When Good 'Pins' Go Bad

This article is based on Pinterest. It talks about the goods and the bad involved with it.

When looking on Pinterest for activities for your class consider the following...

Time

Benefits

Challenges

Purpose

Best Practice

You live with and learn from each child in your classroom.

Early childhood educators value play more than anyone else.

Play should be authentic and natural

Ways to organize Pinterest boards

Topic - children's interest in the the future

Domain - meet learning objectives in a natural way

Organizationally - realistic ways to improve classroom

Parent share - resources on timeless topics for parents

Done - activités that you have already completed in your classroom

No no's on Pinterest

-Pinning more than you'll ever use

-Only pinning what you like to do

-Pinning cute activités that have little value to children's learning

-Putting a child's name on a pin

-Pinning something that you have never tried

Favorite Educator Pinterest Boards

-The learning child: University of Nebraska - Lincoln Extension

-Play at Home Mom

-Reggio Children Inspired

-Kid's Nature Play

Making a Mud Kitchen for Mud Day

This article talks about a new upcoming idea on how to help children learn outdoors.

- Children ages 2 years and older tend to play in the dirt making all sorts of different food creations.

-As children get older they may create a laboratory for their dirt creations.

Mud Kitchens allow children to explore real life concepts with the natural world

Children learn a variety of skills from mud kitchens

Filling

Pouring

Throwing

Mixing

Serving

Splashing

These activités put the brain into perfect state for creating mental images - the mind starts to run wild with many different activities that you could pretend play. This play provides personal value and playing in a role.

Children are endlessly interested in exploring

Curiosity, fascination, and pleasure are important to the human state

-Making concoctions brings science and art together through thinking

-Imagination and creativity happens together: cause and effect experiences

Facilitators need too...

-Make kitchen available

-Support the play by being a good assistant

-Observe

-Strive to understand

_Responding according to careful consideration

-Using correct terms when referring to equipment

Mud kitchens are taking of in the United Kingdom 

Give children the idea to build a mud kitchen but let them actually do the work to make it

Imaginary cooking is the most intellectual value of learning