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A Focus on Infant/Early Childhood Mental Health
December 2023
Learning Centers in Classrooms
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This newsletter focuses on sharing information on infant/early childhood mental health and
the importance of relationship-based approaches and supports that help infants and young children feel safe, supported, and valued by the adults around them. The newsletter, and the Infant Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation (IECMHC) program, is made possible by a partnership between the Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL) and the Pennsylvania Key.
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As the IECMH Consultation team continues to look at classroom practices, the December newsletter focuses on Center Time, Free Play, and Guided Play. According to the Extension Alliance for Better Child Care, “learning centers are a purposeful way of dividing up your classroom into different subject/learning areas. The location of each learning center, placement of any furnishings or equipment, and easily available materials give a clear message to the child about what is to take place in that area.”
Learning centers help organize a classroom into interest areas that can provide structure and help cut down on aimless wandering and running circles around the classroom. We know children thrive in environments with routine and predictability. Learning centers support a nurturing and responsive environment for all children when used to their fullest potential. This edition of the newsletter will provide information on learning centers and supporting play for all ages.
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Classroom toys and materials should be culturally relevant and anti-biased. But what does this mean? Cultural relevance means your choice of materials should reflect the backgrounds, community, knowledge, and experiences of the children in your classroom environment. An anti-biased approach means that you support and embrace the differences within each individual.
By choosing materials that validate and empower children of all racial, ethnic, and social backgrounds, you will build a bridge between children’s home and school lives that will provide a strong foundation for learning.
How does your learning environment, including learning centers, embrace all children? Learn more.
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Preschool learning centers are areas set up throughout the classroom focused on different types of play and learning. Children can explore and learn at their own pace, fostering independence and a love for learning. Play in learning centers facilitate social interaction, helping children build essential communication and cooperation skills. They are a cornerstone of effective programs, providing a well-rounded and stimulating educational experience for young learners.
Keys to Planning Successful Learning Centers in Child Care. Learning centers can be a great way for early childhood educators to help organize their child care space and help expose children to different educational experiences. Learning centers can help ease transitions between activities for children and can allow children to decide which activities they would like to participate in, giving them more control over their environment and the learning process.
Sparking Creativity with Cross Area- Play. Cross-area play is rooted in the idea that when children are given the freedom to experiment with materials in open-ended ways, their play can transform into elaborate, complex plots and offer rich developmental opportunities. Specifically, cross-area play
- helps children make unusual and unexpected connections, which can promote creativity;
- encourages development across multiple domains as children think, create, communicate, persist, problem solve, and collaborate;
- fosters confidence and helps children set and follow rules in their play with others; and
- creates more fluid, engaging classroom spaces.
Preschool Centers: Free Choice Or Rotation? Free Choice Centers are generally defined as allowing children to move from center to center whenever they choose and without limit. Running Preschool Centers on Rotation is usually managed by the teacher and children are told to go to certain centers. They then rotate to different centers based on the time span the teacher sets. It’s important to take into account your class, your learning centers and the philosophy you operate by to make the best choice for you and the children in your care.
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Practical Learning Center Resources | |
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Tips, ideas and printable materials to support the planning and implementation of classroom learning centers.
Setting Up Your Preschool Learning Centers. Plan, design and implement preschool learning centers that inspire young children.
Dramatic Play and Prop Boxes. Tips and ideas for using prop boxes in the dramatic play center of the classroom.
Center Necklaces and Bracelets. Center necklaces and bracelets assist children with understanding what activity areas are open during center time. Children wear the picture during the transition to the area of choice and then play in the depicted area. If you limit the number of children in each center, then you would only have that number of necklaces/bracelets. If a center is full or closed they can be prompted to make another center choice.
Center Area Signs. Signs assist children understand where open center areas are located by matching up the center choice picture (bracelet/necklace) with the area sign. Allowing a child to choose an area to play in gives the child the opportunity to do an activity of preference which may prevent challenging behavior.
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Videos that represent two different classroom environments. Teachers will see a variety of learning centers and hear practical approaches that support early learning. We acknowledge that there is not a one size fits all and the two videos differ in their management and approaches to learning centers. We encourage you to be open minded and reflect upon how you might adjust your own practices and learning environment.
How I Run Preschool Centers 11:54. Get a birds-eye view of how we manage centers in our busy classroom. In our teacher-led centers, we easily weave kids in and out of our small groups back into and from free choice centers.
Setting Up Learning Centers in the Toddler and Preschool Classroom 12:26. A tour through our classroom and show each center giving tips that have worked over many years of teaching.
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Program quality is about setting the stage for children’s learning. Great growth and development can and does occur in school-age programs. A high-quality program sets the environmental stage for children’s ongoing physical, social-emotional, and cognitive development.
The Importance of Play for School-Age Children. The importance of play doesn’t diminish as preschoolers become school-age children Remember that play is how children learn and offer plenty of chances for school-agers to play.
Setting the Stage for Children’s Success: The Physical and Emotional Environment in School-Age Programs. A common approach to room arrangement in dedicated space is the establishment of learning centers or activity areas. These areas include prepared environments where children can choose activities depending on their interests and there is a free flow from one area to the next. To create a sense of permanence and belonging for children, consider including both fixed areas and areas that rotate regularly throughout the program week.
School-Age Youth Programs: Learning Spaces that Work Self-Learning Module - Better Kid Care (search for Course ID 140945). In this course, learn how to make school-age learning spaces work well. Review quality space criteria. Reflect on and analyze current OST space and offerings. Gain confidence to design spaces, different from school, that are flexible and reflect the youth’s voice, spaces that appeal to a diverse range of youth, spaces that spark interest and invite engagement. Adjust environmental elements to accommodate youth with a range of sensitivities.
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Many preschool classrooms include learning centers (for example, a writing center, a science center, a water table) where children use hands-on materials to explore, play, and learn about specific topics. The beautiful thing about learning centers is that they can be recreated at home.
10 Prop Box Ideas: Mini Learning Centers at Home. Bring the spirit of learning centers into your home with prop boxes—plastic bins or cardboard shoe boxes you fill with materials and props related to one topic, such as math or writing. Please keep in mind that not all these suggestions are appropriate for all ages and may require supervision.
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IECMH Consultation helps adults strengthen their relationships with young children and build capacity to respond to children’s social-emotional needs. IECMHC can help reduce caregiver stress, as well as increase caregivers’ reflective practice skills.
IECMH Consultants are available by appointment to provide IECMHC Virtual Office Hours consultation via telephone or video conference. IECMHC Virtual Office Hours is a short-term, collaborative, problem-solving conversation to help you find next steps for: Child Social-Emotional Concerns | Child Behavioral or Developmental Concerns Emotional Well-being of Teachers and Caregivers | Partnering with Families.
Appointments are held on the first and third Fridays of the month, or other days/times by request. Get more info.
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Accessing IECMHC Services | |
Accessing SACCMHC Services | |
With the generous support of the Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL) the Pennsylvania Key IECMH Consultation team has expanded to include four mental Health consultants to support School Age Child Care (SACC) programs participating in Keystone STARS. This service will be primarily tele-consultation support. Click here to request support. | |
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Share your feedback! We'd like to hear what you think about infant early childhood mental health.
Are there resources you'd like to see? Questions you have? Tell us! Send your feedback to PAIECMH@pakeys.org.
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