Launching a PBL Unit With Preschool Students

When you think of the characteristics of young children and how they learn, what comes to mind? For most teachers, curiosity is probably at the top of the list. Young children are naturally curious—and project-based learning (PBL) provides a structure to nurture and extend that curiosity in meaningful, authentic ways.

To kick off a PBL unit, teachers need a Driving Question and meaningful launch that invites children into the inquiry. When I’m thinking about these components of my unit, I like to think of three possible “on-ramps” I can use to create a question and launch the project: standards, student interests, or an idea for an authentic public product.

Three On-Ramps to PBL

On-ramp 1. Starting with standards: Some standards seem to lend themselves well to a project. I usually start with social studies or science standards, try to imagine what a project that demonstrates those standards would look like, and go from there.

For example, I designed a project around this California kindergarten History-Social Science standard: K.4: Students compare and contrast the locations of people, places, and environments and describe their characteristics.

I thought that a large map of the school would be a way for students to demonstrate their understanding. I introduced the idea to students, sharing the following Driving Question: “How can we help new students and visitors get around our school?”

On-ramp 2. Student interests and community needs: The second on-ramp is to design a project that reflects student interests or a community issue. Often, I observe children during play or unstructured times and try to identify opportunities to create an aligned project. Once, during recess over the course of several days, I noticed children playing “library” using large blue blocks. Later in the week, we decided to launch our next project with the following Driving Question: “How can we run our own library at our school?”

On-ramp 3. Starting with a product idea: Sometimes, teachers have a great idea for a product. One year, I went to see the exhibition The Art of the Brick and thought to myself, “This would be a great project”—a Lego art exhibit. The Driving Question was: “How can we have our own Lego art exhibit at school?”

I launched this project by taking our class to see the exhibition. Although I had prepared to introduce the Driving Question upon our return, before we had even gotten off the bus, a child asked, “Can we do this at our school?”

Back in our classroom, we did a See, Think, Wonder thinking routine where I charted children’s observations, thoughts, and questions following the trip. The following were some of the questions:

• Could we meet the artist, and if he isn’t there, can we write him a letter?
• How will we make cool animals like Nathan Sawaya did?
• How do we know if we’re all good Lego artists?
• How big will we make the sculptures?

Launching the Project

Once you’ve chosen your on-ramp, it’s time to launch the project. Every project launch includes four elements: an engaging Entry Event, the introduction of the Driving Question, the introduction of the Public Product, and generation of Need to Know questions.

One of my favorite project launches began with a little planning behind the scenes. For this project, I took On-Ramp 3. I had an end product in mind: Children would plant and take care of a garden, and then share that garden with the community via a pamphlet and a tour.

For our Entry Event, I asked our garden teacher to visit and share an authentic problem with my 4-year-olds: A large patch of our school garden had become completely overgrown with weeds. After she spoke, I introduced our Driving Question and Public Product: “How can we plant and take care of a garden?”

Help Students Generate Questions

Finally, the launch concludes by asking children, “What questions do you have about this project?” This is very different from the more common “Any questions?”—it assumes that there are questions to be asked, which honors the spirit of inquiry. Here are a few questions from our Garden Project “Need to Know” list:

• How can we plant seeds for the garden?
• How many days will it take?
• Can we grow some food?
• How do trees grow?

For young children, the process of gathering “Need to Knows” often looks different than it does with older students. Even though young children are naturally curious, they’re not always used to generating questions on demand—especially early in the year. You can support and scaffold this process with a few intentional strategies:

Before the launch, jot down the questions you think or hope children will ask. That way, if they don’t get to some of them, you can model or scaffold those questions into the conversation.

Listen for “hidden questions” in children’s comments. For example, when launching a podcast project, a child exclaimed, “I don’t know what you’re talking about! I don’t even know what a podcast is!” That’s a question right there: “What is a podcast?”

Reframe statements into questions. In our garden project, a child volunteered, “We can plant strawberries!” I followed with “Are you wondering if we can plant strawberries in our garden?” This helps model questions for young children.

Keep the “Need to Know” list open for a few days. Curiosity doesn’t always show up on demand. Let kids revisit and add to the list as questions percolate over time.

Invite children to find a question they connect with and draw a picture of it. This helps them reflect on what they’re wondering about and gives you a window into what’s exciting or meaningful to them. It also supports emergent literacy.

Observe play and unstructured moments for questions that arise naturally. Even after your launch is done, keep watching. Some of the most authentic questions emerge during play, transitions, or casual conversations—capture and add those to your list.

Inquiry drives engagement in early childhood PBL, beginning with a strong launch that introduces a meaningful Driving Question and invites children to generate their own questions. This approach puts curiosity into action, ensuring that it stays at the heart of the project from the very start.