During this observation I tried to pay close attention to how the children responded to one another. For some reason a lot of the children arrived hungry. For the majority of the observation the only thing you would hear was "when is snack"?
The days play was back to the train table where the children gathered to push their trains on the tracks. There's a child that loves the train table because he has the same exact table at home. The staff mentioned how he sometimes thinks its his table. He pushes children that gets in his way of moving his train on the track. This situation to me is a great situation to start the children off with making a dish that requires each of their help, with the need of sharing what they have to finishing the project. The children will not only be able to build on their social skills but literacy in hearing and responding to the other children as well. With the train station being an issue at times, I would make train cookies of multiple colors that represent the multi-colors of the trains they play with and have each child give their cookie to someone that don't have a cookie before enjoying their own. This activity would help in developing a more cooperative play for the future.
Hi Terri:
ReplyDeleteKids are always hungry, but that's disturbing that they were asking about eating. I only hope they are being fed well at home. Stuff happens and sometimes there isn't time, I'm sure. And speaking of food, your idea about using the cookies to practice sharing is good. I'm a total foodie, so incorporating anything involving food into the curriculum is fine by me!
Hi Terri!
ReplyDeleteUsing cookies would be great and that is sure to catch all the children's attention. Did you know that using a recipe with the children also builds mathematical skills? So not only like you mentioned will the children be "developing a more cooperative play for the future" but they will also be learning math! Since the majority of the children love playing with the trains using train cookie cutters will be super fun!
Hi Terri,
ReplyDeleteI hope that the teacher addressed the issue of the child physically touching other children. I think that introducing children to cooking is a great tool to help in a lot of developmental areas. I don't think that real cookies is a good idea because of the rate of obesity in young children. I think that you could use the same idea with the students making paper or pretend cookies in the dramatic play area. I was just a little confused about the activity observed and how it related to the extension activity.