In a classroom for young children, noise, activity and a certain amount of mess characterize learning. This learning environment set up in interest areas or centers where children are playing and moving about freely, talking, singing, and laughing. There is carefully planned time for open play that is child directed as well as teacher directed activities and group activities
Children begin learning through play in many hands-on, real-life experiences. Recent research supports that play is an important part of the learning forum for young children. Interest areas are usually set up in 3 levels of difficulty. This builds confidence in offering items that insure success as well as offers a challenge to grow from. Our major goal is to expose children to hundreds of wonderful things for them to explore and discover through their self-directed play. It is not essential, at this age, to teach children to recite the alphabet or count to 100. It is far more important to excite children about learning by giving them opportunities to make on their own about themselves and their world.
With Learning Centers are goals of exploratory learning is accomplished! Below are the Learning Centers incorporated in the HO4K curriculum. Many of these can be done on a small scale at home to reinforce the new concepts students learn!
Social Roles-Miniature Toy area is located near the block area and gives children a chance to further develop their social and emotional growth. We use things that are miniature such as multi-ethnic people, including their habitats and work settings, sets of characters may include Bugs Life, Snow White & Seven Dwarfs, Pocahontas, Farm, Jungle, Forest , hand made accessories from cardboard containers, blocks and vehicles which can be used with miniature people.
Manipulative / Problem Solving / Math Center includes manipulatives which provide a challenge with a reasonable chance for success without too much frustration to help the younger children develop problem solving abilities. Play materials may include: take apart toys, wind up toys, figures, shape/form boards, shape-0-Ball, pop up toys with different types of levers, puzzles, stringing beads, pattern boards, matching and sorting games. All materials are designed to teach specific skills such as recognizing shapes, sizes, numbers, colors, and likeness and differences; counting; sequencing; and ordering. Children also develop eye-hand coordination and practice using the small muscles in their hands and fingers when they work with manipulative materials.
Dramatic Play / House Keeping / Social Roles Area provides the children a chance to practice skills and try out ideas of each person's place in the world through pretending. We have added small tables, play house furniture including stove, refrigerator, dishes, pots, pans, silverware, telephone, dress-up clothes, dolls, doll clothes, empty grocery packages, etc. Social studies concepts are learned through dramatic play. Children learn about various adult roles in the family and the community. Social skills develop as children learn to negotiate roles, share materials and work cooperatively in order to make the play progress. Mathematics concepts are learned through dramatic play. For example, when a child matches a cup to a saucer or a napkin to a plate, the concept of one-to-one correspondence is being learned. Counting the number of plates needed to set the table fore the family is a practical way to develop counting skills. Oral language develops when children share ideas and communicate with each other during their play. Vocabularies are increased when children play with new materials and learn the meaning of new words. Literacy emerges when children write grocery lists, telephone messages, and notes to put on the bulletin board in the play kitchen. Cookbooks, telephone books, rebus task cards and other reading materials give children an opportunity to interact with print through their play. And, fine motor development is encouraged when children use their fingers to fasten buttons and snaps on dress-up clothes.
Language & Book Area / Reading / Writing Center helps stimulate language & writing skills as well as interests in exploring books. We have added several comfortable textured pillows with a variety of picture books, magazines and cloth books and flannel board cut-outs which depict storybook characters. Also near by is plenty of paper and writing utensils to dictate or write their own stories and books.
Messy Play / Sensory Table provides experiences in manipulating, sorting, classifying, measuring and sensory experience and may include: sand and/or water, rice, wheat, shaving cream, plastic bean-bag beads or other creative materials to add interest and stimulate learning. We have a table low enough for toddlers to reach items such as shovels, assorted cups, containers, vehicles, animals, spoons and so on. Playing with sensory materials is soothing and comforting to young children. Eye-hand coordination and small muscle development are encouraged through sensory play. Language Sensory play is also a fun way to teach concepts relating to size, measurement, properties of matter, floating and sinking and other scientific principles.
Science and Discovery Center
Creative Media Center materials will be rotated using different mediums, creativity and good judgement. Using open-ended activities children are most often encouraged to make their own creations rather than copy an example. The process rather than the project is the emphasis. Materials may include, assortments of paper, envelopes, bags, scissors, tape, glue, paper punches, markers, pencils, crayons, chalk, string, collage materials & play dough. We avoid too many closed-ended art activities that have a “right” and “wrong” way of doing them. Examples of closed-ended activities include coloring books, worksheets, and teacher directed craft activities. In closed ended art activities, all the children’s work ends up looking basically the same- a whole bunch of adorable white bunnies with their cotton tails glued on in just the right place and their ears and noses colored pink. These types of activities interfere with children’s ability to think and express themselves creatively.
Music Interest Center may include actual as well as child size & safe instruments. Cultural and ethnic instruments are offered. This is a place where children experiment with sounds, rhythms, music and movement. Making rhythm and their own sounds builds math and cooperation skills. The music center is a noisy, active center located where it will not disturb quieter activities. We may include songs in rebus form to help inspire children’s spontaneous singing and to promote literacy. Many emotions and feelings can be creatively released and developed in this area.
Large Motor Skills Area is to help the development of the large motor skills and social skills such as taking turns and cooperating. It is often an acceptably noisy area. We can also rotate in items such as: rocking rowboat, rocking fish, sit on car, tunnel and cubes and good old cardboard boxes. Language skills are further developed when a child experiences going under, over, through, in, out, next to, up, down etc. This area also gives them a place where they can appropriately release energy and feelings. We keep our “hitting/kicking/punching bag”, “Yelling Bucket” and “Garbage Word Bucket”. You may also find our “Yuppy Puppy”, he listens to anything and acknowledges that he likes it by bobbing his head up and down….ie; Yelling, crying, whining, complaining and even sticking out the tongue! Yelling, crying, whining, complaining and even sticking out the tongue!
Cooking Center is provided in a more controlled environment. It is conducted in groups and with individual children. Such activities may be held in the kitchen or at our child sized table. Children are involved from beginning to end of the process. Through cooking, children can learn about measurement, textures, tastes and changes. We learn about different types of foods and compare foods, noting similarities and differences. Healthy eating habits are formed by providing frequent nutritious cooking activities. Children develop self-confidence and enjoy trying new foods when they have the opportunity to prepare foods that will be enjoyed by their classmates and teachers. Children are involved in reading recipes and following directions. At each snack time children read the recipe for how much to serve themselves. This teaches math skills as well as responsibility in serving themselves and cleaning up after themselves.
Outdoor Play Area is a natural extension of the classroom. Outdoor play is built into our daily schedule, year round, weather permitting. We incorporate the same type of centers outside as we do inside. We may offer creative media, science and discovery, observation areas, sensory experiences, supervised woodworking, gardening, reading, resting, dramatic play, dress-ups and of course large muscles experiences. Equipment for active play varies with safe well-built equipment for climbing and sliding. We offer soft landing areas under climbing toys and slides, a sidewalk trail for wheel toys, balls, hoops, balance beams, balance boards, ropes, tunnels, ladders and a large tractor tire to make active play varied, challenging and non-competitive for young children. Our pool area is available Monday-Friday to children with their parents.
Listening Center May include books with the stories read on tape or CD player. Today’s society is filled with noise. With television, video players, and CD’s everywhere we go, children learn at an early age to tune out much of the language that surrounds them. Because of this, one of the most important tasks in the early childhood classroom is teaching children to listen. The ability to listen carefully is an important prerequisite to later success in school. Self-confidence is also built in this area, as it is child-directed. Children learn to manage the CD player, as well as being responsible to handle and return materials independently.
A great resource of Management Ideas, Teaching Tips, Maintenance Checklist and the Do’s and Don’ts for setting up learning centers in your facility or home is:
Taken from: “Teaching Young Children, A Guide for the Early Childhood Teacher”,
© Fearon Teacher Aids, A Division of Frank Schaffer, Publication, Inc., 23740 Hawthorne Boulevard,Torrance, CA 90505-5927 ISBN 0-86653-911-5 Appx. Cost $16.00
