"Each person has something no one else has or will ever have. Encouraging a person to discover their uniqueness and helping them develop its expression can be one of the greatest gifts we can ever give."-- Fred Rogers

Research has demonstrated what many parents and early childhood educators have known for years: there are lots of ways to be smart. Psychologist Howard Gardner describes seven kinds of "smart" or intelligence: Logical-Mathematical, Musical, Kinesthetic, Linguistic, Spatial, Interpersonal and Intrapersonal. Every child has his or her own learning style and unique way of looking at the world. And it's through play that children experiment with their learning styles and begin to build a healthy sense of self.

Being able to understand the outside world of things and people, and the inside world of self and feelings requires a tremendous amount of experimenting with how things go together, what works and what doesn't, and what actions bring about what consequences. For children, the play process--and their participation in it--is where they make connections with their experiences and actively piece together knowledge about the world and their place in it. It's also where they explore emotions, and often act out their fears and concerns.

Given the freedom, children will spontaneously engage in play. Yet adults often forget to allow children the time to delve into their curiosities and develop their creative potential. When we do take time to nurture youngsters' creativity, we're supporting their natural desire to learn along with their cognitive capacities. In addition to time, you can provide the raw materials, be with children while they're playing, acknowledge and respect their unique expressions, and occasionally offer open-ended questions to trigger further investigation.

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