NAEYC Work Together Wednesday with Loose Parts!

As you may know, we have been celebrating NAEYC Week of the Young Child here at Holly Tree!  One of our favorite activities so far took place on Work Together Wednesday!  We set out loose parts (clothes hangers) in bins on the playground and we are in awe of what our Pre-K and Toddler classrooms created!  

Our loose parts gave the children an opportunity to let their minds do the work.  They all worked together and learned through investigating, discovering and problem solving by experimental trial and error.  The teachers provided open-ended questions to spark their imagination!

Stay tuned this summer for more awesome provocations with loose parts!

For more information on NAEYC Week of the Young Child, click here!

Picnic Day Photos!

Despite the wind, we had a great time eating in the great outdoors today!

Here are some photos for your viewing pleasure!

Pie Provocations at HTB!

We are so excited to be rolling out a creative way to spark our students imagination and creativity!  They are called provocations and they are designed to stimulate new ideas and develop skills of creativity and inventiveness.  Simply put, teachers are setting out "loose parts" and inviting children to use their minds to create whatever they wish!  

In this activity, you can see our Toddler 2 room using three simple items; pom poms, tongs and pie tins.  The underlying DAP (developmentally appropriate practice) behind this activity is stimulating the children's fine motor skills, by using the tongs to pick up the pom poms.  They were not instructed to use the tongs, however, all children chose to build their "pie" with this tool!  Our Toddler 2 teacher, Ms. Sara, was observing the children and was asking the children open ended questions to get their minds working.  This activity builds flexibility in thinking, planning and reflecting in young minds.

Stay tuned for more fun provocations this summer!