Find & Seek was born in Brooklyn in 2013 as a project-based early childhood laboratory that focused on materials exploration, artistic creation, play and storytelling. Founders Elisha and Kristin curated and presented a beautiful array of natural objects and recycled materials and facilitated as children gave form to what they imagined. The goal was to listen to and shine light on children’s original stories, using educational tools such as dialogue, inquiry, creative process, collaboration and documentation. Out of these roots grew Willow Nest Studio in Windsor Terrace, and the Manny Cantor Center’s Rainbow Studio, and a legacy of teaching and learning, outgrowths of Elisha and Kristin’s work in NYC and CT.

The Whole Child

Play and the arts are vehicles through which children tap into their many ways of knowing. When they become well-versed in play and the arts, they are better equipped to solve problems, think divergently and live creative and fulfilling lives. We take care to remember at every step that our children are not test scores or statistics, but whole human beings with beautiful minds and hearts, capable of inventing marvelous and unique ideas.

Creative Reuse

Materials labs promote diversity in children's play experiences. Freedom to take creative risks supports divergent thinking. A wide spectrum of natural and recycled resources invites open-ended, imaginative thinking. Translucent. Luminous. Brilliant. Soft. Beautiful. When children use materials as “loose parts” in meaningful play scenarios, they dream big and find creative solutions to problems. This inspiration and innovation serve as tools that children can take with them far into their academic and social futures, and grow roots for their intellectual and spiritual lives.

Environment as Teacher

Children are informed by the environments they inhabit. Find & Seek activates outdoor spaces for play, and uses natural materials in the classroom, as creative components for learning. Natural landscapes provide unique opportunities for transformation of space as well as a deepened sensory connection to the outdoors. Dialogue within and about outdoor spaces leads children to develop a multitude of expressive vocabularies. The spaces we develop help to create a holistic framework to support children’s healthy growth.