Maria Lallier’s Teach and Play

When I got a text message from Maria Lallier, I was immediately curious about what she was up to.

Maria was the preschool teacher for all three of my daughters, and over the years, I watched firsthand the way she brought the Reggio Emilia approach into her classroom. Her teaching always encouraged curiosity, creativity, independence, and—perhaps most importantly—giving children the space to explore their own ideas and make meaning from the world around them.

So when Maria reached out, I had a feeling she was creating something special.

Now that all three of my girls are entering grade school, I knew this project had to be connected to something new Maria had dreamed up. That’s simply what Maria does. She is constantly creating, imagining, and finding new ways to help children learn through exploration and play.

She told me about Teach and Play, a kit designed to give parents and children the opportunity to work together through creative, hands-on experiences. The idea immediately resonated with me. Rather than simply giving a child something to complete, the kit encourages them to develop independence, tell stories, explore their creativity, and create tangible projects that capture their individual experiences and ideas.

And then comes my favorite part: those experiences ultimately become a book.

The finished book isn't just a collection of a child's work. It becomes a record of their imagination and a tangible piece of their story—something that can be looked back on years later. It functions both as a keepsake and as a piece of art created from the child's own perspective.

Maria asked me to help bring Teach and Play to life through video.

She came with the vision, the activities, the actors, and a very clear sense of what she wanted the project to communicate. My job was to step into that vision with my camera and capture the feeling behind it—the curiosity, connection, creativity, and joy that happen when children and parents create together.

It was such a wonderful experience to watch Maria's ideas unfold in front of me. There is something especially meaningful about collaborating with someone whose work has been part of my own children's lives. I had already seen the impact of her approach as their preschool teacher, and now I was getting to help tell the story of something she had created herself.

As a photographer and filmmaker, I love projects that have a genuine story behind them. Teach and Play gave me the opportunity to do more than simply document a product. I was able to help capture the why behind it—the belief that children have important stories to tell, and that sometimes the best way to help them tell those stories is simply to give them the tools, time, and freedom to create.

I’m so grateful Maria invited me to be a part of this project, and I’m incredibly excited to see where Teach and Play goes from here.

Knowing Maria, I have a feeling this is only the beginning.