Health and wellbeing are very important parts of our lives.

Talking about health and well being helps children understand how to take care of their bodies and mind. It gives them language to express how they feel and that it is okay to talk about emotions like- sadness, anger, or worry. It also talks about the strategies that they can use to help make them feel better again. This month we enjoyed various activities to promote physical, mental and emotional well being.

Firstly, we began with reading a story called “be kind” and we got to make connections on how to be kind to our classmates, communities, families and ourselves. Here are some ideas that our preschoolers came up with on- How they get to be kind- “saying Hello to friends, sharing, giving hugs, making a picture and dancing together”.

We also talked about the “Coloured Zones” Blue meaning sad, Green meaning happy, Red meaning upset/Disappointed and yellow meaning frustrated/angry. We discussed about the ways that we can use to help our bodies and mind feel better again. Like- drink water, deep breaths, going to calming corner, asking for help, etc.

Now this was all about emotional wellbeing. So, to learn about Physical wellbeing children opened a dental clinic in the classroom and participated in learning about dental hygiene. They pretended to be dentists and had so much exploring the dental tools and teeth set that we have in our dental kit. We had a short discussion on happy tooth and sad tooth. We referred a healthy/strong/clean tooth as a “Happy Tooth” and weak/painful/tooth with cavity as a “Sad Tooth”. Children enjoyed being dentists- looking at each other mouths, checking the teeth set in the toy kit, spotting the Sad Tooth out and replacing it with a Happy Tooth. We extended this activity further by talking about foods and habits that causes “Sad Tooth”.

For this learning opportunity we began by having a large group discussion about various food items and categorized them into healthy and unhealthy food for our teeth and body. We also talked about the importance of brushing our teeth everyday. Then, children were provided with pictures of various foods and were invited to put in the mouth with Happy or Sad Tooth. They came one by one, showed what food picture they got to their friends and decided whether that food will make their teeth happy or sad. We ended our discussion by asking children their favourite healthy food. This activity also encouraged our quiet preschoolers to stand in front of friends and express their thoughts and perspective about food.

To continue with promoting overall wellbeing, we decided why to have all the physical activity in the playground, let’s bring it inside the walls too. So, our preschool class decided to have some fun by building an indoor obstacle course. We moved some furniture around gathered up- tape, wooden blocks, table and chairs and brainstormed what we can make. The educator put tape on the floor to mark a path for hopping. Then comes the wooden blocks- children decided to play “Floor is Lava” and we placed the blocks for them to walk on the Lava. After that, they had to crawl under the table and circle back to starting point. Overall, it was a fun indoor gross motor and turn taking experience for everyone. Children learnt how to wait in line without overtaking the friends in front of them. Some children were hesitant to step on the blocks with both feet but, they outgrew their fear with some help from the educators and developed confidence to balance and walk on blocks without touching their foot on the floor.

Moreover, to extend this topic we also practised some Yoga with our educator and it was a wonderful experience. Yoga is not only good for the body but also for the mind. They learned how to breathe deeply, stretch their muscles and relax. Doing yoga together also built a sense of teamwork and friendship. The children encouraged each another, laughed and enjoyed every pose. It was a fun way to stay healthy and strong.

In the upcoming months, we will continue to develop more fun ways to work on our overall wellbeing with our preschoolers.