Exploring the World Around Us

An important cognitive skill in preschool is the ability to observe and compare objects.  A great way to incorporate this into a classroom is through a nature walk with your class.  This fun outdoor journey encourages children’s imaginations and spikes their interest in the world around them. 

Wood Designs WD93021 Science Table

While on your walk, have children collect various natural objects such as rocks, flowers, leaves, bark, etc.  Once back in the classroom, give them the opportunity to examine the items they collected.  Children can investigate their found objects with magnifying glasses and tweezers to learn more about them.  Wood Designs manufactures a Science Table that is perfect for such exploration.  This table comes with built-in magnifiers, mirrors, and marker boards so they may examine the items with their classmates. This encourages social interaction while developing their observational skills.

Decluttering the Classroom and the Mind

Organization is an important skill to learn for any age, but it is especially important for young children.  Children as young as 15 months can walk with a parent or teacher to assist in putting away toys and supplies. 

Why is this skill so important?  Not only does organization in the classroom help the teacher with his/her tasks, it also teaches responsibility and value to children.  Putting away toys or manipulatives teaches children that these items hold value and should be treated with care.  Furthermore, when kids take on the chores of straightening up their classroom, they feel more competent and gain confidence in their abilities.  They become proud of their accomplishments and take pride in their work.  One of the biggest advantages in teaching organizational skills at a young age is that it is a tremendous benefit to the child later in life.  Studies have shown that high school children taught organizational skills when young are more apt to excel academically .  This is because they have been taught effective use of time and methods for organizing both their classes and materials.  Most academic problems are rooted in the inability to arrange their time, their workload, and commitments.  When items are tidy and in their place, it frees the mind to focus and carry out assignments.

Providing the right materials in the classroom can help to initiate organization.  Personalized lockers and cubbies help children to feel empowered and more likely to take ownership of their areas, keeping them in order.  Labeling bins with words or images for small children makes it fun to organize while teaching the importance of categorizing.  Wood Designs provides a variety of storage and cubby options for this purpose.  Multiple styles and sizes of lockers give many options for every classroom.  Wood Designs also provides numerous cubby storage styles with different colored bins to keep your rooms organized and stylish.Let us help you make organization a part of your classroom environment.

The World of Manipulatives

They can be found in most classrooms – baskets of cubes, tangrams, counters, and blocks.  These are math manipulatives and they have received much acclaim as one of the most effective ways to introduce mathematics to young children.  They are often used to assist in the learning of the concepts of problem solving, reasoning, counting, and the skill of geometry.  Much in the same way that a city map helps an adult to become familiar with a new town, manipulatives help young children to become accustomed to mathematical theories and reasoning.  This introduction makes formal mathematical lessons in the future more familiar and easier to grasp. 

The physical interaction with manipulatives is advantageous to children in a variety of ways.  As an architect constructs models to search for solutions, children use manipulative materials to solve problems.  This physical evidence of a solution not only fosters problem resolution, but also makes the lesson more memorable because there is a visual representation to go along with it.  This teaches abstract reasoning and encourages independent thinking, raising a child’s confidence level.  This form of three-dimensional teaching can be used in children of all ages.  Young children can learn counting with the use of blocks and shapes while older school age children can use them to learn more complex concepts.

No matter what the age or the lesson, manipulatives make useful tools for solving problems while making the exercise enjoyable and motivational.  Wood Designs offers a variety of units to house your manipulatives.  These products provide open shelving which is conducive to Montessori teaching and a raised lip on the top to allow children to move objects around and experiment.  We pride ourselves on the functionality and features of these classroom options.

Splashing Fun with Sand & Water Tables

In most early childhood classrooms you will find a sand and water or sensory table.  This is not only because they are great fun for children, but because they are also important in the world of movement play.  Movement play involves the use of moveable items that react and can be manipulated to teach cause & effect, math/science, social skills and motor control.

These sensory tables are commonly filled with water, sand, shapes and other tactile elements.  Usually 2-4 children will use a sensory table at one time.  This allows for sharing lessons and group interaction.  Children are forced to work within close proximity of each other and learn to work together.  This cooperative play is a beneficial skill to develop at this age as it will affect their social interactions now and later in life.

Through the use of these tables, children are able to experience how items react to their movements.  When using a sand or water table, for example, a child can explore what happens when they move water this way or that, when they scoop sand up with objects, when they combine it with other ingredients.  Handling different objects and moving them through the sand or water can also help to develop a child’s hand/eye coordination and gross motor skills.  Sensory tables can facilitate important math and science lessons.  A good way to introduce these subjects to children is by placing various sized containers and objects near and in the table.  Children will naturally experiment by filling up the different sized containers, thus introducing lessons on volume and displacement.  Kids also love playing with objects in the water.  Caregivers can use this fun time as a time to discuss and test which objects float and which items sink. 

Want to change up the sensory table play time?  There are many ways to create new and interesting experiences.  An easy way to do this is to add different colors to the water so children can mix new colors on their own.  Another fun tactile experiment is to add cornstarch to the water to create a different texture and sensation.  Bubbles are yet another exciting way to change up the sensory experience for your students.

Sensory tables are a common element in classrooms for a reason-they teach a variety of lessons and improve interaction in children.  And-they are fun!  Wood Designs offers a variety of sizes of sand and water sensory tables to suit your classroom needs.  Check out our sensory section at WoodDesigns.com to see what we have in stock for your room.

The Fundamentals of Doll Play

Playing with dolls may not seem to be an educational experience, but play is the foundation for learning in young children.  These objects provide not only fun, but also valuable learning experiences.  

So, how do dolls make this happen?  When children play with dolls or play “house” they often are doing so with other classmates.  This fosters the learning of vocabulary and language skills.  Children learn to communicate through speaking to other children and often will pick up new words this way.  Doll play also allows children to reenact what they witness in their everyday life-using phrases he/she often hears, staging household chores and activities they witness adults doing in their real life.  This improves their problem-solving skills and allows children to learn the different roles people play in the world. 

Doll play also serves an emotional need in children.  A doll is an image of a human being, often a child.  Because of this, it is a great toy to develop a positive self-image in children.  Children can relate to the doll since it is so similar to their own features.  This commonality helps children to display emotions and work through them with the use of the doll.  An upset child may be mean or yell at a doll.  This an excellent way for children to express their emotions and release tension in a constructive manner. 

This beneficial play can be encouraged with the availability of doll furniture.  A doll highchair invites a child to prepare food and feed their doll, acting out a parental role.  Other items such as doll beds and strollers further encourage this experience and make pretend time even more exciting.  Wood Designs offers a variety of these items.  Check out WoodDesigns.com to see what items you can add to the “house” in your classroom.