Posted: September 15, 2025
Elizabeth Traff, a preschool teacher from Rochester, MN, sent this photo with the comment, "I created a one-legged alligator of sorts. His tail looks a bit suspicious, but the Dove-wrapper-teeth make up for it." So why was a teacher creating an alligator from scoops and tins and candy wrappers? It was part of a creativity challenge included in the course "Finding Wonder in Found Objects: An Inquiry-Rich Approach to Learning" to build a sculpture with five found objects from your surroundings.
Traff has been in the field for eighteen years and currently teaches two half-day preschool classes that each meet twice a week. That paid employment is paired with watching her grandchildren the rest of the time during the week. And all of it is filled with wonder! She shared how her granddaughter recently created a dinosaur mask out of cardboard soda cartons.
And she sent a treasured moment where her class of curious preschoolers dropped to their tummies to peer under a tree in search of a bird. These are the joys of early childhood education! 
Traff is in the process of proposing an enrichment class that is nature-based and went to Better Kid Care's On Demand system looking for inspiration (and earning some required PD hours for the Parent Aware program). She commented, "I love the idea of filling myself up before digging into the planning of an outdoor curriculum ... You are helping me shape the direction of that class."
Traff creates an atmosphere of play both in her preschool classroom and in her home with her grandchildren. She says they go through a LOT of tape!
Children who are allowed to build and create will become the problem-solvers of the future. This free play builds their understanding of materials and spatial relations. When adults welcome this play, it says to children that their ideas have value and are worth pursuing.
Are you looking for a little more courage to let children play with cardboard or lie on their bellies under trees? Let Elizabeth Traff's example encourage you! Think how happy and creative the world would be with more one-legged alligators and dinosaur masks!
Do you have a creative story to share? Tell us about it. Send a photo to BetterKidCare@psu.edu and we'll continue this wave of inspiration.
