Innovation through Play: Hudson Montessori’s Imagination Playground

Hudson Montessori's mission is to foster a lifelong love of learning in each of our students. In practice, this means engaging each student where they are and offering them exciting opportunities to grow academically, socially, and creatively. We do this by encouraging our students to be the engineers of their playgrounds using our imagination playground blocks.

We use two Imagination Playground setups in both of our school playspaces. The Imagination Playground comprises large blue play blocks, encouraging children to collaborate as they build, design, and invent. Students use the bricks, cylinders, chutes, channels, and connectors at recess to design a playset for the day. With limitless possibilities, the Imagination Playground creates an inclusive play environment where our students engage in role-playing, construction, and creative adventures. Although Imagination Playground Blocks are not exclusively a Montessori material, they do put children in a place of working collaboratively to solve problems and practice their STEAM skills with high frequency.

Creativity is integral to artistic self-expression, problem-solving, and confidence-building. Our Montessori approach cultivates an individualized, well-rounded learning experience for each student. Opportunities to learn through play, like our imagination playground, engage and stimulate both sides of the brain by incorporating creative ideas and the analytical skills needed to execute them.

Giving students a brain break from learning inside the classroom also gives them a brain boost when they return inside. While outside, a child's mind gets excited by its senses, from feeling the earth to crunching leaves to hearing a train tooting its horn. Children engage their senses and imagination daily in our playspaces to create stories, form friendships, and have fun!

Being outside with friends is also invaluable in enhancing a child's social-emotional connections. While inside, students are more self-focused, but outside, they are encouraged to interact, dream, and play with their friends. Using our Imagination Playground, students co-create their adventure for the day. They learn to negotiate, pick up on verbal and nonverbal cues, and experience how fun teamwork can be.

To learn more about Hudson Montessori School's interdisciplinary, theme-based learning approach to education, the Montessori philosophy and methodology, or how the school fosters the love of learning for its students, the school welcomes parents to learn more for children aged 2 to eighth grade at our upcoming open houses.