One of the greatest ways that children learn is through exploring their environment. In my classroom there is a large emphasis placed on allotting free play time for the children to be able to navigate and explore the classroom at their leisure. During this time many of the children tend to flock to the dramatic play area where there is a kitchen with utensils, dolls, costumes, stuffed animals, and many more fun and interactive materials for the children to play with. In my observations I have seen that the children are able to use these materials to recreate real life experiences and in doing so they are gaining a greater sense of themselves and their environments. Through dramatic play the children learn how to appropriately interact with one another. Furthermore, they learn how to resolve real life conflicts that arise, such as learning to share with friends. All of the materials in the dramatic play area are intentional and truly help the children learn about the world that they live in.
Another way that children are able to use environmental factors to enrich their learning is on the playground. We are currently learning about the season of Fall and the different colors of leaves. When we go outside to play on the playground the children are so excited to see so many leaves on the ground. They have a blast running around collecting them; it makes all of the lessons that they learn inside of the classroom really come to life.
One last example during which I have seen how environmental factors can enrich children's learning occurred the other day when one child discovered a broken Magnet Tile. He brought the broken tile to me asking me to fix it. I noticed that it was cracked in half and the internal magnets were showing. Instead of repairing the broken tile I chose to use this as a learning moment. I brought the broken tile to our science center along with some magnifying glasses and had the children take turns investigating the tile. They were able to finally understand how exactly the toys they love to use function and they were so excited by it! This really showed me how every material that we come across in our physical environment can be used to enrich our student's education. Even items that are broken and seemingly useless can provide an excellent learning experience.
