The children in Preschool 2 at RisingOaks | Oak Creek have been showing an interest in garbage trucks through their free play and social conversations. To build off of their genuine interest and natural curiosity, we decided to collaborate with the children in designing a garbage truck for our classroom. We used a large cardboard box to create our garbage truck, and the children worked together to paint it. “Garbage trucks are green!”, one child explained. The children used glue sticks to attach features such as wheels and lights to the truck, strategically discussing the placement of each item. The preschoolers demonstrated patience and excitement as we waited for the paint to dry.
When it was time to put the garbage truck into action, the children got straight to work! Optimal conditions for learning unfolded as the children were fully engaged in their work. They filled garbage bags with pretend food items, wooden blocks, and other items that they collected from around the classroom. They worked independently and as a team to fill many garbage bags, empty them into the garbage truck, drive the garbage truck along the road, and pour the garbage out into the landfill! The children demonstrated collaboration, communication, and problem solving as they worked together to push the truck along the road and tip the truck to pour the garbage out. The children would transport the garbage from the tuff tray to the sensory bin, and then back to the tuff tray again. They repeated this several times, strengthening many skills along the way. “We need to get this garbage out of this home!” One child announced. “Dump, dump! Dump the garbage out!” Another child shouted with excitement. “It’s super full!” A child said as he held up his full bag of garbage with pride. So many opportunities for the children to test theories and engage in creative thinking occurred through the children’s active play and engagement with our homemade classroom garbage truck.
We have continued to scaffold on the children’s growing knowledge in garbage trucks and their role in our community. We have implemented additional resources and activities to challenge thinking and provoke learning. One of the ways that we did this was by introducing different categories of garbage and recycling. We labeled buckets with visuals such as “paper”, “metal”, “plastic”, and “organic”, and provided many cut outs of various items in each category. Some of the older preschoolers worked to identify, classify, and sort the items into the corresponding buckets. Some of the younger preschoolers enjoyed filling and transporting the items around in the buckets and incorporating them into their play around the classroom. The assorted garbage cut outs inevitably made their way into our classroom garbage truck! The children enjoyed sitting inside of the garbage truck as well, taking turns driving, honking their horn, giving directions, picking up garbage, and carrying out endless pretend play tasks. We also added recycling bins and small garbage cans to our dramatic play area, allowing the children to implement them into their pretend play in any way that they choose. We provided an open-ended art experience for the children, allowing them the opportunity to create their own individual 2D garbage trucks with paper and many loose parts. The children added wheels and lots of pretend garbage to their trucks! They continue to demonstrate their increasing understanding of garbage trucks through their investigations, inquiries, and play in our classroom. We look forward to continuous building off of this interest and providing future opportunities for the children to contribute to their own curriculum.
“Through opportunities to engage with and make contributions to the world around them, children develop a sense of belonging and connectedness to their local community, the natural environment, and the larger universe of living things.” (How Does Learning Happen? Ontario's Pedagogy for the Early Years, page 25).
