Why PlaykerSpace?

Last year, we started researching the Maker movement as it relates to early childhood education. While there is a wealth of information about Maker in higher grades, there is a dearth of it at our level. Our administrative team visited elementary schools in the area and started discussing it on Voxer with other early childhood educators. Over the summer, we decided just to jump in with both feet, always keeping in mind what's best for our students.

We have embraced the Maker movement for a couple of very important reasons: 1) It's never too early to start giving our students opportunities to solve problems, work cooperatively, and deepen their imaginative skills; 2) our students don't have "specials" like their elementary counterparts--their classroom teacher is responsible for teaching language arts, math, science, social studies, physical education, music, and art. The only other teacher they visit is the librarian. It was important to us as a staff to promote STEAM activities throughout our campus, and the Maker movement filled the bill.

I used the term PlaykerSpace with our students and staff because I wanted to keep at the forefront of our minds that PLAY is critical for students at this age; the social and emotional growth that comes from play can't be forgotten as we incorporate more STEAM activities in our instruction both in the library and in the classroom.