to not only engage, but to reflect as they played on the skills that children would be learning and applying as they played.  

Then they were given something that is critical for teachers of young children...time to play.  Time to problem solve...

to engage with each other and the materials...

and to get a real sense of what the children experience as they interact with the loose parts.

We concluded the play portion of the session reflecting on the CT Early Learning and Development Standards and what skills from several of the domains this kind of play fosters.

The teachers then created action plans and materials wish lists for incorporating this type of play into their teaching as well as addressing some concerns and issues they may face.  

It is always invigorating for me to be surrounded by such dedicated educators that continue to want to learn more and improve their practices in order to provide young children the best learning environments possible.  

If you are interested in this workshop or other professional development sessions please contact me at danagorman@playfullylearning.me.

Nature Art: A Trip to The Studio

Creating art from nature and natural products is something I am trying to incorporate more in to my classroom experiences.  This year I was turned on to the work of Andy Goldsworthy, a British photographer, sculptor and environmentalist who creates land art using sticks, petals, leaves, rocks and other materials found in the environment in which he chooses to develop his piece.

We did some of this outside using materials the children found on our playground and we also brought numerous natural materials inside for the children to use to create art.  We were not using glue and keeping the products, just experimenting with the textures, colors and objects themselves. In class, we looked at some of Goldsworthy's stunning photographs and tried to emulate his work. (sadly, my photographs of these experiences were lost)

These Goldworthy inspired learning environments left me wanting to learn even more about using natural materials with children.  I was very excited to find that my dear childhood friend, Christine Orlando-Budd, is the co-owner of The Studio in Fairfield, CT and that they were offering a Goldsworthy Art in Nature Summer Camp for two weeks this summer.  I was able to go and visit her program yesterday.  My photographs are not the best as I was more invested in talking to her about the program and then in creating natural art myself.  During each of these Goldsworthy weeks, the children (mixed age group) spend a day looking at video and photographs of his work and then discussing and sketching the artistic elements present in his signature style.  The next four days are spent completely in the field: two days in the woods and two on the beach.  The products the children develop are ephemeral and left where they are created, so they take beautiful photographs of the work and create slide shows of their process.