In improvisational teaching, both children and teachers are active contributors to the unfolding lesson. However, the way in which they participate is asymmetrical; children bring their ideas and questions to the interaction while teachers provide direction and guidance for the children’s further investigations and activities. Managing the curricular paradox between allowing children the space to articulate and explore their own ideas and leading them into valued disciplinary practices is an essential challenge for constructivist teachers. Without guidance, children are unlikely to discover disciplinary concepts on their own. Yet without opportunities for developing their own ideas, children’s thinking about the discipline is likely to be fragile or limited in scope. Disciplined improvisation is a valuable resource for managing this teaching paradox because it allows teachers to listen to children’s ideas in order to refine and extend their disciplinary significance.