Recently, I was walking by a playground of children playing in Paris, France. The sounds of the play could have been happening in China, Holland, or Tulsa, Oklahoma.  Because the fact is, all children are wired for play. It’s one of the universal drives inherent in human nature.  In fact, one of the MOST important truths about play is that it serves the individual developmental needs of each child.  Yep, it’s not ONLY about “fun” — it’s about developing crucial skills and learning. Think about it. Children are born knowing how to play:  A three-month-old baby sees an obje ..read more

Phew! It's finally time to say goodbye to 2020. It brought so many curve balls. It was exhausting and yet, there were gifts as well. It was amazing to see the incredible passion and inspiration from early childhood educators worldwide as they had to pivot their teaching practice. I have created this free masterclass series to take you through my yearly process of beginning the new year. The new year is an exciting and potent time. This year there is definitely more to reflect on. I am so ready to bid 2020 good bye and move into fresh possibilities. I know for myself – I didn't want to step ove ..read more

Social distancing is just wrong in early childhood. You know it. I know it.  But what if you are mandated to do it? Recently I was on a Zoom call where an educator shared her colleagues had made taped squares in their rooms, put a chair in the square with a plastic box of materials to play with. “WHAT?  Are you kidding me.”  I nearly jumped through the Zoom screen. Children deserve better from us than this. I get it. It is hard. But taped squares?  Are we that limited on creativity? It is time to be WARRIORS of Wonder my friends.  The children are calling our names and ..read more

In July 2019,  I had the incredible honor of presenting a seminar in Manila.  Mia Villavicencio, who is in my Wonder Tribe membership, was there and invited me to visit her center.  It was such an honor and treat.  Here is a peek into her amazing center! To enter this center – we walked up some stairs and arrived in this open aired space.  I love how Mia created this outdoor space with all of the essentials of outside play! Water play is a must! This is wonder-filled!! I was so impressed that Mia offered mud play in a space that is not connected to access to nature ..read more

Do you feel you do not have the space in your classroom for an atelier?   All it takes is one shelf.  You could call it a mini-atelier. The word “Atelier” comes from the French word meaning the studio or workshop. It a place for children to create, imagine, play and construct.. An atelier is a space dedicated to providing children materials for original thinking and art making.  It is an opportunity to share special techniques of art making with children so that they have more access to expressing their ideas and  thoughts.  . What is the difference between an atelier and an art center? Ateli ..read more

In my Waldorf training, the young child's development of the fine motor skills was viewed as more important than teaching rote skills(such as recognizing the sounds of the letters).  The hand can be considered as an instrument of intelligence. Philipp Martzog, a researcher, found that better fine motor skills in the early years might have a direct relationship to higher intelligence level and specifically – deductive thinking. His findings pointed to the relationship between fine motor skills and flexibility in the thinking. Fine motor skills is how young children develop cognitive abilities i ..read more

Art making is an ever-evolving process that involves research, invention, and risk-taking.  At the heart of process art is experimentation.  It is important to offer art experiences that children can bring their own ideas to test and explore. I love introducing monoprinting to children as it gives them such a powerful process of creating art.  The first time I was introduced to monoprinting with young children was through Bev Boz in the mid 1990s. Bev Boz suggested trays with a variety of household tools as brushes.  See my post here. A monoprint (sometimes called monotype) is when only one pr ..read more