art and soul preschool: "If I had a Hammer"

An aspect of The Reggio Emilia Approach that I really love is giving children real tools and materials.

I believe strongly in the abilities of young children, and that with a little effort and patience in assisting and showing children how to really work a tool, they will gain the skills to do it on their own.

I have been wanting for some time to create a genuine construction area. This area has not come to fruition as quickly as I would like, but I felt I had put off using tools for too long. To get them started we began to use hammers and tacking nails in our pumpkin we grew this summer in the garden. I didn't have the heart to carve this pumpkin because it was so beautiful, so we had it as a decoration, but it lived a good life and now is our hammering block. We also use pliers and the end of the hammers to take the nails out. It is a great way to work on fine motor skills. I can't wait to see what is next!