Projects

NestingPlay provides quality pre-primary education services to all children, through guided sensory-based play activities so that children can develop skills and competencies that can help them succeed in school, complete primary education and transition to higher levels, and eventually transform into responsible and productive citizens, open to diversity and peace. Our methodology is based on the M. Montessori and A. J. Ayres approaches which considers the child as a whole and builds on the child’s sensory needs.

Our geographic focus is Europe, with special focus on Central and Eastern Europe, and the Western Balkans, India, and Kenya. Our projects are financed through grants and private donors. We also work in partnerships, complementing larger educational projects with this special focus on children with development disorders.

NestingPlay Learning Through Play Projects 2019-2023

NestingPlay: A Sensory Approach

The NestingPlay methodology:

  • Based on the M. Montessori and A. J. Ayres approaches
  • Considers the child as a whole
  • Observes the child’s sensory needs
  • Practical and designed by experts and practitioners
  • Offers simple hands-on solutions for parents, teachers and other professionals working with children with behavioral challenges or developmental delays

Sensorial work is essential to build connections among brain cells:

  • Developmental delays or behavior challenges of a child can be rooted in the inadequate amount of positive responsive relations experienced with her caretakers
  • This might be due to the elevated and prolonged stress because of poverty, war, exclusion, trauma, severe illness, neurological issues, etc.
  • The missing connections in the brain can be re-written through different sensory experiences. 
  • Informed adults can observe the child in free play to understand what type of sensory activity she might need
  • Through guided sensory play activities, the brain can be further developed or wired, compensating for the lack of responsive relationship experienced in a given developmental phase of a child.