Dimensions of Early Childhood - Southern Early Childhood ...

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• sorting boxes into groups (for example, gift boxes, or colored boxes) She remembered she had her center’s curriculum standards at home, so she pulled out the guide to find other content areas that might be taught with a box theme. She happily noted that some of the science guidelines were pertinent to the theme as well. • Investigate unfamiliar objects. (Mrs. Keenan thought she could find boxes that had compartments inside them. Oddly shaped boxes would be useful, too.) • Observe changes in objects. (cut, fold, paint, or decorate boxes) • Describe objects using scientific words. (some of the vocabulary terms are scientific words) • Design science constructions. (ask children to create box sculptures, collages, or pretendplay props such as rockets or school buses) “I’m on the right track with this theme,” Mrs. Keenan said. “Now I need to get back to my classroom and start organizing some materials and lessons so the children will learn at their maximum potential.” Pulling the Theme Together Mrs. Keenan’s experience with thematic unit development is based on her understanding of young children’s learning. She knows that much of children’s learning is accomplished through encounters they have with interesting people, Photos courtesy of the authors Families often have boxes they’re willing to share. This treasure chest was a great focus to captivate children’s interest. places, and objects in their environment. In her classroom, she depends on numerous child-directed, teacher-guided play activities to enable children to develop concepts about their world. Her planned curriculum connects children’s experiences with the life of the classroom as recommended by early childhood experts (Feeney, Christensen, & Moravcik, 2006; Wardle, 2003; Warner & Sower, 2005). Mrs. Keenan’s planned instructional activities are relevant to children’s lives, meaningful to them on a personal level, and engage their Connect children’s experiences with life! participation. Children must be actively involved in classroom activities for learning to occur. Integrating the theme into a variety of largegroup, small-group, and center experiences for children makes the learning more interesting for children’s young minds (Henniger, 2005). Mrs. Keenan knew that conceptualizing the theme is the first step in planning a unit, and she had done just that. The next step is to select some activities to explore with children to accomplish learning goals, such as her child care center’s curriculum standards. Most of the activities that Mrs. Keenan used are described in the remainder of this article. However, she also realized that integrating activities into daily routines provided essential skill development (see Figure 3). And she knew that often, one activity would lead to something else that was suggested by children’s questions and interests. The cardboard box explorations described here are designed for 12 Volume 35, Number 1 DIMENSIONS OF EARLY CHILDHOOD Winter 2007
Figure 3. Skills Children Develop Through a Box Theme Curriculum Area Skill Area Integrated Activities Language Arts Social Studies Begins to express thoughts, feelings, and ideas through language as well as through gestures and actions. Contributes to the classroom community. Recognizes cause-and-effect relationships. Children talk about their box sculptures and the various ways boxes are used. Children collaborate as they build large box sculptures and structures together. Children take pride in each other’s accomplishments. Children decide whether to display their box prints on a bulletin board. Children bring boxes from home to add to the classroom variety. Children discover the effects of mixing various colors of paint. Boxes are multicultural, non-biased materials. They are also inexpensive (usually free) and serve multiple purposes. For example, boxes could be added to the home living center, used to create box constructions, taped securely and used to build and stack within the block center, or used as scoops with wood shavings in the sensory table. Each activity leads to something else. Fine Arts Social Development Creates original work. Uses colors, textures, and shapes to create form and meaning. Shares and cooperates with others. Children discover what happens when tape is positioned on a wrapped box. Children use various media to wrap boxes and decorate their box sculptures. Children share ideas about their artwork in centers and during group time. Assorted media in the art center encourage experimentation (paint, markers, chenille sticks, stars, stickers, construction paper, sponges, cookie cutters, sandpaper, shredded paper, glue). Children work together to use boxes to build constructions. While some of the learning experiences described here may require verbal explanations by a teacher, they are designed to build on children’s knowledge and skills and to maximize their involvement. Creative teachers and children will invent many other possibilities for exploring the potential of boxes. Fine-Motor Development Science and Mathematics Begins to develop friendships with others. Responds to the suggestions of others. Begins to show self-control and self-direction in learning. Begins to develop pincer control. Begins to hold art tools with fingers (instead of with a fist). Solves simple design problems. Gathers information using simple tools. Begins to make size comparisons. Matches objects that are alike. preschoolers, ages 3 and 4. Suggested activities have been provided to engage young children and challenge their wide range of skills in developmentally appropriate ways. This topic provides hands-on learning with items that are familiar to young Children become friends as they play together. Classroom leaders emerge as children work together. Children begin to show turn-taking skills as they create projects. Several children use brushes, crayons, and tongs designed to encourage maturity of their grasp. Children become more proficient with art tools as a consequence of activities provided for them in the art center. Children make box sculptures, individually or in small groups. Children use nonstandard measuring tools to measure boxes to determine which ones are similar. Children sort and match boxes by their shapes and sizes. children. By exploring boxes, children build on and extend their knowledge. To further involve children and their families, ask them to bring boxes to share. An ideal time is after the December holidays, especially if teachers ask for boxes in advance. Fine-Motor Activities Sort sizes and colors. Place several colored, tiny boxes and three or four larger boxes on a small table. Provide large tongs (for beginners) and smaller ones (such as a strawberry huller or ice tongs) to make the activity more challenging. Three or more sizes of small boxes provide a variety of options, based on children’s abilities. Children sort the boxes by color and/or size. Young children can also stack boxes from largest to smallest. Or they can attempt to balance boxes by starting with the smallest. They could also fit boxes one inside the other, an excellent way to estimate dimensions. Wrap gifts. Children use wrapping paper, ruler, tape, ribbon, and children’s scissors to wrap boxes. Better yet, children create their own wrapping paper with paint, stickers, Winter 2007 DIMENSIONS OF EARLY CHILDHOOD Volume 35, Number 1 13
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