The Lab Room: A Reggio-inspired Space for Exploration and Play

At The Washington Market School, the Lab Room is a space where curiosity and creativity come to life. Each week, the children at our Duane Street site visit this Reggio-inspired environment to explore materials, use their imagination, and collaborate with each other. Through exploration, they develop problem solving skills, build language, strengthen motor skills, and discover new ways to express their creativity and knowledge. Teachers observe these experiences closely, using them to inform the curriculum and guide future learning in our classrooms. 

The Lab Room was first introduced in 2019 as a Reggio Emilia–inspired “laboratory” for discovery, a space intentionally designed to encourage exploration, imagination, and connection. Over time, it has taken on new forms, each iteration shaped by reflection, observation, and the evolving needs and interests of our children.

This past summer, the Lab Room underwent a major renovation. This newly refreshed space now features a custom tree house structure that invites multi-level exploration and play, a magnet wall with a large scale ball run, a light table for experimenting with color and transparency, and new lighting and rugs that create a warm and welcoming atmosphere. Every element was designed to invite movement, creativity, and collaboration.

Today, the Lab Room continues to serve as a dynamic environment that evolves throughout the year. The materials shift in response to children’s interests, and the space itself encourages both independence and cooperation. It is a room filled with discovery, where our learners’ ideas take shape, and where the environment, as always, serves as an active partner in their learning!