1.8 Early Childhood

UNIT MAIN
IDEA
CHILDCARE
ENVIRONMENTS

WHERE DO CHILDREN LEARN?

HOW DOES CREATIVITY INFLUENCE LEARNING?

WHAT ARE ADVANTAGES OF CHILDCARE CENTERS?

WHAT ARE CARETAKER INFLUENCES ON CHILDREN?

Early Childhood Education Class
Wednesday 9/18/24

Agenda for Wednesday

●

Today’s Lesson

○
Lesson 1.7
Creative and Engaging
Environments

Ms. Patrick’s

Children learn new things
quickly when creativity and
curriculum are combined
appropriately. Agree or
disagree? (Don’t know what
curriculum is? Do a quick
Google search! Put the
definition in chat!)

Warm-up

LESSON 1.7
CREATIVE AND ENGAGING ENVIRONMENTS

VOCAB... BE ON THE LOOK-

OUT!

1.

CULTURAL CONTEXT – THE CULTURE OF
CHILDREN'S HOMES, FAMILIES, AND TRADITIONS

2.

CURIOSITY - INQUIRY

3.

FINE MOTOR SKILLS – HANDS ON ACTIVITIES
WITH FINE MUSCLE MOVEMENT SUCH AS USING
SCISSORS, TOOLS, OR TINY BLOCKS.

4.

PARALLEL PLAY – CHILDREN WORK ON THE
SAME ACTIVITY AT THE SAME TIME (EX. TWO
CHILDREN PLAYING WITH BLOCKS AT THE SAME
TIME BUT NOT NECESSARILY AS A PAIR.)

Main Objective

ID and plan activities to engage
children in activities that teach
them about the world AND
support curiosity & creativity.

COOL WAY TO THINK ABOUT CREATIVITY..

If given the choice to do an activity
with this picture, would you...

Paint over the picture to make a copy?

Draw it with different colors?

Write a story about it?

Or something else?

Let's watch a video about creativity!

CREATIVITY IS ESSENTIAL.
CHILDREN BENEFIT FROM USING THEIR IMAGINATION!

Artistic expression fosters emotional
growth, focus, attention, and motivation

Creativity also supports development and
brain growth to prepare for life challenges

Artistic expression fosters emotional
growth, focus, attention, and motivation

THOUGHTS?

EDIO QUESTION...

To foster creativity, the following materials can be used. Match them
with an activity.

Materials

A. Paints & Animal Drawings
B. Character Puppets
C. Modeling Clay and Play

Dough

D. Rainbow Tie-Dye
E. Colorful Markers & Crayons

Activities

_____Perform on a stage
_____Make a t-shirt
_____Make a poster about forest animals
_____Create a sculpture
_____Draw letters and sight words

a
c
e

d
b

METHODS TO CREATE ENGAGING LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS

Team building
to create a
family
atmosphere

Allow children
to discover for
themselves

Give options

Ex: parallel play

Activities and
games... keep
them moving!

MATERIALS THAT SUPPORT CURIOSITY

Centers should cover a wide range of
interests!

• Literacy – books of ALL kinds
• Math – puzzles, blocks, tiles
• Science - microscope, bugs, mediums
• Arts – drawing, glue, scissors, paints
• Writing – paper, crayons, pencils, markers, stamps,

stencils

• Drama – stage, puppets, post office, house,

kitchen

• Outdoor – run, jump, climb, play

Which was your favorite type of center as a child?

THOUGHTS?

EDIO QUESTION...

Which of the following is NOT a way to engage learners in creative
activities?

DIFFERENT LEARNING STYLES
AKA: VAK COLLECTION

MATCH THE FOLLOWING WITH THE
CORRECT STYLE!

Auditory

Visual

kinesthetic

cultural maps – mark on a map where their family is from and
then discuss foods, traditions, language, etc

cultural bags – bring family artifacts and share like show and
tell

cultural story– story time using books about different regions
to spur discussion

Have you ever participated in an activity like this?

WAYS TO HELP CHILDREN RECOGNIZE CULTURES
AND BECOME MORE DIVERGENT!

LET'S REVIEW
EDIO QUESTION...

Match the
materials with
the appropriate
learning center

LET'S REVIEW

EDIO QUESTION...

What type of learner finds diagrams, demonstrations, displays,
handouts, movies, and flip charts most effective?

LET'S REVIEW

EDIO QUESTION...

Look at the images
and select the one
that shows parallel
play.

SUMMARY
*An essential component of a child's overall development is creativity!

*Imagination leads to artistic expression.

*Materials & activities that support curiosity are very beneficial.

*Children learn in three ways:
1. Visual by seeing
2. Auditory by hearing
3. Kinesthetic by hands on

NEXT UP: LESSON 1.8
CULTURE! AS IN CULTURALLY RESPONSIVE ENVIRONMENTS

Looking
ahead