Over the summer, we overheard many of the children in Preschool 2 engaging in conversations about their similarities and differences. We decided to support this emerging and important topic through various experiences and conversations, which took place over several weeks.
One of the ways that we explored our unique characteristics was by creating self portraits using permanent markers and crayons. The children built a multitude of skills as they engaged with the art materials, flipped through diverse books, observed themselves in the mirror, and discussed their individual features. Fine motor skills and creative expression were strengthened as they practised making lines and shapes to create various facial features and body parts. "How do I make ears?" wondered Lincoln. The children explored and discussed their eye colours, skin tones, hair colours, lip colours, hair styles, ear shapes, and an abundance of other characteristics that make us who we are. "I have brown skin and stars in my hair" Leon announced. "I have golden eyes!" Gabriel explained. "My hair is so curly!" Millie said. We noticed confidence in the children as they described themselves, expressed their thinking, and explored several artistic styles and techniques.
We also engaged in a cut-and-paste activity with the children's own faces! For this experience, we printed out large pictures of each child's face, cut their faces into several pieces, and then the children worked to glue them back together on a piece of construction paper. They built cognitive thinking, spatial reasoning, hand eye coordination, problem solving, memory, concentration, language, and other skills as they assembled, arranged, rearranged, and secured their pieces in place. The children observed, named, and discussed their distinctive features such as eyes, nose, mouth, ears, neck, shirt, hair, forehead, eyebrows, teeth, and more. There was lots of laughter and excitement happening as the children fostered their creativity and sense of self. We loved watching as they demonstrated patience, resilience, and a sense of accomplishment and pride through their work.
It's important for us as educators to create an environment that allows each child to develop a positive self image, value uniqueness, and promote diversity and inclusion. As we get ready to send many of our preschoolers off to Kindergarten, we couldn't be more proud of the kind humans that they have blossomed into. We know that they will continue to grow their knowledge and understanding of themselves and others, bringing many meaningful curiosities and conversations with them to their new classrooms.
