Project work in early childhood education provides opportunities for centres to explore children’s interests in depth. By looking closely, noticing deeply, and working as a team, teachers identify, recognise, and respond to cross-curricular threads of interest that can develop into extended projects. These extended projects are ideal for embracing and celebrating children’s exploration and learning using a wide range of curriculum areas.

Jacqui Lee and her teaching team at Pakuranga Baptist Kindergarten discuss how they notice, recognise, and respond to children by building their curriculum around open-ended, cross-curricula projects. They share their definition of a project, describe the beginning and relaunching of children’s theories, and discuss how their projects develop.