Blog - My Play Based Classroom
Hi there!
I'm Janelle - a play-based early years teacher passionate about creating learning experiences that ignite curiosity, creativity, and academic growth.
On this blog, I share practical tips on meeting curriculum benchmarks through a balance of explicit teaching and play, setting up the ideal learning environment and fostering social-emotional development.
Let’s make play-based teaching work in your your preschool, kindergarten, and first grade classrooms!
Why Play-Based Learning Isn’t Working and How to Fix It
Struggling with behaviour, transitions or chaos during play? Learn why play-based learning isn’t working and how to fix it with simple, structured strategies.
Creating a Conducive Learning Environment in the Early Years
Discover how to create a conducive learning environment that sparks curiosity, collaboration, and deep play in early years classrooms.
Planning for the First Week of Grade One
Make the first week of grade one a success! Discover practical tips, engaging activities, and flexible plans to build your classroom community, establish consistent routines, and feel confident knowing your first week of school planning is done.
Free Christmas Writing Prompts for Kids in Kindergarten
Download free Christmas writing prompts for kids in kindergarten and first grade. Encourage your students to write with these Christmas themed vocabulary cards and make story-writing fun and engaging this festive season.
9 Christmas Games for the Classroom - fun and easy
Check out these easy prep Christmas games for the classroom and celebrate the holiday season with your students. You will love these fun and easy prep Christmas games. They are perfect for younger kids in preschool, kindergarten and first grade.
Jumbled Up Sentences - An Easy Way to Help Beginning Writers
Discover how jumbled up sentences can enhance literacy instruction in kindergarten or grade one classrooms. This evidence-based activity boosts sentence structure and enriches writing skills in a fun and productive way!
Free Halloween Writing Prompts for Kindergarten
Get your students excited about writing this Halloween with my Free Halloween Writing Prompts for Kindergarten and grade one. Quick, easy prep and educational too!
Investigation Area Ideas for the Start of School
Are you looking for some simple yet highly engaging investigation areas and learning invitations to start the school year? In this blog post, you’ll discover a heap of Investigation area ideas for the start of school. These tried and tested learning invitations are my go-to setups year after year, so you’ll be sure to find some that you can use in your classroom too.
The Orientation Schema
In this blog post, you will learn all about the orientation schema and why it needs to be supported in your classroom. You’ll also discover several hands-on playful activities that will help you to support this interesting play schema.
How to Write Open Ended Math Questions
If you are wondering how to write open-ended math questions so you can improve your math instruction, this blog post is for you. Discover everything you need to know before you even start writing and then follow my 3 easy steps on how to write the best open-ended math problems.
The Connecting Schema
The connecting schema is all about how things connect and separate. If you have children in your classroom tying things together, fascinated with tape or building and knocking over towers of blocks, you have children developing their connection schema. This blog post will explain exactly what this play schema is and give you a heap of playful hands-on activities to support it.
Science Provocations – Properties of Materials
Teaching the early years chemistry strand and looking for some engaging and educational science provocations? This blog post has 5 hands-on learning invitations to help you teach about Materials and their Properties. There are also tips and ideas to help you set up your very own purposeful early childhood science learning provocations.
Easter Writing Prompts
Grab yourself some fun Easter writing prompts and a heap of Easter writing activities and ideas in this blog post. You will be able to keep your students engaged and writing all the way up until the Easter break.
Classroom Mindful Monday
Mindful Monday is a great way to start the school week. Discover how to run a classroom Mindful Monday routine with your students and build focus, resilience, and positive self-talk each week. If you are looking for a way to bring some mindfulness into your classroom, you are going to love this Mindful Monday activity.
Reggio Math Provocations
Discover what Reggio math provocations are and how to plan and set up inviting Reggio inspired math provocations in your kindergarten or preschool classroom. You will have your children engaged with hands-on learning in no time.
Environment as the Third Teacher
Are you interested in transforming your learning environment into the third teacher? Read this blog post for tips and ideas on how you can get the third teacher working for you.