The child centered classroom: Adding things to do

I have been writing about setting up classrooms over the past few weeks and so far I talked a little bit about setting up furniture and selecting baskets for your shelves. Once you have your baskets, you will certainly need to decide what will go into the baskets.

What goes into each basket depends on the purpose behind each center (shelf) you are creating. For example, in the fine motor center/shelf I put lacing cards, weaving materials, and other supplies that invite fine motor development.

The question to ask yourself when you add toys or materials to a basket is, “What will the children actually do with these materials?”  You don’t have to have all the answers because children certainly have a way of coming up with their own ideas but you should have some idea or vision as to how the materials can be used for play or learning.

For example, I found these little rubber cars in a box and put them out for the children to play with. But the cars seemed kind of boring in the basket all by themselves. I wanted to put the cars in my math center, so to invite a little counting, I added dice too. The children may choose to do something totally unexpected with the cars, but I wanted to offer choices for different kinds of play by including additional materials with the cars.

I have also been making items to put in the baskets for play. For our math center I made these magnetic pom-poms…

I also took a bunch of random old blocks we had stashed around and added velcro to them, thanks to an idea I found here, for our math center. Now they have offer a new dimension of play…

I am looking forward to getting back into the classroom so I can take some photos of how the children actually play with these items. After setting out baskets in the centers, I will want to observe the children at play and determine where adjustments need to be made so play can be successful.

Oh, and I want to make sure that each basket of toys I provide has enough materials for 2 to 4 children to play with. It really depends on the resources I can muster up.

And where possible, I try to make sure that I match the size of the materials I provide with the size of the baskets I have. Not everything has to go into a basket, of course, but it does make for easier clean up and easier for the children to take care of things when they know where items belong and how to put them away neatly. These animals didn’t quite fit into my baskets… Hmmm – I will have to observe this to see if it works out okay anyway:)

In each of my centers/shelves I want to provide a different type of experience. I want to make sure that all developmental domains are being challenged and explored.

When I was cleaning out some of our centers, I noticed that we had an over-abundance of some materials, like ink stamps, and not very much of other materials, like good markers. So I want to find a balance of materials. No need to have 100 ink stamps out all at once. We can rotate them instead.

Finally, I want to mention that the classroom centers/shelves are not the only things provided in our classrooms for children to do. The centers are there for children to use during their free play but they are a critical component to keeping children positively engaged in the classroom experience.

A good, quality, well-organized, and well furnished classroom environment is like having another teacher in the classroom. It makes a huge difference in classroom management. The classroom set-up and materials can help you focus on being a facilitator of play rather than a micro-manager of children who want to play. A well designed classroom will lead children towards positive and constructive play.

Oh, and see this metal cookie sheet below. I saw a note on PreK Pages facebook page that these were available for $1 at the Dollar store – so I went and stocked up. We use them as magnetic boards and even trays for tiny pieces in each of our classrooms!

When the centers are child-centered then you will feel more confident in giving your students the freedom to explore and will be more confident that their exploration will lead to a positive learning and play experience.

Deborah J Stewart

Deborah J Stewart

Every time I think I know everything I need to know about teaching young children, God says, "Hold on a minute!" and gives me a new challenge.

Let me tell ya...

With each new challenge that you overcome, you will find yourself better equipped and more passionate about teaching young children.

God didn't call wimps to lead, teach, or care for His children. Nope, he has high expectations, so get ready. You will have to give your very best but after teaching for over 30 years, I can tell you that it is a wonderful and rewarding journey.

Whenever your calling feels hard, just remember, 'He who began a good work in you (and in the children you serve) will be faithful to complete it.'

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