Changing things up... again!

Okay children, your voices have been heard! The photo below is one of the very few times that the children actually played in the 'block room'. 

Before

The children tend to gravitate to the constructing materials, and really enjoy building and creating with the blocks and the cars, but quite often the entire room of materials gravitate towards the 'big room'. The children are most welcome to blend the materials together. The play that the children engage in when this happens is wonderful to see, and explodes into creative, open-ended, imaginative play. I love seeing the lightbulbs click, and the whole group engaging in play that was created right from their imaginations! So on that note, over the last few weeks I had been mulling over a major change in the environment. I had been observing, more and more, the children taking nearly every piece out of the block room into the big room and I wondered why. I had my theories, I thought it had something to do with the lack of natural light, and the lack of space. I asked the children in a group meeting last week, and I wasn't too far off the track. The children told me that they like playing near the windows (lack of natural light). They also told me that they didn't like it when others knocked over their towers (lack of space). SO, on Friday morning the children helped me move the block room into the big room. Since Friday, the centre has continued to transform to where it is now. I cannot wait to see the reaction of the children tomorrow! I'm interested to see how it flows and how it functions!

After- the block room is now an atelier (workshop of an artist), with a little more softened lighting. 

a little inspiration from Van Gogh and Monet, with space for the 'real artists' down below!

Before- this was our art space/ sensory/ eating area

after- Tinkering table

Block area (this was where our eating tables used to be). Lots of space to create, build, plan, and construct!

Murals hanging from the ceiling (it's double sided- well... two murals hung back to back), and some flowy material hanging from the ceiling.

Display shelf for all our creations

A table for illustrating plans/ clay table!

The environment has gone through changes over the last few months. It's important to listen to the children's voices, and to understand their needs. Because the children in this program are really into constructing and building, it is important for them to have the space to create! It is also important to give the children a change of scenery every once in a while. Our environment has undergone quite a few changes over the last few months, we are still new, so we still have bugs to work out! It's been a wonderful learning experience to learn from the children. The layout of the environment may work for the here and now because of the dynamics of the children, but come a few years down the road the dynamics of the children may change the environment again. It's all about listening to the children's needs!

Now it's time for bed... need to be ready to play!