Vermont Kindergarten Conference 2026
Play, Inquiry, and Imagination: How Early Learning Shapes Lifelong Thinkers
Doubletree by Hilton, South Burlington, Vermont
Wednesday, March 25, 2026
Registration Information:
Conference Registration Fees: $180 (Educators), $80 (Students)
- A separate registration form is required for each individual and must be accompanied by a check or purchase order.
- Register for the conference online and mail checks or purchase orders to:
Partnerships for Literacy and Learning
250 Main Street, Suite 202
Montpelier, VT 05602
(In the memo line, indicate VT Kindergarten Conference)Hotel Reservations can be made directly at DoubleTree by Hilton
Additional Opportunity: Graduate Course: Early Childhood: How Playful Learning Shapes Lifelong Thinkers. March 26, 2026 – June 05, 2026. The first session is during Lunch at the Kindergarten Conference and then online synchronous meetings from 4:00-5:30 pm on the following dates:
April 1, April 15, April 29, May 13, May 27, June 3Instructor: Lindy Johnson. The course is offered through Vermont State Colleges (Castleton Center for Schools) and tuition is $1,195.00 for 3 graduate credits.
To register for the course, go to the following: LINK You must register for the Day-long Conference separately.
Conference Schedule:
- Registration opens at 7:45
- 8:45 – 9:00 Welcome!
- 9:00 – 9:45 Morning Keynote: Robin Fawcett: Igniting Potential Through Play
- 9:45 – 10:00 Vendors
- 10:00 – 11:50 Morning Workshops
- 12:15 – 1:00 Lunch (Reggio information during part of lunch)
- 1:00 – 2:50 Afternoon Workshop
- 3:00 – 3:15 Closure/Door Prizes
KEYNOTE: Igniting Potential Through Play
This year, education consultant Robin Fawcett is our keynote speaker. In Robin’s opening address, she will actively explore the value of play in our adult lives—both as humans and as teachers of children. As author Diane Ackerman reminds us, regardless of age, “Play is our brain’s favorite way of learning.”
Robin Fawcett is a theatre arts educator and director devoted to fueling others’ urge for artful expression. For 40 years, she’s taught for organizations including The University of Iowa, University of Vermont, The Flynn Center, Skinner Barn Musical Theatre, New England Youth Theatre, and Champlain Valley Union High School. In addition to directing plays in schools and professional settings, Robin regularly offers a range of workshops, private coaching sessions, and professional development in-services, igniting possibility through the transformative power of play.
Workshop Sessions
Morning Workshops – Select One
Embracing a Playful Approach for Growth & Belonging
AM: Robin Fawcett – Keynote Speaker
Drawing on decades of experience as a theater arts teacher and director, Robin Fawcett will share learning activities focused on unleashing individual potential and fostering the collaborative environment needed for students to flourish alone and together. In this hands-on workshop, participants will leave with felt-insights, exercises, and ideas for leveraging a playful approach that will vitalize student growth and belonging in your classroom.
Where Play Meets STEM: Learning Through Curiosity, Exploration, and Problem-Solving
AM: Kate Boissoneault – ECHO Educator and Outreach Coordinator
Stacia Judd – ECHO Early Learning Coordinator
Play is at the heart of early childhood learning. By integrating STEM experiences into play, children joyfully engage in planning, creating, and problem-solving. In this workshop, we will share best practices for facilitating STEM play in ways that will extend learning and deepen engagement. Through STEM play, your students will begin to see themselves as scientists and engineers, growing their skills and confidence in doing STEM work.
Stories in Their Hands: Storytelling and Emergent Writing in PreK – K
AM: Christine Hertz Hausman – Educational Consultant
Rose Lovett – Preschool Teacher, Brookside Primary School
How can storytelling, loose parts, small-world play, and book-making create rich opportunities for young children to share their voices? Through material-rich invitations and open-ended story making, children build narratives and express themselves alongside traditional writing and drawing opportunities. Together, we’ll look at how play becomes a natural bridge to oral language, meaning-making, and marks on the page. Participants will explore hands-on materials, examine real classroom examples, and leave with practical strategies for creating learning spaces where children’s ideas, identities, and imaginations are celebrated—and where every child is recognized as a confident, capable writer.
Playful Pages: Bringing Intentional Interactive Read-Alouds to Life
AM: Kathleen Flinn – Kindergarten Teacher – Williamstown Elementary School
Get ready to transform your read-alouds from routine to remarkable! In this lively, hands-on session, we’ll explore how to turn any picture book into an engaging, enriching, and playful learning experience. Discover practical strategies for weaving intentional vocabulary, rich conversations, SEL connections, and joyful participation into every story you share. You’ll leave with ready-to-use tools, model language, and playful techniques that spark curiosity, boost comprehension, and make every child feel like part of the story. If you’re looking to elevate your read-alouds while keeping the magic of kindergarten at the heart of it all—this session is for you!
ABCs of AI in Early Childhood
AM: Jen Mitchell – Education Technology Integrationist – Swanton Elementary School
Lyndale Nephew – Kindergarten Teacher – Swanton Elementary School
Curious about how AI can save you time while strengthening teaching and learning? This hands-on workshop introduces the ABCs of AI—simple, high-impact digital tools that support planning, personalization, and classroom practice in early learning settings. Participants will explore how AI can help Adapt instruction using UDL-aligned lesson planning, Build positive behaviors through personalized social stories, and Customize communication with leveled decodable texts and targeted literacy materials. This session focuses on easy, responsible ways to use AI to streamline planning and better meet the needs of every learner. Participants will leave with ready-to-use ideas and increased confidence to begin their AI journey.
Whispers of Wonder and What-Ifs
AM: Ellen Drolette – Seed and Sew
Learning for young children begins with the softest sparks—little whispers of wonder and brave what-ifs that shape how children see themselves as thinkers, creators, and problem-solvers. In this playful, curiosity-driven session, we’ll explore how simple moments of imagination and inquiry can open wide doors to early learning, belonging, and joyful discovery. Participants will experience the power of noticing small shifts, following children’s questions, and creating environments where curiosity leads the way. Along the journey, we’ll introduce the Triple R Framework™ Relevance, Relationships, and Reflection as a guiding lens for nurturing young learners and sustaining ourselves as educators.
The Five Big Bang Practices: Supporting Confident, Creative Learners
AM: Jackie Sprague – Consultant: Trainer and Coach: Pyramid 802 Plus
The Five Big Bang Practices are simple, research-based strategies that dramatically reduce challenging behaviors in early childhood classrooms. In this hands-on, interactive workshop, participants will explore each high-leverage practice and create an action plan to implement them right away. Challenging behaviors can interfere with children’s ability to play, imagine, and collaborate—skills essential for lifelong learning. By understanding and applying these strategies, educators can help children feel confident, engage more fully with peers, and enjoy richer, more playful learning experiences.
Afternoon Workshops – Select One
Move, Imagine, and Explore: Creative Activities Using the 3 R’s
PM: Alexandra Langstaff – EYT 500 – Manchester Village School, SVAC and Equinox Village.
In this highly interactive workshop, participants will engage in movement-based activities that can be easily integrated into early learning settings. Educators will leave with practical ideas to encourage creative exploration and purposeful movement throughout the day, along with a simple, flexible framework for designing either a 3-minute or 30-minute experience using the 3 R’s: Ritual, Research, and Recycling. Come ready to move, play, and imagine new possibilities for learning through motion.
Regulation as the Root of Play, and Inquiry
PM: Alyssa Blask Campbell –Seed and Sew, CEO
Young children think, explore, and imagine most effectively when their nervous systems feel safe and supported. This workshop introduces educators to the nine sensory systems and explores how each child’s unique nervous system profile influences play, inquiry, and the challenging behaviors that can interfere with engagement. Through practical examples and classroom-ready strategies, participants will learn how to design sensory-supportive play spaces, scaffold social play, and respond to dysregulation in ways that reduce power struggles and unlock curiosity. Educators will leave with actionable tools to foster deeper play, stronger inquiry skills, and fewer disruptions—creating more joyful, engaged learners and classrooms.
Tooling Around: Supporting Independence and Healthy Risk Taking through the Use of Tools
PM: Ken Benton – Director of Education –North Branch Nature Center
Harriet Hart – Forest Preschool Teacher – North Branch Nature Center
In this workshop, we will explore all the wonderful ways that preschool and kindergarteners can interact with tools such as shovels, saws, peelers, hand drills, augers, hammers, and more. We’ll cover how to establish safety protocols around each tool, proper use, connections to academic goals, as well as the social and emotional benefits of using tools. Time will be given to dive in and practice using a variety of tools, highlighting some of the projects you can introduce to your students to hone their cognitive, physical, and social/emotional skills.
Breaking Barriers: The Early Educators' Guide to Sustainable Outdoor Play
PM: Colleen Christman – Owner: Wonder Roots LLC – Educator, consultant
Renae Preska & Alex Bahrenburg – Kindergarten Teachers – Gertrude Chamberlin School, South Burlington
This workshop takes participants on a journey from the “why” to the “how” of outdoor learning. Grounded in insights from our outdoor learning pilot project, facilitators will introduce a clear, adaptable implementation structure that brings learning outdoors in purposeful, sustainable ways. We will address common challenges, such as time, weather, and documentation, with practical solutions, while highlighting the powerful ways outdoor learning supports self-regulation, executive function, and positive group dynamics. Participants will leave with ready-to-use ideas, planning tools, and low-cost resource lists to help turn schoolyards, green spaces, and nearby nature into vibrant learning environments.
Playful Numbers: Small-Group Math — Fostering Inquiry and Imagination
PM: Danielle Hulbert – Kindergarten teacher – Williamstown Elementary School
Join a practical, hands-on workshop designed to support teachers in implementing joyful, inquiry-driven small-group math sessions that boost engagement and deepen understanding. Participants will learn how to establish smooth, predictable routines and explore strategies for creating playful tasks and math centers that spark curiosity and promote conceptual thinking. The workshop will also focus on practical approaches to differentiation within small groups, challenging confident learners while scaffolding for those who need additional support. We’ll also explore real-time intervention techniques to keep students on track during small-group rotations.
Imagining, Engineering, Creating: Using A Makerspace To Enrich Children’s Play
PM: Christine Hertz Hausman – Educational Consultant
Chelsea Snyder – Preschool Teacher – Stowe Elementary School
Melissa Steele – Preschool Teacher – Stowe Elementary School
How can a makerspace become a powerful engine for play, inquiry, and imagination in PreK and kindergarten classrooms? In this hands-on session, we’ll explore how design thinking and open-ended materials invite young children to investigate questions, test ideas, and deepen their play narratives. Participants will discover how even a simple collection of tools—cardboard, recyclables, fabric, wire, tape, and child-safe tools—can support rich storylines and collaborative problem-solving. Grounded in a belief that children are competent, creative, and responsible, this workshop will highlight practical ways to integrate makerspace routines into PreK–K classrooms. Educators will leave with strategies for setting up an accessible makerspace, guiding design processes, documenting learning, and fostering a culture where children see themselves as designers, inventors, and imaginative thinkers.
The Power of Play, Puppets, and Polliwogs
PM: Hannah Gelroth – Senior Director of Education – Vermont Institute of Natural Science
Are you interested in learning how puppets can transform a simple activity into a magical moment of wonder and laughter? Do you want to feel more confident in teaching science? Come join us! Imagination and play are at the heart of puppetry, and inquiry is at the heart of science. In this workshop, we will discover, play, and learn together as we investigate the unique power of incorporating puppets and the natural world into your curriculum. Walk away with activities, resources, inspiration, and new ideas for bringing puppetry and science alive in your classroom!
