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Early childhood educators know how important it is to choose the right materials to include in your preschool classroom. There are so many options, and often your budget won’t stretch cover everything you’d like to include. With this guide, discover ideas for both familiar and new play materials and how they not only support the cognitive, physical, and social and emotional development of children ages 3 to 5 but also meet the diverse needs of individual children. With a thoughtful selection of appropriate materials, you can enhance the quality of your classroom and create an accessible, inclusive, and equity-based environment that makes all children feel welcome.
List of contents
Introduction
Part
One: Essential Questions
Chapter 1: Who? Children
from Ages 3 to 5
Chapter 2: Why? Optimizing Learning, Development,
and Well-Being
Chapter 3: How? The Role of
Teachers
Chapter 4: What? Play
Materials for Preschoolers
Summary and Reflection
Part
Two: Cognitive Learning and Development
Chapter 5: Play Materials
That Support My Language and Literacy Skills
Chapter 6: Play Materials
That Teach Me Mathematical Concepts
Chapter 7: Play Materials
That Encourage Me to Build and Engineer
Chapter 8: Play Materials
That Inspire Scientific Inquiry and Innovation
Chapter 9: Play Materials
That Help Me Understand Nature
Summary and Reflection
Part
Three: Social and Emotional Learning and Development
Chapter
10: Play Materials That Support My Emotional Intelligence, Relationship
Building, and Cooperation Skills
Chapter
11: Play Materials That Invite My Creative Expression Through Visual Arts
Chapter 12: Play Materials
That Encourage Me to Explore and Make Music
Chapter 13: Play Materials
That Inspire Pretend Play and Dramatic Play
Summary and Reflection
Part
Four: Physical Learning and Development
Chapter
14: Play Materials That Build My Gross Motor Skills
Chapter
15: Play Materials That Enhance My Fine Motor Skills
Chapter 16: Play Materials
That Help Me Understand My Body
Chapter 17: Play Materials
That Stimulate My Senses
Summary and Reflection
Final Thoughts
Appendix A: Highlights of
Learning, Development, and Positive Well-Being
Appendix B: On the
Bookshelf
References
Resources
Index
Acknowledgments
About the Authors
About the author
Lisa Mufson Bresson, MEd, is an early childhood education consultant
with Beyond Boundaries, LLC, and coauthor of NAEYC’s bestselling book Big Questions for Young Minds: Extending
Children’s Thinking. She leads workshops and presentations at local, state,
national, and international conferences, thriving on the connections she makes
with learners—both big and little!—on a daily basis. Since 2008, she has been a
contributing author to Teaching Young
Children (TYC), NAEYC’s magazine for preschool teachers, and serves on TYC’s advisory board. She is a former program manager for Grow NJ
Kids, New Jersey’s statewide Quality Rating and Improvement System for early
childhood programs. Previously, Lisa taught in urban public preschool settings
for over a decade.
Megan King, MEd, is a preschool teacher at Passaic Public
Schools in Passaic, New Jersey. She has worked in the field of early childhood
education for over 10 years. She is active in the makerspace movement and has
presented on and coauthored several articles on incorporating hands-on “maker”
materials in early childhood classrooms. She has written articles published in TYC and is proud to serve as one of TYC’s advisory board members. She works with a diverse group of
early childhood educators on the NAEYC/PBS Ready To Learn Content Review
Advisory Board and is a past NJ Governor’s Educator of the Year Award winner at
the school level. Megan enjoys working with her preschoolers and experiencing
the world through their eyes.
Summary
Discover ideas for both familiar and new play materials and how they not only support the cognitive, physical, and social and emotional development of children ages 3 to 5 but also meet the diverse needs of individual children.
