I know that mud can feel like a HUGE barrier in an outdoor classroom. So NOW is the time to think through the obstacles. (Actually well before mud season is even more ideal, but let’s take action NOW.)
Set up a time to talk with your coworkers and share information with currently enrolled families so that your muddy play area can be a YES space. Children thrive with daily outdoor time, so canceling outside play time for the entire mud season is NOT an option. Mud builds healthy immune systems, supports physical and cognitive development, and so much more.
I have compiled a FREE “Mud Play Resource” to hopefully make mud easier this year! In this resource you will find links to:
Mud Play articles to share with families
Mud Curriculum Ideas for teachers
Mud Kitchen Resources for teachers
Children’s Books about MUD!
Three steps for embracing mud play! (And then three cheers for bringing back mud pies!)
Muddy Mindset for Staff ~ even BEFORE mud season, schedule a conversation with your teaching team about their perception of mud play. Come to a consensus about your program’s ‘mud rules’ and ensure that children hear the same message from all staff. Perhaps pre-read a Mud Play article and talk about the Pros & Cons at a staff meeting. {During mud season, continue the conversation, document the children’s learning and JOY with mud. Then revisit your ‘mud rules’ after mud season. Step by step is how we make change.}
Muddy Solutions – if you have extended ‘mud seasons’ at the beginning and end of winter….consider investing in Muddy Buddy types of suits, have a place to hang them to dry, and a system for drying boots. Having functional systems for dealing with muddy gear when coming in and how to manage so the indoors space isn’t too hard to clean. {Would fundraising or grant writing make gear more accessible for your children? Think NOW about how to set yourself up for success in the future.}
Mud Chat with Families ~ even BEFORE mud season, prepare families for what to expect. Remind them of your messy clothes policy, share mud articles about why it’s valuable to play outdoors even when it’s muddy, get their support in sending in extra dry clothes, and build in an understanding of what you need for this season to be successful. We need to work in partnership with our families. If families have a bunch more laundry as a result of being in your classroom, they are going to understand the WHY.
Wonders of Worms ~ Spring is a wonderful time to get children digging in the soil and discovering our nearby nature. What a joy is it when a child discovers that first worm?! Something as simple as studying worms sparks children’s wonder and curiosity of nature. Research validates that young children thrive with ample “hands on” learning opportunities. This two hour session will focus on equipping educators with ways to help extend the children’s questions and inquiries about worms, while also aligning to early learning standards!
In this two hour session we will co-create an a *rough draft* of an early childhood “Worm Unit” as a digital download. All participants will have access to print the “Worm Unit” and use with the children in your classroom!
You will hear how experienced nature based educators have moved away from thematic units and into authentic and emergent teaching practices utilizing integrated curriculum design.
Details ~ This two hour workshop is FREE! Date / Time: March 27, 2023 – 6-8pm EST
NOTE: You will NOT get an immediate automatic confirmation (because I am just learning Google Forms) but I will send out Zoom links every few days so it will land in your inbox to the email you put on this form!
A Zoom link will be sent to you a few days ahead of the training and in the morning of the event, so be sure to check the email you listed on the google form.
This session will be recorded and will be published on the April’s Teaching Tree website and YouTube channel.
This session will include an interactive 20-25 minute break out room activity so please plan on having your camera and mic working for that portion of the session.
Participants are encourage to bring ideas with them about how to teach about worms. You will self select the breakout room to engage in and each will focus on a different learning domain: literacy / math / gross motor / science / social emotional / and “Worm Phobic”
Are you “Worm Phobic”? Does “Woes of Worms” sound like a better title than “Wonders of Worms”? Maybe you are sort of curious and also pretty sure you’ve never touched a worm in your life. I invite you to join us, and dig in to think about how to shift your mindset about worms. One of the breakout rooms will be titled “Worm Phobic” and April will spend time with this group thinking about ways to help support your children outdoors while not really identifying as a nature loving teacher! All are welcome!
For all my fellow Vermonters ~ I am a Master Trainer on the Northern Lights / BFIS system and I have submitted this training to count for BFIS PD hours. If you are Vermont ECE and input your BFIS number, you will be able to earn 2 hours of Professional Development that I will submit directly to Northern Lights.
Oh the joy of printmaking with children! Here is a lovely wintery scene we made recently in my preschool classroom!
Printmaking is one of my favorite process art invitations. I love gathering a variety of interesting materials to offer to my students to have them explore the process of printmaking. What I love is that ALL my students can find joy in the process and often express how much fun they have when making prints.
A new favorite tool that I found on Discount School Supply are these “Colorations Fingers and Hands Stampers” (set of 12)
I reached out to some other process loving educators to brainstorm a list of materials to explore. And because nothing is quite as satisfying as making a handy ABC order list to share with my GROWN UP students in my workshops and courses…I did just that this week!
{Drumroll please} Here is your very own access to the “ABCs of Printmaking Materials”. Hit reply and tell me what I missed…what is a material you love to use in printmaking that I left off the list! I’d love to hear about your process for doing printmaking with children! Or do you dabble in the FUN of printmaking yourself?!
ABC List of Printmaking Materials
Alphabet magnets
Balloons – inflate and dip in paint to make interesting paint circles, push different amounts to vary the size of the circles (make a snowman?)
Bottle caps & milk jug lids
Brayer roller – (ink roller) the hard rubber kind, if buying new get the 4in and 2.2 in – these are great for ink for older kids/adults, or experiment with liquid watercolors!
Bubble wrap (makes great prints that look like snowballs falling from the sky)
Burlap pieces ~ different weaves and textures; after the print making, perhaps chop up the painted burlap as a collage material?
Cardboard cut into geometric shapes
Cardboard tube – thick ones from Cricut vinyl rolls are really durable
Clothespins with pieces of sponge (geometric shapes); extra clothespins as some kids like to attach things so their fingers stay paint free
Cookie cutters
Corrugated cardboard edges
Cotton balls;
Cotton rounds in 3 different sizes
“Colorations Fingers and Hands Stampers” (set of 12) – see last pic in blog post, these are from Discount School Supply
Dice
Egg cartons – cut up into different shapes
Fruit basket / berry baskets from the market – cut apart to make a snowflake shape
G
Hair combs – different widths and tooth sizes
Hair rollers – different textures
I
Juice lids – like frozen OJ lids that are metal
Kitchen tools – potato masher, small sieve, scrapers, spatulas
Lace scraps
Legos or Duplos
Liners from candy boxes – different textures. Create a negative space print. (great excuse to buy and eat candy, too!)
Mason jar rings
Mesh bags that onions & oranges come in ~ snakeskin or mermaid effect
Natural loose parts – from your stash: seashells,
Organic plant material from your aread – go for a winter walk and gather: leaves, sticks, lichen, bark, pine leaf clusters, pinecones
Packing peanuts
Plastic woodland animals (or dinos) – make tracks in the snow!
Pencil – use eraser end
Q-tips
Ribbon spools – empty circles that thin or thick ribbon comes on are great for printing larger circles as little hands can hold on to them!
Shoes – children’s shoes can make great prints, like walking in the snow or mud using paint
Soup cans with label off & ends cut off with a tool that makes them not sharp
Animal Tracks- after a fresh snowfall, it’s so much fun to find and follow a set of animal tracks in your backyard (even cat tracks are fun to find and follow). See how far you can follow the animal tracks and try to figure out who left those tracks.Older children might enjoy drawing the tracks they find into a journal and identifying them. If you carry a digital device you could also use an app like “SEEK” to help you identify the tracks in the moment.
Fiction Book to get your tracking started – Read the book “Tracks in the Snow” by Wong Herbert Yee about a little girl who sees tracks out of her window. A refrain in the book is wonderful to share when you go outside on your tracking adventure…. “Tracks in the snow. Tracks in the snow. Who made the tracks? Where do they go?”
Snowshoe Stomping Paths- who made this heart? As a big kid, I love to put on my own snowshoes and stomp out special messages or create paths for my preschoolers. I think it’s important to show children how much we ourselves enjoy playing outdoors all year round!
Mini World Animal Play – adding cotton batting to the indoor science area, providing small play animals, and books is a great way to extend their learning.
Photograph Tracks & Research – Take a photograph on tracks on your hike, then print out the pictures, and look in a tracking book to find a match. One of my favorite books to have on hand in my classroom is called Tracks, Scats, and Signs by L. Dendy. Helping children to learn how to use books as a tool is wonderful life skill and children love to feel ‘grown up’.
Follow the Footprints activity: Make animal footprints that are to scale of the actual size of the animal. (I am using Deer & Moose this year.) Before the students arrive, put the footprints out in the outdoor space. Then have the children track the prints down and follow the animal.
Flip Flop Tracks – there are lots of pins on Pinterest showing how people transform flip flops into various animal tracks. It would be fun to make these so they could be tied onto a pair of boots, then kids could stomp out their own versions of animal tracks.
Animal Signs in Winter – Look for other signs of animal activity – nibbled twigs, chewed acorn shells, pinecones that have been shredded, scat, or scratches in bark – as we go on our winter walks we look for signs that animals have been there. There is a great one page handout in the Cultivating Joy and Wonder curriculum (on page 228) to use as a reference.
Look for the ends of twigs that have been gnawed, nibbled, or snapped off
Look for bark that’s been gnawed or stripped off, or the the remains of nibbled nuts
Look for poop! Animal poop (scat) can help us identify the naimale and what it’s been eating
Look for animal homes (squirrel leaf nests, holes in trees, dead logs)
Winter Track Walk Data Collection: Taking a winter walk in the forest looking for animal tracks can be quite the adventure for young children. Explain that in addition to tracks people also look for tree scarring and scat (animal droppings). Look for real animal tracks and other signs that animals have been there. Help the children learn how to approach the tracks slowly without disturbing the tracks so all their friends can see before we make our own tracks over top of them. Over time continue to take photographs of the tracks so that you can print and make a classbook of your discoveries. Who are the frequent animal visitors in your area? Make tally marks or some other data collection so you can see who are the most frequent visitors.
Animal Track Pattern Cards – give each child their own ‘Animal Track Pattern Cards’ to wear as a necklace. Help children learn the four categories of animal movement (straight walker, hopper, waddler, bounder) and test it out with your own body. I like to start with teaching about the “hoppers” and pretend we are snowshoe hares. When children feel this movement in their body it is easier to understand how different animals move. This makes for a great gross motor game to play! You can get a free printable “Track Patterns” from the Shelburne Farms Cultivating Joy and Wonder book on page 221 – https://shelburnefarms.org/our-work/resources/cultivatingjoyandwonder
Looking for a few more curriculum ideas? Check out these three elated lessons from the Cultivating Joy and Wonder book from Shelburne Farms:
“Active in Winter! Animals on the Move” p.102-103 (115-116)
Small Scale Track Making : Bring a few plastic toy animals outdoors. Show the kids how they can make the animals walk through the snow leaving behind mini tracks. Tracks can also be made with toy vehicles. Play a version of hide and seek where children make tracks with toys and another child goes to look for where they end & find the toy. Tracking Basket: in the outdoor classroom, display an animal track identification poster on the fence or wall. Keep a small tracking manual or plastic tracking cards available for the kids to explore. Animal Tracks matching cards could be laminated and kept on a ring. One set that is very preschool age appropriate (though the tracks are not to scaled) is at PreKinders. This link takes you to a *FREE* printable animal track book with predictable text “This is a raccoon track.” with color pictures and clip art of the track. There is also a set of animal photos and track cards that can be printed out and made into a matching game. https://www.prekinders.com/animal-tracks-book/
Children’s Booklist for Animal Tracks:
Arnosky, Jim. Wild Tracks! (This is a wonderful book with amazing fold out pages of life sized tracks) Arnosky, Jim. I See Animals Hiding. Benjamin, Cynthia and Jacqueline Rogers. Footprints in the Snow. (This is an easy reader book that is often found as a $1 book through Scholastic Book Club.)
Dendy, L. Tracks, Scats, and Signs. (Favorite reference book to keep in my backpack to use to identify animal tracks and scat.) Dodd, Anne Wescott. Footprints and Shadows. Dorros, Arthur. Animal Tracks. George, Lindsay Barret. In the Snow: Who’s Been Here? George, Lindsay Barret. In the Woods: Who’s Been Here? Hulbert, Laura. Who Has These Feet?
Hodgkins, F. Who’s Been Here? A Tale in Tracks. (includes tracks from: cat, turkey, moose, skunk) Jones, Jennifer. Who Lives in the Snow? Judge, Lita. Red Sled
Levine, Lynn and Martha Mitchell.Mammal Tracks and Scat: Life-Size Tracking Guide (Another great reference book with actual size tracks that make it easier for children to identify.)
Miller, Dorcas. Track Finder: A Guide to Mammal Tracks of Eastern North America. Selsam, Millicent E. Big Tracks, Little Tracks: Following Animal Prints Sams, Laura.Stranger in the Woods – Photographic Fantasy. Lawlor, Elizabeth P. Discover Nature in Winter (Discover Nature Series) Stall, Chris and Steve Whitney. New England Animal Tracks. Wilson, Karma & Jack E. Davis. Moose Tracks!
Yee, Wong Herbert. Tracks in the Snow.(A great story to introduce young children to tracking. A girl follows tracks around her home and discovers that they are her own tracks from the previous day.)
We know that work we do in education is essential and has a tremendous impact on our communities and the families that we serve. We also know that being a caring, responsive, nurturing care provider can take a toll on our own wellness and health. The long hours and attentive care leaves us vulnerable to burnout during a normal year, but we can all agree that the last two years have been anything but normal.
Self care is of critical importance now more than ever in order to maintain our own personal health, to minimize illness, to continue to find joy in our work, and to keep our passion for working with children and families alive.
A powerful image and analogy that I use when teaching fellow educators about self care is an old camping lantern. We can only burn as bright as the fuel that we put into our own lantern and we each need different types and quantities of fuel. The foods that we eat, the water we drink, the time set aside to be with friends, the uninterrupted hours of sleep, the positive words we read, the mid-day pause to notice the joy of the children in our care ~ all of these serve as fuel for our inner lanterns.
The mobile nature of a camping lantern is that you get to shine wherever you go. Your impact on the world is greater when you shine your light on the issues that matter most to you. Wherever life takes me, and your lantern, you have the opportunity to spark hope, joy, and passion in the lives of those around you. Being in community with other like-minded individuals magnifies the impact of our lanterns. We can shine our light to help illuminate the path of others. When we figuratively or literally gather together our own lights are magnified and illuminate even more.
We do not want to be burning our candle at both ends. We can not completely deplete our fuel reserves and still do the important work that we do. Instead we need to set our boundaries, continue to refuel, and prioritize that our flame is never too depleted.
Right now in the education world (and many other professions) we are at a tipping point. We have a staffing crisis, we have a workforce that needs support for the work that we do, and we need to develop a stronger system that helps each of us shine in our own way as we support children. It isn’t that we are ‘burned out’ and if only we did yoga more frequently all our problems would be solved. Rather we need to take time to care deeply for ourselves AND to do the advocacy work to build the systems that truly will support us as professionals and will support families.
Other analogies of self care such as putting on your oxygen mask makes it seem like refueling is limited. Instead, the image of a lantern and knowing that we each need different kinds of fuel is more robust in view. We can learn how to refuel ourselves and at the same time help empower others to learn how they too can refuel. When we do this important work in community then we can illuminate the path forward.
Reflection questions ~ take time this week to think about your own lantern and the reserves of fuel that you have.
Are you running on empty?
Is your light burning low and you need to refuel?
What actions will help your refuel?
What parts of your day feel draining?
Who do you spend time with that lights you up?
Who depletes your energy? And can you shift how much time you spend with that person?
Are your volunteer opportunities fueling or depleting you? Can you shift how much time you spend volunteering?
What part of your home helps you recharge? Could you make changes to improve that space (declutter, rearrange furniture, add coziness..)
Journal about specific ways that you can carve out time in order to care for yourself so you can shine bright.
I was reminded of this project when this photo of my daughter popped up in FB Memories. Somehow six years have passed since this photo was taken but it reminded me of how much enjoyment she got out of having giant “Story Map” to play with. During my daughters preschool years we made several different versions of these and she loved decorating the box, making map features, adding characters and details from a favorite story. She spent so much time creating and playing with these “Story Maps” that I began to use them in my preschool classroom as well.
During this time of year when we see ads and feel pressure to buy more and more things for our kids, lets remember how much fun the box itself can be. It’s an important reminder this time of year when the over-commericialized Christmas Machine begins to rev that we can offer simple props for truly engaging play and creativity.
Directions: Take a giant cardboard box laid flat to inspire children to make simple sketches, models, or pictorial maps to locate objects (which is also perfect for observations for TSG21a).
Connect it to a book that you are reading but have the *children* be the ones in charge of the design. As they want to add elements from a story explore colors and textures. If you keep it 2D at first with just drawing with markers and crayons (or paint) it’s really easy to fold up and store, but children will have all sorts of great ideas and likely want to create 3D objects.
As they want to add characters or buildings or cars or bridges or whatever, bring out loose parts and collage materials to let them create…and resist the urge to control the process to make it look awesome. Children who make their own story map without any pressure of making it Pinterest worthy will engage in such a deeper level than an adult controlled story map.
{Possible learning objectives: TSG 32. Demonstrates simple geographic knowledge / 33. Explores the visual arts / 21A. Understands spatial relationships / 18C. Retells stories & comprehends and responds to booksand other texts}
Materials:
Giant cardboard box, markers, art supplies
Group Management:
Years that I have done this with a full classroom of children, I have offered each child to create their own building with a shoe box. We discussed how the story map was for all of us and hat we didn’t want to draw over other children’s ideas which led to a great conversation about respecting each others artwork. Through group conversations we decided how to create our Story Map which with this group of children was all about “Frozen” and creating Elsa Castles!
Sponsor: Early Childhood Professional Network – Hartford, Vermont
Workshop Description:
We will dive into learning about play-based learning through Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math (STEAM) which are all important skills to foster in early childhood. STEAM education truly sparks wonder and creativity in children and taps into their desire to test out new ideas. The focus of this training is to develop project-based activity kits that early childhood educators can assemble ahead of time so they can ‘grab and go’. Participants will work in small groups and design a list of materials for their topic, list out potential play-based activities & investigations that children may engage in, create a list of loose parts to gather, and create a documentation sheet that is connected to the Vermont Early Learning Standards (VELS) and Teaching Strategies Gold (TSG). Our focus will be to create low cost yet highly engaging learning kits that take some of the stress out of preparing STEAM learning for your children.
Learning Objectives:
Define play-based learning and the role of the adult in preparing the environment and supporting the children’s ongoing exploration
Practice developing project-based activity kits with low cost materials including loose parts
Create a list of learning materials for a specific STEAM topic and list out potential play-based activities that children may engage in
Develop a documentation sheet that is connected to the Vermont Early Learning Standards (VELS) and Teaching Strategies Gold (TSG)
Presenter Bio: April Zajko, M.Ed. is a licensed early childhood educator (ECE) and has taught ECE courses for the Community College of Vermont since 2016. April teaches preschool in a public school where she integrate S.T.E.A.M. and nature-based approach to curriculum. April has also lead professional development for ECE staff throughout the state of Vermont for more than ten years and has worked with a wide cross-section of educators to find ways to help make high quality learning accessible in their ECE programs. April’s primary goal is for ALL students to meet with success and to offer professional trainings that are engaging, relevant, and inspiring
To register – go to this link and click on the register button on the left hand side
Thanks for all those who attended “April’s Teaching Tree” trainings in May 2020! All of our trainings were held via Zoom which worked better than anticipated.
Nearly 200 Vermont based early childhood educators attended trainings this month led by April Zajko! The feedback has been amazing and I appreciate the sense of community and mutual respect that we have in our early childhood field here in Vermont.
Topics in May 2020 included:
Growing Outdoor Classrooms(6 hours) ~ introduction and practical training in how to naturalize your outdoor space
POWER: Path of Wellness, Environment, and Relationships (6 hours) ~ a personal empowerment, self-care, and community care model training offered 1 hour a week for six weeks
Natural Loose Parts (2 hours) ~ explore open ended materials that foster deep engaged play
Visioning Our Future with April & Dawn Irwin (6 hours) ~ a leadership and advocacy course offered 1 hour a week for six weeks
Finding Your Way: Ethical Decision Making (6 hours – offered as 2+2+2 model) ~ explore the NAEYC Code of Conduct and practice with real world and relevant scenarios
Sponsors in May 2020 included:
Building Bright Futures Caledonia, Essex, & Orleans
Let’s Grow Kids – “Make Way for Kids Grant” & Stephanie Carvey in Rutland, VT
Growing with Wonder in Essex, VT & Dawn Irwin
Northern Lights at Community College of Vermont
I hope to offer these same trainings again in June & July 2020! I am also designing “Nature Inspired Teacher” as a 6 hour ONLINE training. Another new training in June will be a 2 hour “Sensory Gardens”. If your network, organization, or center would like to sponsor a training send me an email! aprilzajko@gmail.com
Please follow me at April’s Teaching Tree either on Facebook or Instagram for updates on upcoming trainings & for free ideas on nature-inspired early childhood topics!
June 2020 trainings: (I will update this as more sessions open)
My “Sensory Garden” training will be funded by Northern Lights at CCV. The first three sessions are full, so they will open another training on June 24 6-8pm. Registration is not yet open but check back next week on the Northern Lights calendar.
Visioning Our Future with April & Dawn Irwin (6 hours) ~ a leadership and advocacy course offered 1 hour a week for six weeks (FULL)
Thanks again for your ongoing support! Offering high quality professional development for early childhood educators is my teaching passion! I am honored that so many attended my trainings and I hope that they inspire your work with children!
![C:\Users\Stan Zajko\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet Files\Low\Content.IE5\7B72F1W0\MC900052772[1].WMF](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/tQIfnUps2pro9gDWXXtF-veZfHKdzR6U7rjSSMhJeDoDZTN2hlxQSda-edO6hOQsPhinWJIU5o2Hx9VjI4MHF5YskOtu-1jzbeNckgajhxdfP0FFZxGlmjw8xdtpshmRJONDTEOn)
Directions: Take a giant cardboard box laid flat to inspire children to make simple sketches, models, or pictorial maps to locate objects (which is also perfect for observations for TSG21a). 
April's Teaching Tree 