The Kitty House Project

It was a typical afternoon in the program. The children arrived from school, enjoyed a snack, and played outside. Next, we gathered together as a community. We shared information and stories before starting our afternoon play and work session.

Children in our program choose their work, and educators collaborate with children on projects, investigations, and games. Some children work on their own. On this day, I walked around the classroom talking to many children checking how they were progressing in their chosen area of exploration.

I noticed one child working at our maker space's two large tables, an area with various large and small-recycled materials, tape, glue, hot glue, paint, and more. I walked over, said hello, and asked the child about their work. The child said they were making a "Kitty House."

I waited to see if the child wanted to share more. A little time passed. The child remained focused on their work. After a little more time, the child shared that the "Kitty House" was for a favorite stuffed cat they wanted to bring after school for play. Before Kitty could come to visit, they needed a home.

As the week progressed, the original "Kitty House" evolved into an elaborate structure. The kitty house had many rooms with intricate details. Inspired by the original work, other children started creating homes for their stuffed animals. Soon new places were being built for stuffed frogs, dogs, snakes, and tigers.

The Kitty House project offered many opportunities for the children to create together. The child who started the project collaborated with other children. The children explored new construction techniques, and the possibilities of materials expanded. The work encouraged children of all ages to come together and new friendships formed during the project.

The desire to create a home for a stuffed animal encouraged many children to try and make animal house. Children who usually avoided the maker space now wanted to learn about the materials. Children learned how to use different tools for construction. Skills the children will use in future work as they explore new interests within the program.

The "Kitty House" became a platform for cooperative play among the children. The work lasted for months after the initial work began.

What I learned from this experience may benefit your learning community.

The project started with one child and flourished within the learning community. The work started in our prepared maker space environment, where children are free to create and explore. Providing time, space, and materials for children to act on their interests is a key to extended learning.

The "Kitty House" is an excellent example of a project that requires educators to be flexible. We needed to be open and adapt to the children's interests. Within two days of the original construction, ten more children wanted to create new versions of an animal house. The number of materials and space required for the work increased. The educators needed to quickly change our environment to accommodate the children's growing interests.

The interest of one child transformed into a long-term project. Telling the story of the "Kitty House" to parents and the other learning community members is essential. Recording project work and the evolution share the story of our learning journey with the community.

As the "Kitty House Project" continued, I discovered that parents heard stories about the work. Many children asked their parents for glue guns, cardboard, and other materials to create new animal houses at home. The parents shared stories about the depth of thought the children placed into this work.

A connection between our philosophy of practice and the real-world application of our work with children came together. The stories children share in the documentation and with the family show the process of learning.

Witnessing the outcomes of child-directed learning is beneficial to all members of the learning community. Projects like the "Kitty House" help the program share an active living place of education. The stories from this work share the value play provides to children and the community.