I’m pleased to announce that my recent book Creating a Beautiful Mess: Ten Essential Play Experiences for a Joyous Childhood won gold in the National Parenting Publications Awards, also known as the NAPPA awards. The National Parenting Publications Awards is one of...

Recently I’ve been developing a robotics curriculum that challenges children to think critically about the role of technology in their world. In one of the introductory activities we piloted this summer at the Center for Talent Development, third grade students were...

"Childhood is still childhood and play is still play." I really enjoyed my radio interview with Cathy Blythe on her show "Problems and Solutions." This conversation was especially meaningful to me because Cathy is based in Nebraska, near my home town. Click here to...

From my recent post for the Redleaf Press blog ... In many early childhood classrooms the block area is perceived to be the domain of boys only. Girls often need extra encouragement from teachers and parents to engage in block play. The experience of young girls in...

I'm happy to report that the Library Journal has posted a positive review of my new book, Creating a Beautiful Mess: Ten Essential Play Experiences for a Joyous Childhood. Here's what they had to say: Early childhood educator Gadzikowski offers a charming book on...

I'm about to travel to Denmark, the home of LEGO toys, to lead a session called “Girl Power STEM” at an international conference. I’ll speak about the challenge of engaging girls in science, technology, engineering and math studies. My primary message is that we need...

Back in the 1960’s, the new tech gadget that fascinated young children was the See ‘n Say, a toy developed and sold by Mattel. Many adults of my generation will fondly remember playing with a See ‘n Say -- pointing the arrow, pulling the string, and hearing the...

The author copies of my new book, Creating a Beautiful Mess: Ten Essential Play Experiences for a Joyous Childhood, arrived today! As I described in a recent interview, the book "was inspired by my conversations with parents of the children in the CTD summer Leapfrog...

Digital gaming in the lives of young children is the subject of my recent interview for the Center for Talent Development newsletter: “Use technology in moderation. Use it with your child so that you're not just supervising but engaging in it, having fun and enjoying...

Suppose your daughter spends hours cleaning up her bedroom. Unlikely, I know, but bear with me. Suppose she organizes the clothes in her dresser using cardboard to divide each drawer into rectangles of varying sizes, separating her socks from her underwear, her soccer...