IELDS Standard: 13.B.ECa
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Imagination and Fantasy in Early Childhood
This list contains a variety of resources associated with imagination and fantasy in early childhood.
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Cracks and Holes Project
Alicia Lindhorst and Beth FlickAkin PrekindergartenSouthern Region Early Childhood ProgramFranklin County, Illinois The Akin Prekindergarten provides full-day early childhood education for 17 children ages 3 to 5 years old in Franklin County, Illinois. The program is part of the Southern Region Early Childhood Program, a 5-county collaboration of 15 school districts, Head Start, and the…
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Tools People Use
Karen McFadin and Kim HackPershing Early Learning CenterDecatur, Illinois Our project on tools took place in a half-day prekindergarten classroom at Pershing Early Learning Center in Decatur, Illinois. Children attend for 2.5 hours in the morning or afternoon, 5 days a week. Thirty-three children participated in this project. The morning class included 5 children with…
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Things to Sit On
Projects are the part of the curriculum that involves children in investigating objects and events around them that are worth knowing more about. Project work is a way of uncovering a subject rather than just covering it. A project focusing on “Things to Sit On” has the potential to involve the entire class from the…
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All About Gardens
Projects are the part of the curriculum that involves children in investigating objects and events around them that are worth knowing more about. Project work is a way of uncovering a subject rather than just covering it. A project focusing on gardens has the potential to involve the entire class, the children’s families, and community…
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From Door to Door: A Project about Doors and Gates
Projects are the part of the curriculum that involves children in investigating objects and events around them that are worth knowing more about. Project work is a way of uncovering a subject rather than just covering it. Doors are so much a part of our daily lives that we tend to take them for granted.…
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Changes in the Trees around Us
Projects are the part of the curriculum that involves children in investigating objects and events around them that are worth knowing more about. Project work is a way of uncovering a subject rather than just covering it. Most young children growing up in Illinois have opportunities to observe and study the dramatic seasonal changes that…
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Investigating Wheels
A project is a part of the curriculum that involves children in investigating objects and events around them that are worth knowing more about. Project work is a way of uncovering a subject rather than just covering it. A project on wheels has the potential to involve the entire class, the children’s families, and community…
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Straw Painting
Lucille, the young girl in this video clip, is painting outdoors on a sheet of white paper on a table. Instead of using a brush to move the paint and mix the colors, she aims a drinking straw at tiny puddles of the wet paint and blows through the straw to move the paint.
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Shaving Cream
The science fair seen in this video took place on the playground of a child care center. In one experiment, the teacher squirted a layer of shaving cream on top of a bowl of water.
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Sara Measures
The teacher placed several car parts in the sensory table for the children to explore. Paper, pencils, tape measures, and screwdrivers were provided as tools that the children could choose to use in their explorations.
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Magnets and Cars
The teacher took the 3- and 4-year-olds to visit the automotive lab next door to the classroom. The next day she asked the children to predict what parts of a car would attract a magnet.
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Flubber
In this clip, young children experiment with properties of matter.
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Exploring Trees on the Playground
This video clip provides a glimpse of some of the interactions among the children and between the children and the environment that can occur when teachers involve children in outdoor education experiences.
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The Clock Repairman and His Tools
This video clip shows some of the interaction between a preschool class (ages 3–5) and a visiting clock repair specialist.
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Get Growing: Planters and Preschoolers
Here are some tips for gardening with children—from teachers who have tried it.
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Get Growing: Learning about Seeds
Preschoolers can find out many things about seeds before planting them. Here are some teacher-tested activities to help children investigate seeds.
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Get Growing: From Seeds to Sprouts
Here are some suggestions for seed-sprouting activities.
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CSI: Child Scientist Investigates!
Here are some ways you can draw on preschoolers’ natural curiosity to teach them about science and scientific methods.
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Say Yes to the Mess! Play with Rocks
Materials such as rocks can be important additions to a preschool’s outdoor play area.
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Natural Illinois: Mammals
Look carefully and you may see squirrels, rabbits, chipmunks, or field mice—or the tracks they leave behind.
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Natural Illinois: Rock On!
You don’t have to go to exotic places to find interesting rocks for preschoolers to study!