Resources Topics

Resources

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Children and an adult playing with large wooden outdoor blocks in a gravel play area.
Topics
A collection of articles on a wealth of subjects from child development to craft projects suitable for young children.

Featured
Child in a striped shirt holding a light-colored wooden block with both hands.
Article
Building 21st Century Skills Block by Block
Karen Liu
If playing with blocks is such a foundational pillar of education why is block play still largely relagated to a "choice" activity, limited by space and time? What if block building were a central element in your curriculum and schedule?
A classroom with a book display, two chairs, a round table, and storage cabinets under windows.
Article
Aesthetics in the Classroom Setting
Scott Brouette
How can you transform your institutional-looking classroom into a place of beauty and welcome?
Children playing in a bright classroom with a water table, play kitchen, and sensory table.
Article
Classroom Design and How it Influences Behavior
Judith Colbert
Although it is important for classrooms to be attractive to the eye, it is equally, if not more important, that they function effectively.
Classroom Design
Teacher interacting with toddler
Article
The Importance of the Seven Active Supervision Strategies for Infants and Toddlers in Early Learning Environments
Kimberly Engelhardt
Kimberly Englehardt spotlights seven supervision strategies that help educators turn classrooms into safer, calmer, more connected spaces for infants and toddlers.
Two class photos around Community Playthings table taken 50 years apart
Article
Seventy Years of Play
Michelle Sosnowski
What might a decades‑old nursery school—with some of its original playthings still in use—teach us about how children truly learn?
Children playing in a dramatic play environment
Article
Designing Child-Centered Early Childhood Environments in the Public School Setting
Christine Hertz Hausman, Kristine Mraz
Fostering a play-based education in the public school setting through intentional classroom design.
View all Classroom Design
Benefits of Outdoor Play
boy wearing a rain coat
Article
Reflecting on Rainy Day Activities
Lois Ingellis
Rainy weather offers a deluge of new experience that are not to be missed! Here's ten ideas to get you started.
children playing in garden
Article
Nature-Based Learning with Infants and Toddlers
Elena Bourne
First Roots Wild Roots, a child care program in Vermont, shares how nature‑based learning gives infants and toddlers rich, whole‑body learning experiences.
Children playing in Outlast playhouse
Article
Where Learning Comes Alive
Amy Reyes
The outdoors offers a unique environment for children to develop critical literacy and phonic development.
View all Benefits of Outdoor Play