ART

The Art Center is a place filled with materials that children can enjoy on a purely sensory level.  Children create and represent their ideas and feelings in a visual form.  Creative art is another language children use to express what they know and what they feel.  Social Development:  Art is a vehicle for children to express their feelings and originality/individuality.  Physical Development:  As they tear paper or use scissors, children refine small muscle movements and develop fine motor control.  Cognitive Development:  As they translate their ideas/feelings into art, they use thinking skills to plan, organize, select media, and represent their impressions.  Cause and effect along with trial and error is learned.  Language Development:  Vocabulary development is enhanced as children often talk about what they are doing and respond to questions about their creations.

 

 BLOCKS

Blocks naturally appeal to young children because they feel good, are symmetrical, and invite open-ended explorations.  Social/Emotional Development: Children are able to negotiate for materials they want to use, learn to care for materials, learn safety, exchange ideas, and learn to respect different viewpoints of others.  Physical Development:  Small muscles develop while children carry and place blocks together, and their large muscles develop as hollow blocks are used.  Hand-eye coordination is enhanced as blocks are carefully balanced and placed.  Cognitive Development:  During building, children develop mental pictures of what they represent.  Block play promotes abstract thinking and concrete understanding of concepts essential to logical thinking.  Concepts such as sizes, shapes, numbers, order, area, length, patters and weight are enhanced.  Language Development:  Vocabulary development is enhanced as children often talk about what they are doing and respond to questions about their creations.

 

DRAMATIC PLAY

Dramatic play is central to children’s healthy development and learning during the preschool years.  In this center, children are able to break through the restrictions of reality, deepen their understanding of the world, and develop skills that will serve them throughout their lives.  Social/Emotional Development: Children have the chance to negotiate roles, agree on a topic, and cooperate in dramatic play.  Research shows that children who engage in dramatic play tend to demonstrate more empathy toward others, cooperate better with peers, control impulses better, and are less aggressive than children who do not.  Physical Development:  Small muscle skills develop as children snap and button dress-up clothes.  Hand-eye coordination and visual discrimination are also enhanced.  Cognitive Development:  Past experiences and imaginary situations are portrayed, enhancing abstract thinking.  Children also explore math concepts and learn to share ideas and solve problems.  Language Development:  Children choose the language that fits the role they have selected as they ask and answer questions in this center.

 

 MANIPULITVES

Often called the toys and games center, Manipulatives include puzzles, collectibles, matching games, and other games that children can play on the floor or on a table.  Social/Emotional Development:  Children learn to cooperate, sharing, taking turns, and develop confidence.  Physical Development:  Hand-eye coordination is enhanced as well as small muscle skills.  Cognitive Development:  Children experiment with construction and invention and use creative problem-solving skills.  They also expand their math skills such as counting, sequencing, matching, patterning, and classification.  Language Development:  Children develop reading skills such as left-to-right progression, visual discrimination, and matching similar objects.  They are able to explore letters, then arrange and rearrange them to form words.

 

 

READING/LIBRARY

The Reading/Library center is a place to get away from more active interest areas and relax.  This is where children can develop the motivation and skills necessary to read and write.  Social/Emotional Development:  Children learn about characters who are like them and who are different.  They develop empathy for characters they read about and enhance social skills when they share books together or re-enact a story.  Physical Development:  small muscles in hands are developed along with eye muscles as they follow pictures and words.  Cognitive Development:  Reading helps children gain a better understanding of the world around them.  They are able to understand symbols, cause and effect, sequencing, and make predictions.  They are also able to enhance counting, making connections, number recognition, colors, and shapes.  Language Development:  All aspects of literacy (reading, writing, listening, and speaking) are strengthened in this center.  Other areas that are enhanced include comprehension, phonological awareness, left-to-right progression, and top-to-bottom progression.

 

SCIENCE/DISCOVERY 

Children can explore and discover the world around them in the Science and Discovery center.  It is a place to spark curiosity and wonder through the senses of touch, feel, taste, smell, and sight.  Social/Emotional Development:  Children are able to work together and cooperate safely and responsibly.  They are also able to take care of living things such as classroom pets or plants.  Physical Development:  Fine and gross motor skills are developed in this center along with dexterity and hand-eye coordination.  Cognitive Development:  Curiosity is sparked and children are able to make predictions.  In the Science center, children are able to organize their thoughts by classifying, comparing, measuring, counting, and graphing objects.

 

SAND AND WATER

Playing in sand and water arouses sensory experiences that appeal to all young children.  Sand and water play is available in all classrooms at Ruckus House Learning Centers.  Social Development:  Children are enabled to work together in this center, and they are often able to express their thoughts and feelings.  Sand and water play can calm a child who is agitated or upset.  Physical Development:  Small muscles are strengthened, fine and gross motor skills are built, and hand-eye coordination is enhanced.  Cognitive Development:  Children are able to explore cause and effect and volume and capacity.  They are also able to engage in careful observation, classification, comparison, measurement, and problem-solving activities.  Language Development:  In this center, children expand their vocabulary as they often ask and answer questions.

 

MUSIC AND MOVEMENT

 

Children are automatically and naturally interested in music.  It is a way for them to explore their creative energy and develop both sides of the brain.  Social/Emotional Development:  Activities in this center can help children feel part of a group and evoke different actions and feelings.  Children are able to use their bodies to express different kinds of emotions.  They are also able to develop social skills and simple and complex cooperation while playing musical games. Physical Development:  Gross motor development is enhanced as children move to music.  They can also improve large and small muscle skills as well as balance and coordination.  Cognitive Development:  Children use logic and reasoning and create patterns with the words they sing.  They learn number concepts as they clap or stomp.  Symbolic thinking is also enhanced and utilized.

 

COOKING

 

In this learning center, children learn how food is prepared and how it contributes to health and well-being.  During childhood, they form eating habits that can last a lifetime.  Social/Emotional Development:  Children show pride, work cooperatively, and develop independence through cooking.  Physical Development:  Small muscle control and hand-eye coordination are enhanced.  Cognitive Development:  Cooking inspires curiosity and thinking.  Children are able to use creativity, develop problem solving skills, and observe cause and effect.  They are also able to organize ingredients, follow a sequence of a recipe, and carry out multiple directions.  Language Development:  Cooking has its own terminology and vocabulary.  Matching pictures with written words in recipes takes place in cooking.

 

COMPUTER

 

Children use computers to investigate questions, solve problems, and explore and manipulate objects on a screen.  Social/Emotional Development:  Children demonstrate independence and self-direction, and they can work with others to solve certain problems.  Physical Development:  Fine motor skills are utilized on a keyboard and mouse along with hand-eye coordination.  Cognitive Development:  Computers bridge the gap between abstract and concrete thinking.  As in hands-on learning, children are able to explore cause and effect, create patterns, solve problems, and discover solutions.  Language Development:  In this center, children are able to gain a technical vocabulary and make connections between speech and print.