In July 2019, I had the incredible honor of presenting a seminar in Manila. Mia Villavicencio, who is in my Wonder Tribe membership, was there and invited me to visit her center. It was such an honor and treat. Here is a peek into her amazing center!
To enter this center – we walked up some stairs and arrived in this open aired space. I love how Mia created this outdoor space with all of the essentials of outside play!
Water play is a must!
This is wonder-filled!! I was so impressed that Mia offered mud play in a space that is not connected to access to nature. This is amazing! Mud kitchens can happen even if you do not have access to nature.
So much goodness here. Love the mortar and pestles!
There is true beauty of mud play.
In the center of the building – the atelier situated in an open aired courtyard. A wonderful collection of loose parts for creating artful self-portraits!
The presentation of the materials is so simple and inviting. Oh the possibilities!
I love how the children are re-decorating, re-conceptualizing the plastic dollhouse. Re-purposing is a powerful model for children to partake in. And look at the sparkles on the canvas!
A shelf holding offerings of art materials and loose parts for creating. Everything has been placed so thoughtfully and intentionally in beautiful containers.
This is such an awesome idea for displaying children's work. Buying a bunch of different sized bulletin boards and attaching clothespins to hold the work! Easy and effective.
Notice the jenga blocks with the children on them! What an incredible play invitation. I also love the simple cardboard frames the children painted for the family photos to the left!
This is a spectacular play dough play invitation! Look at all the possibilities! I think one of the hallmarks of an incredible play invitation is a variety of materials and textures. I love the wood and metal bowls plus the variety of loose parts.
Another wonder invitation to play!
I just love this paint provocation with different recycled materials attached inside a large cardboard box lid. When we demonstrate the possibilities of reusing packaging as an art canvas – we open up a child's use of resources at home.
This blew me away! Look at how well utilized these folding doors are?! Brilliant!
This was such a stunning display in a hallway of the children's self-portraits.
Thank you so much Mia for sharing your space with Fairy Dust Teaching. You are an incredible testimony to the power of wonder based teaching! Your center is truly a place of wonder!
These are amazing ideas and so inspiring to teachers who give importance to childrens’ creativity. A self-image booster to children.
Right?! The view of the child is so visible!
Great ideas
So lovely for everyone. amazing use of materials and space thank you
It was so inspiring!
Great ideas that I will introduce to my toddlers classroom. Thank you.
Thank you! It’S great!
This was an amazing space, i just wish I could have made the photos larger in order to look closer at the set up!
Agreed! You can make the page bigger. On my Mac I hold the command key and plus sign and I can enlarge the page and photo.
An absolutely beautiful environment and so great to see the educators providing such rich learning experiences to the children who can not have access to a wild space. They have done a wonderful job at creating an inviting, authentic and responsive play space for children to experiment, imagine, invent and inquire. Thanks for sharing. I also love how they have taken the time to thoughtfully and intentionally display the children’s art work and self portraits with the care and respect they deserve. Every child is an artist! Great post
The honor and respect of the children is alive in this environment. Mia, the owner, has a huge commitment to honoring children and providing a rich play environment.
Such a simple approach to making the possibilities endless. Love the way each child can blossom in such a space.