Last week, I visited a class that was making doves as part of their study of peace and MLK. As I observed this class, it was clear to both the teacher and I that this project was a cute idea on paper but pretty worthless when it came to process…
That’s the tricky thing about selecting activities for preschoolers to do. What may seem like an idea that fits perfectly with your theme and may even look adorable when it is all done, just isn’t all that fun for kids…
The teacher had prepared the doves by cutting and folding all the paper plates. I think the children could have probably cut and folded their own paper plates but for some reason this was already done for them. Perhaps it was because there would only be a limited amount of time and too many kids. Hmmm, time and numbers of children needs to be considered when choosing an activity…
The teacher also stapled all the pieces together while the children looked on. Hmmm, perhaps another something that the children could try to do…
Now this post isn’t to dog this teacher. I have seen this class engaged in wonderful activities throughout the school year. This just wasn’t one of those days or ideas that was working quite as planned and the focus on the process was lost in the midst of trying to expand on the concept of peace.
The teacher mentioned that she had thought about having the children paint their doves white but since the paper plates were already white – that just didn’t seem to make sense either…
Hurray! There was something to do. The children put glue on their beak and eyeballs and stuck them to their folded paper plate doves…
Have you ever just had one of those days where what you planned seemed so cool but you ended up doing most of the work? Â The doves ended up being quite cute to look at on the table but the process didn’t lead to much discovery or creativity.
As teachers, we are always learning to look past how cute an art activity looks in a book or photo and instead think about what will the kids will actually get to do. Â There really needs to be something for them to do!