Jeff A. Johnson - Lets Play: (Un)Curriculum Early Learning Adventures

Praise for Lets Play

Let Them Play showed us how to defend play. Jeff and Denitas second book, Lets Play, shows us how to play. It is by far the best and most original book of ideas for any early childhood learning environment. I highly recommend it to anyone who works with or cares for young children in any setting, be that a child care center, a family child care home, a preschool environment, or a parent!

Tracy Hinton, family child care provider

If you wonder what play-based education looks like, this is it. This book makes you rethink your approach to education and will inspire you throughout your day, month, and year. Its a great read with the right amount of fun, and the sentence A chainsaw would be overkill alone will make you laugh out loud. More importantly, this book has made me a better teacher and has given me the research-based confidence to make play the centerpiece of the classroom. I wish someone had put this book into my hands on my first day on the job.

Peggie Bobo, lead teacher at All Saints School and partner/founder of Small Kids. Big Ideas.

Thank you to Jeff and Denita for writing another meaningful book for lovers of all things play. This one picks up where Let Them Play left off. Full of inspiring ideas, utilizing easy-to-find, yet unconventional, materials, it will surely spark your imagination. I sent my husband to Home Depot with my first shopping list before I had even finished chapter one!

Michelle Lewis-Barnes, owner of Busy Bee Preschool

Jeff A. Johnson and Denita Dinger have BIG, messy, imaginative ideas that young children will love and learn from. As a music teacher, Im especially excited to try the Packing Tape Drum and Not a Rain Stick, but all the adventures are amazing and, best of all, completely play-based. If young children could design their own (un)curriculum, it would look a lot like Lets Play.

Abigail Flesch Connors, author of 101 Rhythm Instrument Activities for Young Children

Lets Play is full of fantastic inspiration for play and sure to spur the imagination of adults and children alike! Filled with possibilities (and variations) for exciting, hands-on play activities, you can pull it out when you need some inspiration, or use it to plan ahead for a more challenging play-filled project to embark on together. Rich with ideas for exploration, this is a must-have resource for anyone looking to enjoy the excitement of playing and learning together with young children. Now, come onLets Play!

Molly Hughes, family child care provider

No matter where you are on your journey toward promoting play in early childhood, you will find invaluable ideas inside the pages of this bookfrom messy to non-messy, from simple to complex, from music to science to literacy, and more. Jeff and Denita have included a treasure trove of ideas to challenge and intrigue children and adults alike. This is a must-have for bookshelves (and, more importantly, in the hands) of parents, caregivers, and teachers of young children.

Stacey Feehan, preschool teacher, mom, and promoter of play

As a speech language pathologist working with multicultural childrenchildren with learning disabilities, in particularI know that play-based therapy engages children. It can be the best way to observe childrens sensory, motor, and cognitive abilities. Lets Play explains the rich complexity of spontaneous play and its opportunities for learning and rehabilitation.

Paola Orlando, speech language pathologist

I was scanning the table of contents, and when I got to chapter twenty, I said to myself, This is going to be an incredible book of fun. I was right! Thirty-nine chapters of bodies and brains engaged play experiences and oozing over with fun! Reflective, intentional teachers, those who like to fly by the seat of their pants, and every teaching style in between will find something wonderful to experience with children in Lets Play. The book list at the end of each chapter is a bonus!

Joyce Mahl, child care consultant

Lets Play is just the advocate child-led learning has been waiting for. The fresh, open-ended ideas are presented with wit and encouragement and are manageable enough that anyone can implement them into play time with children.

Denise Milley, special education developmental teacher

Ive been anticipating this book ever since reading Let Them Play. Ive been gradually shifting to an open-ended play-based experience for my group, so I love the ideas presented in this book. They are inexpensive, easy to gather, and mostly readily available. I also like that each idea tied into what the children were learning. There were a few ideaswormsthat would push my comfort zone, but I know theyre all activities the children will LOVE!

Shannon Grant, family child care provider

Published by Redleaf Press

10 Yorkton Court

St. Paul, MN 55117

www.redleafpress.org

2014 by Jeff A. Johnson and Denita Dinger

All rights reserved. Unless otherwise noted on a specific page, no portion of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or capturing on any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a critical article or review to be printed in a magazine or newspaper, or electronically transmitted on radio, television, or the Internet.

First edition 2014

Cover design by Jim Handrigan

Cover photograph by Heather Jones

Interior design by Hillspring Books, Inc.

Typeset in Myriad Pro

Interior photographs by Jeff A. Johnson and Denita Dinger, except photographs I.3, 22.1, 22.2, 22.3 and 22.4 by Sandra Cole; photographs 13.1 and 13.2 by Tammy Lockwood; and photographs 19.1. 19.2, 39.1, and 39.2 by Lisa Ditlefsen

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Johnson, Jeff A., 1969-

Lets play : (un)curriculum early learning adventures / Jeff A. Johnson, Denita Dinger.

pages cm

Summary: Lets Play provides a variety of budget-friendly, child-centered experiences that lead to countless learning opportunities. Each chapter outlines an open-ended play adventure with instructions, photographs, and fresh ideas for children to explore everything from worms to magnets Provided by publisher.

ISBN 978-1-60554-342-0 (e-book)

1. PlayUnited States. 2. Early childhood educationUnited States. 3. Early childhood educationCurriculaUnited States. 4. Early childhood educationActivity programsUnited States. I. Dinger, Denita. II. Title.

LB1139.35.P55J66 2014

372.21dc23

2013032806

To my familymy trusting parents, who let me use my imagination and learn in a way that gifted me with magical childhood memories; my son, who is always solving and wondering and is determined to find a better way to do almost everything; my daughter, who shines a unique light on almost every situation and has an unfailing imagination; my husband, who has been my pillar through countless journeys and believes in me, even when he knows better

Denita

To Rowan Lenorekeep playing, little Bunny

Jeff

Contents

We would both like to acknowledge everyone at Redleaf Press who made it possible for you to read this book.

Thanks also to Beth Wallace for once again using her keen editors eye to mold our ideas into a readable and useful format.