One of our current focuses has been on Personal, Social and Emotional Development, particularly “understanding how others may be feeling” and to “find solutions to conflicts/rivalries”. We’ve had a week packed with fun activities to support the development of these vital skills.
Home Corner Role Play
As usual, our Little Forest Folk-ers have been amazing us with their constant kind words, developing cooperation and team spirit. To test and strengthen these skills, we created a home corner where children could work together towards shared goals.There was a kitchen with a stove top and fire, a washing line and a bucket full of clothes, a bedroom with an alarm clock and lots of comfy blankets, a pizza party and a dressing room/mirror. Our little adventurers got to discuss, consider and compromise on what to cook in the busy kitchen, kitted with a chef’s hat & apron, a cooker and a hob. Children took turns in the comfy cosy bed area, negotiating how long each person’s turn could be and they supported each other when hanging clothes on the washing line, showing friends how to pinch and close the peg to keep the clothing in place.
Maze of Feelings
Considering the Zones of Regulation, we created a large winding maze out of palettes and crates. To put our “feelings” twist on it, we decorated the maze with sensory mesh scarves of many colours. Our little explorers made their way through the maze and discussed with the educators the corresponding feelings to the colours they found. Through the maze were many hidden faces for the children to collect, and mark make in response to the feelings they had spoken about - how could we draw someone who’s feeling worried, how could we show that someone’s feeling giddy and excited?
“12 Children Counted… 12!”
We also had a classroom role-play where children assumed educator roles as a reward for excellent listening. Our little ones love nothing more than mirroring/role playing as the educators, doing head counts, reminding others of the rules and supporting daily transitions- so this was the perfect treat. They took responsibility by wearing lanyards, using walkie-talkies, and holding meetings while making sure everybody was listening and playing nicely! They checked in with the educators and made sure to lead the nature walks, following our ‘educator sandwich rule’- a reminder that when heading out on camp, one educator leads the pack and another keeps watch at back, and our little ones stay safe in the middle. They did a great job at being us for the day, we saw some great leadership skills!
Little Forest Folk
Fulham