What started out as a simple morning play routine has grown into a sprawling cityscape and a remarkable portrait of Junior Kindergarten collaboration. In the Heron Room, any adult walking toward the now-named “Car House” display is immediately met with a burst of excitement. Four-year-olds eagerly step forward to explain the long table filled with wood, plasticine, loose parts, signs and countless other materials that together form their bustling metropolis.
Naturally, the city needed essentials: parking garages, a skyscraper, a police station, a Home Depot and a camp site, a cafe, a volcano and, of course, “a place for the bad guys.”
“This all started because each morning the students were making what they called a car house with magna tiles, blocks and loose parts on the carpet to start the day,” explained teacher Jennifer Medak. “When we started to clean up, they kept asking, ‘Can we just leave it until tomorrow?’ So we started thinking together with the children about building something we could leave up.”
That moment was more than convenient—it was a perfect expression of the Reggio Emilia philosophy that guides the Primary Years at St. Michaels University School. The approach centres on a strong image of the child as capable and curious, with ideas worth following. Teachers listen closely for these emerging theories and interests, then amplify them so learning can deepen in meaningful, self-directed ways.
From there, the carpet-top construction took a more intentional turn. Students began sketching what else their “Car House” needed. It was a vivid demonstration of how even young children can move naturally between imagination and early design thinking, one of the many “languages” Reggio encourages learners to use.
With their drawings as a guide, students explored materials, experimented with ways to create different levels and talked through early concepts of scale. There was no hesitation in their confidence that the skyscraper matched the size of the food in the café—an entirely logical comparison in the mind of a four-year-old city planner.
As the structures grew, teachers Angela Ireland and Jennifer Medak wove in emerging literacy by encouraging students to name each new addition and create signs for visitors. On one end rose the aptly named Wobble Mountain; on the other, the outskirts of the city, complete with bridges over water leading to a DJ booth, launcher and movie theatre. Their choices offered an unmistakable peek into the interests currently occupying their imaginations.
At the centre stood a 20-piece-high Jenga tower forming a tall house, its plastic-button “rooms” labelled with child-selected essentials: a bedroom, a bathroom and a room simply called “Fun.”
Cardboard rolls, popsicle sticks, wood blocks, and an assortment of metal, glass, plastic and modelling clay pieces have all found new life in this ever-evolving class masterpiece. Each day, the table seems to grow, stretching to accommodate the next idea.
For any onlooker, it’s easy to see the budding engineers, artists, project managers and storytellers emerging through their play. And for Junior Kindergarten teachers Angela Ireland, Jen Medek and Jennifer Flaherty—who travelled to Italy two summers ago to deepen their understanding of the Reggio Emilia approach—it is especially meaningful to watch this project unfold. What they studied at the source has come alive in their own classroom: a true Reggio moment where children lead the learning, teachers support as co-researchers, and creativity, collaboration and curiosity shape the curriculum itself.
The “Car House” will be on display at the Junior Kindergarten’s first art show of the year on Dec. 4.
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