written by Lead Teacher Jacob Kerner Planting seeds of community and learning A Peanut sunflower study As long as I’ve been working with young children, I have found that play surrounding plants has held incredible appeal and potential for learning. The speed at which plants grow from seed to sprout...
written by Rachel Isaacson Last Wednesday evening, PIC staff gathered for professional training on encouraging children to make meaningful connections with nature. We were grateful for the beautiful summer night! We began in small groups on the playground where teachers taught teachers. There was a...
PIC wants to thank our friends at UC Green and their fabulous UC Green Corps greening maintenance crew who have been caring for our new Magic Circle nature playground. Twice a week these hardworking folks brave the heat to help our plants stay watered and keep them green. They spend several hours...
Last Friday PIC children and teachers spilled out onto the blacktop and into the Magic Circle Playground for a whole lot of messy fun. In celebration on International Mud Day children and staff stomped, squished, rolled, crawled, and played in the mud!
Buzzing with Books! Infants and young toddlers appreciate books through touching, listening, and looking. Though they might not understand the meaning of the book, exploring them will help them learn. Research shows that the most important thing a parent or teacher can do to help their child acquire...
June, My New Favorite Month... but here comes July! While I’ve always loved the change of seasons, this past winter has diminished my love of winter and honestly, I can now just do without it. April and May were quite beautiful to be sure, but it is June that I now deem as my favorite month at PIC...
Last Thursday, as the day of PIC's first center-wide picnic unfolded, we all kept a careful eye on the drizzly weather. But, by the time families began to gather at Smith Playground in Fairmount Park, the sun had come out to shine. Upon arriving, families and staff (several with their own families...
Great Music! Great Nature Play! On June 21, o ver 165 people came out to PIC for a community concert organized as part of the city-wide Make Music Philly festival . After a few random rain drops fell, we enjoyed a very sunny morning. From 10:00 am to 12:30 pm, there was a live lineup of performers -...
We are so excited to announce that work on our Magic Circle nature playground has been completed! (Well, except for a few finishing touches.) Over the past weekend, our contractor ThinkGreen put in a lot of hours to finish the plantings and lay down sod throughout. Unfortunately, the playground...
