Blog - Fairy Dust Teaching

How PLAY Develops a Child’s Physical, Emotional and Mental Growth

Recently, I was walking by a playground of children playing in Paris, France. The sounds of the play could have been happening in China, Holland, or Tulsa, Oklahoma. Because the fact is, all children are wired for play. It’s one of the universal drives inherent in...

Let's Say Goodbye 2020 and Create 2021!

Phew! It's finally time to say goodbye to 2020. It brought so many curve balls. It was exhausting and yet, there were gifts as well. It was amazing to see the incredible passion and inspiration from early childhood educators worldwide as they had to pivot their...

How To Social Distance Without Giving Up WONDER

Social distancing is just wrong in early childhood. You know it. I know it. But what if you are mandated to do it? Recently, I was on a Zoom call, and an educator told us about her colleagues who had made taped squares in their rooms. In those squares they put a chair...

A Wonder-Filled School in the Philippines

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...

Creating a Literacy Rich Environment

You are currently reading our archived blog. While these older posts may not reflect our current vision and direction, we encourage you to visit our new website at wunderled.com to explore our latest, updated content. There, you'll find a wealth of valuable articles,...

Loose Parts Play in Preschool

Let's talk loose parts! When I was in the classroom, loose parts were one of my favorite elements of the Reggio Inspired approach to implement! My hope is after reading this post, you will need no explanation as to why that was. If you want to take your understanding...

Toddler Tales ~ A Dinosaur Provocation

My little one is really into dinosaurs. I attribute this to his older brother's obsession spilling over onto him, nonetheless, we play with dinosaurs A LOT in my house. One day I decided to put a little dinosaur provocation on the light table and see what he would do...

Simplifying Documentation

One of the most important elements of Reggio-Inspired teaching is documentation. From experience, I know this can be one of the most intimidating pieces to implement. I want to share one example of a documentation panel I created along with my students in a first...

A Closer Look Round Up

I have read a lot of blog posts lately that have made me feel the need to take a closer look at the various approaches to learning. The post that really sparked this is from How We Montessori and is featured first. The following posts are ones that I feel really break...

What is a provocation?

Firstie Friday ~ Sight Word Tic Tac Toe

It is so strange to me that I have a first grader. When I taught first grade, my students seemed so big! Now that I have a first grader of my own, I can hardly believe how small they really were. My kiddo struggles with sight words so I have searched high and low for...

Toddler Tales: Outdoor Clay Play

Now that I'm not in the classroom, I get to spend a lot of time doing fun activities with my kiddos. I have a 20 month old and a 6 year old who still love doing fun activities with me so I try to take advantage of it every chance we get. I thought it would be fun to...

Birthday Rocks

Celebrating birthdays with classroom traditions is an important component in setting up my class community. Each child’s birthday is celebrated exactly the same — and it is deeply meaningful. I am amazed at the comfort the children take in the sameness of the...

Mother's Day Masterpiece!

When searching for Mother's Day gift ideas this year, I came across two ideas that I really liked and decided to combine them. This created a 3 step art project that yielded a masterpiece of a gift. Step One: The painting I decided to try a new technique for the...

Loose Parts: Construction (LP Master Checklist PDF)

This week I was reviewing The Art of Loose Parts Master Workshop and had to share some of the amazing loose parts. Most of these can be had for a very economical price or free! The best loose parts or repurposed materials. Construction sites and companies,...

Construction Provocations – Rosa Parks ECEC

Every time I visit Rosa Parks ECEC, I am taken aback by their creativity and dedication. Their rooms are beautifully adorned with child-made chandeliers, inspirational documentation, earthy tones, and it is clean, very clean! It inspires me to come home and declutter...

DIY Blocks! So Easy!

When I made the move up in grades from PreK to First grade, I was a little taken aback that blocks would not be an item that was provided by the district I worked for at the time. I cannot use the word shocked as that would be exaggerating, but I was definitely...

5 Year Blogiversary! Tossing Glitter and Give-Aways!

I am speechless! I can’t believe it has been five years since I started Fairy Dust Teaching! I had no idea how much it would grow. I still remember asking my daughter - “Do you think I will reach 100 followers?” Today Fairy Dust Teaching is heading towards 20,000...

What Every Teacher Needs to Know About Misbehavior

Did you know there is DNA of misbehavior? In my teaching practice, I have found the only real way to implement effective strategies with children with difficult behavior is to understand the deeper levels of their misbehavior. Sounds complicated. But actually,...

Light & Shadow Provocations – Rosa Parks ECEC

Last week, I mentioned that I would be sharing a few of the light and shadow provocations I saw at Rosa Parks ECEC. These provocations were magical and inviting. They also added ambiance to the rooms. As beautiful as the pictures are, they can only attempt to capture...

BAM! – A Simple Sight Word Game

It seems as though I woke up one morning and I was suddenly a mom of a Kindergartener! What? How did this happen? Where is the time going? One minute he's a playful PreK student coming home with dirt in his hair and paint on his hands. The next he's coming home with...

Nature Inspired Provocations – Rosa Parks ECEC

Recently, I - along with the other members of ORIN (Oklahoma Reggio-Inspired Network) - had the pleasure of touring Rosa Parks Early Childhood Education Center. This is a Reggio-Inspired preschool in the Union Public School district. This school is...

How to Set-Up A Simple Outdoor Math Center

Creating simple centers outdoors is not only easy but economical. To demonstrate this - I want to share a simple center. This center could be a solo activity or group collaboration. OBJECTIVE: Sorting, Classifying, & Pattering. Sorting and classifying objects...

5 Reasons You Should Take Your Class Outside

If you should ask me - What do you remember about your childhood? - I would answer: playing outdoors. I remember, like yesterday, creating a little hide-out under a group of tall bushes. I would spend hours with my friends gathering twigs and rocks to make those...

How to Create Highly Effective Transitions

Transitions can be one of the most challenging parts of the teaching day. One of my best tips is to shift how you look at transitions. Clearly, transitions are the changing times between main activities and group times. It is often transport time and preparation...

St. Louis Teachers' Recycle Center, Inc.

The St. Louis Teachers' Recycle Center, Inc. is an incredible resource for teachers. What is it, you ask? It is a place where all things "teachery" come to wait for their classroom home. If you are like me, you are always reusing items from around your house in your...

All Around Child-Outside

I have been sharing the wonderful things I saw while visiting All Around Child in Overland Park, KS. So far we have explored the common areas, hallways, and the beautiful classrooms. Now you will get to see the masterpiece that is the outside play areas, but they are...

All Around Child-Inside the Classrooms

Recently, I posted about All Around Child, a Reggio-Inspired preschool in Overland Park, KS. I loved the school so much that there was no way I could have condensed my thoughts and pictures down to one post. We are about to explore the magic inside the classrooms and...

All Around Child-A Reggio-Inspired Preschool

I had the pleasure of taking a tour through All Around Child, a beautiful Reggio-Inspired preschool in Overland Park, KS. This school serves children 6 weeks to 6 years. I was so impressed with this school that I took way too many pictures to put into one post. This...

The Sound Tile System: It is MAGIC!

I want share a real literacy jewel. This is an easy and economical system to set up. It can be used in multiple ways. I have combined two approaches to create a highly effective small group reading activity. The system originates from a book called "Right Track...

A Peek into the 100th Day of School: Freebies

We began the day with the "collection of 100" each student brought to school. I put out a large black construction paper for each student to display their collection. I like using black as it really showcases the collection. I used to have the children glue down...

Make Your Own Nature Folk

Making simple nature fairies and people is really quite easy. Each one takes on its own personality! I love the leaf dress! This little one has lovely leaf wings! INSTRUCTIONS: Begin by gathering nature's gifts. I had my students bring in things they found in their...

GUEST POST: The Life & Times of a Beloved Doll

In a small village in the north of France (not far from the ocean), lives a little girl in a big buttercream house. She has blue eyes, pink cheeks & long blonde braids. Every day she dances & sings as she plays happily in the garden. When it is cold or wet,...