The Intentional Educator

10/10/2026

10/09/2026

The fairy town develops as the children decided the town needed a tree.

They used a stick for a trunk, draped a cloth over the top for a canopy - and discovered that making a tree stand up is harder than it looks.

At a loss, they requested my help. I offered a suggestion leading the children to use rocks to assist with stability.

They discussed how to place the rocks as they built. The stick fell.

More discussion - evaluating the problem, brainstorming solutions, trying again and again - each time making adjustments until the tree stood.

Alongside the tree, a cake shop was added. More details appeared within the houses. And the question of cars came up.

Do fairies need cars?

After some consideration and discussion, they decided yes - but only for longer trips, trips too far to fly.

Consensus was found, and the town kept growing.

Fairies were made and brought into the fairy world the children had built. The town now had residents.

What strikes me about all of this is the children’s commitment.

The perseverance, adaptability, collaboration, creativity innovation and care. There is something about building the town that matters, that fosters a deep investment and motivates the children to keep the play flow and learning flow going.

This is the robustness of childhood. Complexity within simplicity. Wholeness within play.

What do you notice when something truly matters to children? How does that commitment shape their play and learning?

10/07/2026

What might change if we asked what a child is trying to understand, instead of what they need to develop next?

In my time with the children recently, watching them explore and build fairy houses opened a reflection that goes beyond developmental frameworks.

Moss became bedding, a question about plants led to a question and theory about spray bottles, and an inquiry into waterfalls. Noticing the play and learning flow shows how children follow their curiosity, test ideas, create theories, and move through the process of learning in a nonlinear way - revealing the complexity in children and childhood.

Instead of ‘readying’ children for the next stage, educators can use their knowledge of child development to support children extending their learning flow. And we get to see children for who they are right now - holding perspectives and ideas that show us how they make sense of their world.

Childhood is Not a Waiting Room ~ link in bio ✨

10/02/2026

Walking around, capturing the building of the indoor fairy house.

The more I observed, the more I saw. What had begun as a fairy house has become something much larger.

A waterfall built from bark, brought to life with a spray bottle.
A water shop. Houses connected by ribbons. Food prepared, eating areas arranged. A whole community emerging.

This is what play can look like when children are given time, space, materials - and are trusted to follow their thinking.

It can be easy to watch a video like this and simply enjoy it or think, “oh how cute”.

But I invite you to look closely - through a different lens or several.

Watch for ~
Movement- how the body leads the thinking.
Imagination - the bark that becomes the waterfall, the ribbon that connects the homes.
Curiosity - the theories being tested
Critical thinking - problems being solved.
Relationship - with materials, each other, within themselves

Watch for the reflection of society - the shops, the food, the eating area, the community infrastructure the children already understand.

And watch for the play flow itself - the deep, sustained engagement that tells you something important is happening.

This is childhood in all its complexity. Play makes it visible.

What do you notice when you watch this? Which lens opens something new in the way you see the children in your care?

10/02/2026

09/30/2026

Paper strips. Small pieces. A large roll. Nothing else.

How does paper invite imagination?

Episode 2 of Play Sparks is live - watch what one of the simplest materials in the learning environment can open up when we offer it, step back and observe the play.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTVH2Y90B0s&t=4s ✨

09/30/2026

What’s your lens?

Because the way we see children shapes everything.

The spaces we design. The way we listen. Whose needs we centre. What we allow children to be.

Kisa Marx invites us to think of it like a kaleidoscope - our cultural norms, our worldview, our own experiences shifting the view.

And when we keep shifting our perspective, we begin to see what’s actually in front of us.

The child.

Not what’s triggering us. Not how their behaviour makes us feel. But the child - what they’re processing, what they’re learning, what they’re trying to tell us.

Because the child’s behaviour has nothing to do with how the educator feels.

And when we truly understand that - when we lead with cultural curiosity, cultural humility, and a willingness to listen more than speak -

we can begin to build something different.

Kisa calls it liberation architecture.

And it starts with one question:

What would it mean to create a learning environment that children don’t have to recover from?

New episode with Kisa ~ link in bio ✨

09/27/2026

We just had our first Flourish gathering - and we’re still smiling.

A group of dedicated early childhood educators from around the world came together for the very first time today. Different contexts. Different experiences. Different corners of the globe.

And yet, from early in the conversation, something beautiful emerged.

Common threads. Shared challenges. A passion for children and childhood. And a shared sense that the complexity and importance of this work isn’t always understood or valued the way it deserves to be.

This is why Flourish exists.

We won’t pretend our first gathering wasn’t without hiccups - a link mix up meant not everyone could find their way into the room, and that weighed on us. To those who tried and couldn’t get in - you were missed. You are very much part of this community.

Our next gathering is October 24th - we cannot wait to gather again.