Toys help children learn by challenging them to figure out how things work, testing new thoughts and ideas, using their imaginations, and developing problem-solving skills. To ensure an environment conducive to learning, all the equipment and materials at First Circle must:
Be plentiful in quantity and variety to engage all children and encourage both active physical and quiet play activities
Be visible, readily accessible to children, and arranged for independent access
Promote imagination and creativity (for example blocks, sand, water, play dough, manipulatives, and art materials)
Content
Pay attention to the materials and activities in each center. Learning centers need to be meaningful, engaging, and interesting to children. Materials in the classroom should be:
Plentiful enough for several children to use at one time. Materials should be age-appropriate, print-rich, colorful, and durable.
Open-ended — usable in multiple ways, such as blocks, art materials, and fabric pieces.
Kept at eye-level in an orderly way to use space productively and teach children to care for their space and possessions.
Relevant to children’s needs, interests, and lives (for example, within the dramatic play area, culturally appropriate materials should be available; the pictures on puzzles and in the classroom library should reflect the diversity within your classroom, etc.) There should also be culturally meaningful activities and materials with labels in different languages around the classroom.
Based on activities that children enjoy or express an interest in. If children tend to stay in one or two centers, it may mean that the other centers are not engaging or interesting them.
Varied in each center. Related books can be put in every center (for example, books on animals can be placed in the reading center; magazines can be placed in the dramatic play area designed as a veterinarian’s office; a book about the post office can be placed in the writing center). Writing utensils and paper also can be in multiple centers (for example, in the dramatic play area, the writing center, or near the computers). Be creative.
Changed on a regular basis. The post office set up in the dramatic play area might be interesting and engaging at the beginning of the year but will be old and boring if it is still there in the spring. Listen to what children are talking about. Create centers that build on their interests. Rotate materials within a center. Let children help you choose the materials.