The educators wanted to spark an interest for the toddlers, so what better way to do so, when also talking about Groundhog Day. Before we started the activity, educator Sara explained to the children that today was Groundhog Day. If the groundhog saw his shadow winter will be longer, and if he didn’t see his shadow, spring is coming soon. Sara then proceeded to hand out flashlights to the children. They were asked to go around the class and find all the groundhogs. The children were so excited to go around with the flashlights and find all the groundhog pictures posted around the room. Sara asked the children if they could see any shadows. Raiden yelled "I see them!" Hannah added, "I see too!" The children practiced turn taking as they had to share the flashlights with their peers. The children loved going around and making sure they found all the groundhogs.
We believe setting up provocations for the children is an important part of the children's day as it allows the educators an opportunity to expand the learning and the interests of the children.
To continue to encourage turn taking, sharing, and patience, we can explore more shadows inside with different animal shadows, or shapes. We can even go outside and find each other’s shadows once the sun is out.
