The Materials Center is closed for the summer.
See you in September!

NEW Next Year!!!

 

LOOSE PARTS WORKSHOP 

Come to the Materials Center in Manhattan and join our team for a Loose Parts Workshop. We will introduce educators to the history and thinking behind materials work with children and share actual footage of children playing, creating, and building. Afterwards, we’ll discuss concrete ideas for integrating this work into your program or curriculum. At the end of the session, participants can shop for materials to take back to their own classrooms.

NEED HELP WITH YOUR MATERIALS COLLECTION?

Do you need help creating, maintaining, or organizing your materials collection (materials space) at your school? We work with teachers, schools, and organizations to kick-start their own collections, consider the best place to store the materials, and help create systems to maintain the space. Please reach out to Wendy@TeachingBeyondtheSquare.org for a virtual or in-person consultation.

 

The Materials Center is a community resource open to the public that houses a large collection of “found” materials, gathered and donated by New York City residents and businesses. These materials are objects from our everyday lives that are often discarded but could be repurposed or transformed into something new, encouraging creativity, problem-solving, and action. We believe that these materials can enhance and enrich children’s learning, creative expression, and symbolic development.

Before you visit us at the Center or on our Materials Trailer, take a look at this VIDEO to learn more about our work. We hope to see you soon!

 

Check out our online resource for materials

 

Teaching Beyond the Square is one of many donateNYC partner organizations in New York City that work to divert waste from landfills, by recycling, re-purposing, re-using or re-distributing items that New Yorkers no longer want. More than 40 non-profit organizations are dedicated to helping New York City reach its zero-waste to landfills goal by 2030. Visit the donateNYC website for more information about flea markets, partner organizations, donating goods, and events around the city.