December 1 2012 Pre-school Teacher Thinks Outside, Inside, and
Around the Box Vicki E. Alger Struggling with what to give the
little ones this holiday season? One Ohio pre-school teacher has
an idea: cardboard boxes. Peter Kaser decided to remove all the
toys and other educational playthings from his classroom because
he didn’t think he was getting the imaginative bang for the buck
he wanted from them. Instead of tantrums and tears, the children
got creative and by all appearances had a lot of fun, too. As
Education News reported: … the kids started exploring the
materials and working together to build a variety of creations
they dreamed up on their own. They’ve since created an igloo, a
pirate ship, a rocket ship, a hotel and houses with makeshift
kitchens. Subject matter from previous lessons even came into
play when the children fashioned a didgeridoo out of a cardboard
tube after learning about the wind instruments while studying
Australia. “I just spent so many years looking at all my
teaching materials