All Aboard!

As teachers, we always put thought into the activities and materials that we make available to the children. But things don't always work out just the way we expect. Some of the most wonderful things that happen in the classroom are inspired and created by the children themselves in very spontaneous fashion. The train that a group chose to build on the rug today is a fine example of the ways in which the kids' interests shape their play.

I believe that I moved one or two trains onto the rug. The kids began carrying more chairs over and voila - they created a train! As the kids settled into their seats, Josh asked "Are you going to give us tickets?" The children used small, square bristle blocks for tickets. They also discussed the destination of the train. It wasn't Boston, New York, Baltimore, or Washington, D.C. I'm not quite sure where they traveled. The arrangement of the seats was fluid, with different kids acting as the engineer. I'm not quite sure how Ilan avoided being in any of these photos, as he played a very active role in the train play. The five kids played together as a group and really enjoyed their imagined trip!