Given the relationship we had built with the school community over the grant’ s first two years, we were confident that families would make personal connections to the activity.
Both we and Ms. Hernández also had to consider children’ s interests, experiences, and abilities before implementing this cafecito. As we created a relaxed space where children and families could create, we worked to plan specific activities connected to oral language skills( read alouds, singing, time for family conversation). We also developed questions and prompts(“ Ask your family about the mariachi music they like”) to encourage children to express their individuality as they worked. Finally, we provided multiple opportunities for families to engage in the guided play activity. Some families decided to share more mariachi songs with their children while others opted to tell their children a story about a mariachi experience.
As cafecitos continued at this elementary school as part of the grant, they increasingly included activities around topics suggested or requested by families, such as cultural traditions like Las Posadas and Día de los Muertos. This further demonstrated the community’ s trust that these experiences would be meaningful and reflect what was important to them.
Implications for Practice
While curriculum is at its core the transmission of knowledge and skills( Egan 1978), we argue for a more inclusive and expansive definition. Curriculum can be found in family learning, where traditions and cultural connections are passed across the generations of family and community members( Yosso 2005; Esteban-Guitart & Moll 2014; Stephan 2021). Early childhood educators must center children’ s cultures and communities as they plan learning experiences, which include guided play( Arreguín-Anderson et al. 2018; NAEYC 2020).
While we used the arts as the entry point to our culturally connected, guided play activity, educators can use any content area that offers authentic links with their communities. To begin, we encourage them to reflect on the following:
› What is happening in children’ s and families’ communities? Educators can discover what is relevant to the families they serve by exploring neighborhood events and listening to what families are talking about.
› How can educators use what they learn to plan activities and spark interest in them? Educators can ask families about their curiosities and experiences related to a topic and refine instructional materials and activities based on their feedback.
› How can the community-connected, guided play activity be linked to content learning? We suggest educators begin by noticing the language and ideas used by families and communities, then connecting these to learning goals and experiences.
› What options are available to encourage families to engage with the playful experience? For example, when working with families in the school setting, educators can begin by making them feel comfortable in this environment and providing various ways( or modalities) in which families can participate in play-based activities.
Funding Acknowledgment
Partial funding for this project was provided by the CULTIVAR( Communities Uplifting Learners Through Imagination and Vibrant Artistic Reflections) grant project awarded to Texas A & M University – San Antonio through the Assistance for Arts Education and the US Department of Education. Grant Award Number: S351A210030 – 22. Any opinions, findings, or conclusions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of Texas A & M University – San Antonio or the US Department of Education.
34 Young Children
Fall 2026