Train Station Dramatic Play

As a Reggio-inspired school, we try to incorporate child-initiated, project-based learning (similar to emergent themes) throughout the curriculum and school environment.

As a curriculum coordinator at the school, I try to integrate projects that are taking place in each classroom into the shared-by-all areas of the patio, yard and atelier (project/art studio). 

Currently, our 3 year olds are studying about trains. Last week, we added a train component to our hollow block center on the yard (see above). In a large wicker basket, we set out engineer hats, scarves, and large wooden trains. We also set up a basket of paper, coloring pencils, and books to inspire sketching, drawing and reading about trains (below). Many children designed great trains using the large hollow blocks.

To extend the project, this week we painted a large 'bullet train' in the Project Room. We also learned to sketch trains in our Exploring Art class, added trains and tracks to the free-choice patio environment, and we transformed our dramatic play area into a train station! Enjoyed by all, these activities were specifically aimed at our three year olds to extend and enhance their project. Not to be left out, each of our other classes enjoyed an array of activities that were geared specifically to their ongoing projects and interests!

Painting the bullet train. Furnace boxes are perfect!!

Wagons were set out for train rides and shared motor activities

Our 'bullet train' made in the atelier. Duct taped for durability ;-)

In addition to a set of pre-printed 'train tickets,' we set out paper and coloring pencils for the children to create their own tickets. 

We posted a map of our local Metro on the front of the ticket booth.

Tickets, please!

Incorporating projects into shared spaces not only stimulates learning for the intended class, but enhances the environment and sparks new interests for all the other students in the school.

See, Move, Build, Sketch

I recently attended a conference on The Outdoor Classroom Project here in California. I always love going to seminars because there is always something useful that we can take away from the experience. My "take-away" piece of knowledge this time was the "See, Move, Build, Sketch" model to teaching preschoolers.  I especially love this approach because it can work effectively in teaching nearly any topic.

Though it is fairly self-explanatory, here is the idea in a nutshell. In italics, I have provided our specific plans for implementing this teaching/learning model in the hollow block center of our outdoor classroom. I will use the subject of trains to help illustrate the points since our three-year olds are currently working on trains as a long-term project.

SEE - Show children photos, cards, books and models of the subject you are teaching or of the idea you are hoping to 'inspire'.

Our plan: Hang photos of various trains such as steam locomotives, cargo trains and bullet trains, near the hollow blocks center in the Outdoor Classroom; show photos of engineers, & conductors; set out fiction and non-fiction books about trains; supply a set of large, wooden toy trains for the children to explore with the blocks.


MOVE - BE the subject.

Our plan: Supply engineer hats for the children to wear in the center; line-up chairs near the blocks so the children can pretend they are passengers on a train; encourage children to chug around the yard as if they were trains going on a trip; practice train sounds.


BUILD - Build models of the subject at hand using blocks, play dough, clay, recyclables, or any other appropriate medium.

Our plan: Encourage the children to build trains using the hollow blocks - they could make large-scale trains for multiple children to sit in, small trains using just a few blocks, a train to encompass the chairs, or they could even build tracks for the wooden trains that have been placed in the center.


SKETCH - Encourage the children to draw, sketch, diagram, or illustrate pictures of the subject on hand. Encourage the children to make sketches of the creations they built using the various mediums.

Our plan: Supply clipboards, paper, and pencils for the children to draw and illustrate their hollow block creations; encourage the children to sketch about trains they have see or sketch their own ideas for new trains they would like to design. Hang sketches in the center for other children to see.


Here are some very simple photos of how this teaching/learning model has been used in the outdoor classroom at the Child Education Center in La Canada, California (the founding center of "The Outdoor Classroom Project").

If You Build It, They Will Come

In my last post I talked about extending activities rather than "ditching" them when children appeared uninterested in an object or activity. So today, I decided to test out the theory again. This time it was our set of "tree blocks"in which I wanted to spark some interest.

I have put these blocks in our play yard several times for the children; and for several times, they weren't interested. At all. To be honest, I was shocked. I personally love the blocks! I mean, don't the children know that natural materials are all the rage? Don't they understand that playing with natural items will help them gain the much-needed and much-talked about connection with nature that the children of today so desperately need? I guess not. Let's face it...they are in it for the fun. It is the teachers who are in it for the philosophy. That said, it is up to us to "camouflage" the philosophy with "fun".

So, it was up to our storage room I went to find something interesting to add to the tree blocks. I walked into the "science room" and stumbled upon a bin of forest animals. These could definitely add some life to the blocks! This time, I put the blocks on our patio where our "older" pod (3-5yrs) can choose to play during their free choice time. Before the children arrived in the morning, I set up the table to look like a little forest with animals peering around corners and hiding under the blocks. As the children passed by on their way to class I could already hear them chatting to their parents about the forest table.

At first, only one child went to the table. It was a start. He asked me to play, so I sat with him and we enjoyed playing with the creatures and talking about the various types of animals on display. Slowly, several others joined the fun and soon I was able to back out and watch as their play unfolded.

They worked cooperatively for more than half an hour and created some very clever structures with the blocks. They called me over to see their creations. They were positively thrilled with themselves!

During the same play period, my coworker came over and commented on how his 3 year olds were not playing with the brand-new hollow blocks we just purchased. He is an extremely insightful teacher, so quoting Kevin Costner from Field of Dreams as he walked, he went over and built a great something...and the children came.

Ahhh, success!

These structures were made by the 3's class...after the teacher left!

Boxes, Boxes and More Boxes!

You know, it always make me laugh how we feel the need to buy expensive toys for kids. It seems we fill that if we offer an expensive toy, their imaginations will be able to unfold like a butterfly's wings. We spend and we spend, and then we are frustrated that the children are not playing with the toys on end as we would hope. Well...out with the spending...grab some boxes for endless fun!

This week we added some painted boxes to our Outdoor Classroom. The children had painted them over the past week under the trees in our art center. They painted A LOT of boxes. They also painted the tires that we used as blockades from the bikes, the side walk, and the concrete around the garden bed. Hmmm...we'll have to work on that! Most of the children were also fairly covered in large blotches of paint as they forgot that leaning against a large, freshly painted box could be a slightly messy affair! I also saw a lot of the two year olds squishing the paint-filled rollers in their hands and watching as the bubbles of paint squeezed between their fingers. We did say it is the process that count, right???

Each day, we added new boxes of all shapes and sizes. We also changed up the colors and varied the painting tools each day, using brushes, rollers, etc. On one day, I only put out the color green. Our project focus was dinosaurs, so the big green box became a "Boxosaurus" (created by my imaginative coworker). We cut holes into the front and the kids had a go of throwing soft balls and beanbags into him.

This poor guy looks like he had a rough night...little did he know what he was REALLY in for!

 Of course, many of the kids did try to get into the holes, but hey, that's part of the fun. The kids had a blast!

Once all the boxes were painted, we put them into the block center for the kids to play with. I did tape some of the boxes shut, but left some open as well. This station was filled with children for the entire week. Many of the boxes had to be "retired" throughout the week, but somehow we managed to replenish our stock with other boxes we found lying around. The kids have asked to keep the boxes going for another week...perhaps we should add some extra fun and make a "whole body pendulum" like the one I saw on Teacher Tom's blog (check it out...it is quite a sight!)! Nice work, Tom!

Did you know? Painting boxes allows children to develop fine, gross and stabilizing muscles. Painting on vertical, flat, and horizontal surfaces forces the children to stand upright, bend down, reach, and change motions as they paint!