Erasmus+ Course

Course overview

This course is designed for early years educators who want to bring 21st-century skills, creativity, and inclusive strategies into the heart of their kindergarten classroom. Rooted in play, imagination, and connection, this course helps teachers create joyful, engaging, and developmentally appropriate learning experiences that nurture the whole child.

Participants will explore how to introduce critical and creative thinking, early STEM, CLIL, digital tools, and formative assessment—all through playful, child-centered methods. Whether you're new to early childhood education or looking for a fresh spark, this course is packed with hands-on ideas and heart-led teaching strategies.

Each module is packed with practical, classroom-ready ideas that promote resilience, creativity, collaboration, and critical thinking—ensuring students are not just prepared for tests, but for life.

Key Features

• Explore how to foster 21st-century skills like creativity, collaboration, and curiosity in early childhood.
• Discover playful ways to introduce STEM, language learning, and digital tools.
• Learn to support multiple intelligences and diverse learning needs through inclusive practices.
• Use observation and formative assessment to guide development with care and flexibility.
• Take learning outdoors and create nature-based, child-led learning adventures.

Target Audience

This course is ideal for:

• Kindergarten and early childhood educators (Ideally from 3+ age group)
• Preschool teachers and teaching assistants
• Educators working in bilingual or international early years settings

Requirements

No advanced knowledge is required. Participants should have experience or interest in working with young children, and a playful, open approach to teaching and learning.

Flexible Approach

All content is adaptable to various early years settings, age groups (3–6), and classroom contexts. The course celebrates diversity in learning styles, languages, and developmental stages.

Course Methodology

• Hands-On Workshops using play-based learning and arts integration
• Collaborative Discussions and idea sharing among early years professionals
• Practical Activity Design that can be implemented immediately
• Reflective Practice with a focus on child observation and responsive teaching
• Outdoor & Sensory Elements for whole-child development

Modules

Module 01 – Teaching 21st Century Skills in the Kindergarten Classroom

• Explore what next-gen skills look like in early years—such as communication, collaboration, and adaptability—and how to foster them through play.

Module 02 – Helping Young Minds Think Critically and Creatively

• Use open-ended questions, storytelling, and playful challenges to build curiosity, imagination, and early problem-solving.

Module 03 – Using Multiple Intelligences to Reach Every Child

• Discover how to recognize and nurture children’s unique strengths—whether musical, spatial, social, or physical—and plan inclusive activities accordingly.

Module 04 – Learning Through Play: Gamifying Your Classroom

• Turn routines and learning goals into joyful games, treasure hunts, and challenges that build intrinsic motivation and delight.

Module 05 – Introducing STEM the Fun Way in Kindergarten

• Explore science, math, engineering, and tech through hands-on building, sorting, storytelling, and discovery.

Module 06 – Using CLIL in Early Years: Real Examples

• See how language and content can grow together naturally with simple, age-appropriate, bilingual or multilingual classroom routines and activities.

Module 07 – Bringing Learning to Life with Art and Drama

• Use roleplay, puppets, movement, and visual arts to help children explore feelings, stories, and concepts in expressive, embodied ways.

Module 08 – Simple Digital Tools for Playful, Interactive Learning

• Explore safe, age-appropriate apps and digital games that support creativity, collaboration, and early tech literacy.

Module 09 – Formative Assessment in Action: Observing and Supporting Growth

• Learn to observe with intention, document with meaning, and respond to each child’s learning journey in thoughtful, flexible ways.

Module 10 – Outdoor Adventures in Learning

• Bring learning into nature! Use outdoor spaces for sensory play, exploration, wellbeing, and connection with the world around them.

Module 11 – Real Classrooms, Real Challenges: Case Studies and Solutions

• Explore real-life classroom scenarios and the everyday challenges kindergarten teachers face—from managing mixed-ability groups to supporting emotional regulation or dealing with unexpected behaviour.

Learning Outcomes

• Enhance skills to use various innovative teaching methods and techniques that are learner-centred, encourage solving of meaningful real-world tasks and develop transversal competencies.
• Boost skills in using open and digital resources, support development of digital skills and media literacy, increase capacity to trigger changes in terms of modernization using ICT.
• Generate ready‐to‐use materials and ideas to support school or organisational development in the field of innovative education with regards to interdisciplinary and holistic approach.
• Gain techniques for working with heterogeneous classrooms, support inclusion of various minorities into mainstream education based on democratic values, promote active participation in society.
• Develop relevant, high-level skills such as creativity, critical thinking, metacognition and other key competences through innovative teaching methods, enhance good quality of mainstream education.
• Learn to motivate, guide and effectively assess to reduce low achievement in basic competences, promote peer exchange and active participation within the education.
• Revise and develop personal and professional competences, build confidence in promoting innovative and active pedagogies that are responsive to social and cultural diversity.
• Meet colleagues of different nationalities within the EU, engage in cross-cultural learning experience, exchange ideas and build a network for future international cooperation.
• Gain broader understanding of practices, policies and systems of education of different countries, cultivate mutual respect, intercultural awareness and embed common educational and training values.
• Enrich communication skills, improve foreign language competencies, broaden professional vocabulary and promote EU’s broad linguistic diversity.

Course Duration

This is a 25-hour training course, typically delivered over five days, or adapted into a flexible blended format. Sessions include movement, discussion, reflection, and hands-on exploration.

General Course Information

Before the course:

You would be required to fill a Questionnaire.
You will receive “ITC Guide Document” where you will find all necessary information.

After the Course:

Course evaluation form
Certificates
Course materials in electronical form / Other materials for self-study and dissemination of the techniques.