C CREATIVE LEARNING ACTIVITIES FOR YOUNG CHILDREN Presented by: Ronald M. Quileste, MAEd School of Education Xavier university – Ateneo de Cagayan Corrales Ave., Cagayan de Oro City
Aug 12, 2015
C
CREATIVE LEARNING ACTIVITIES FOR YOUNG
CHILDREN Presented by:
Ronald M. Quileste, MAEd School of Education
Xavier university – Ateneo de Cagayan Corrales Ave., Cagayan de Oro City
Topic Outline
•Definition of Terms
•Kinds of Preschool Curriculums
•Learning Areas/Standards in Preschool
•Developmentally Appropriate Activities in
Preschool
•Workshop
Definition of terms:
• Learning Activities – are activities that enable the student(s),
through observation or participation, to achieve the learning
objectives. Examples include lecture, discussion, films, skills
demonstrations and practices, role-plays, small group activities,
reading and writing assignments.
• Learning Areas – are the subject areas present in the preschool
curriculum.
• Play – a learning activity that is characterized as fun and
enjoyable without the recipient being forced to do so.
Question #1
What are the Early
Childhood Curricula
Used Worldwide?
Kinds of Preschool Curriculum
• Montessori
• Parents as Teachers
• Project Approach
• High Scope
• Leap Frog Curriculum
• Bank Street
• HOSO Math/Science
• HIPPY Program
Kinds of Preschool Curriculum
•Reggio Emilia
•Anti-Bias Curriculum
•Waldorf
•Open Court Reading Program
•Constructivist Teaching
• Sesame Street Curriculum
Kinds of Preschool Curriculum
•Protect Zer0 (Multiple Intelligences)
•Arts-Based Curriculum
•Path-Social Emotional Curriculum
•High-Reach Learning Program
•Creative Curriculum
•Kindergarten Curriculum (Philippines)
Question #2
What are the Learning
Areas (Domains) in
Preschool?
FILIPINO
CHILD
LEARNING AREAS
•Language includes acquisition-learning of skills in listening, writing, speaking, and reading. Visual skills
will not be exclusively developed in this learning area;
hence, it is integrated to all learning areas.
•Science takes care of the development of the skills in body and the senses, animals, plants, and earth –
environment and weather.
•Mathematics or early numeracy develops skills in
number and numeration, operations on whole
number, space and measurement, and
probability and statistics.
•Physical Education, Health and Aesthetics helps
in the learners’ gross and fine motor
development, daily living skills, safety skills, music
and art production and appreciation.
Values Education and Social Studies hones the following values and attitudes.
• Self-respect
•Honesty and truthfulness
• Love and respect for family
• Love and respect for others
•Responsibility and accountability
•Care for the environment
• Love and respect for God
• Social responsibility
•Nationalism and patriotism
THEMES •Myself – concepts and ideas that help the learners
understand himself/herself better so that he/she will develop as an individual.
•My Family – concepts, ideas, practices that guides the child to be responsible and proud of himself and his family.
•My School – concepts, ideas, practices, and situations that help the child understand how to be an individual and socialize with other learners, teachers, school personnel and other members of the school.
•My Community – concepts, ideas, practices, situations, and responsibilities that the learner should
acquire and understand so that he/she will become
functional and responsive member of the community.
•More Things Around Us – all other concepts, ideas, practices, situations, and responsibilities not covered
by themes 1 to 4 but which may be relevant to the
community, culture, and interest of the leaner.
What are the Developmental Tasks
of Preschoolers?
Question #3
What are the Learning
Centers in a Preschool
Classroom?
Preschool Learning Centers
•Activities inside a preschool classroom should be situated around Learning Centers to organize the environment and curriculum.
•These planned areas (small sections) provide a physical structure that helps children see all the possible play and learning activities available to them.
•Centers can be set up in a variety of ways to
best accommodate the space. This individual
(or small group) time allows children to explore
new concepts through hands-on activities
rather than guided instruction.
Different Learning Centers
•Discovery, including sand and water play, large-muscle activity, movement
•Art and Music
•Socio-dramatic make-believe and role-playing
• Language (listening, speaking, reading, writing
•Viewing (Film, environmental symbols, etc.)
•Manipulatives, including small puzzles and finger toys, block building
•Science, including nature study
•Math
Question #4
What is Preschool
Play?
Preschool Play
•Play is the foundation for all
learning for young children, and
giving them time and a few
basic toys provide a variety of
valuable learning opportunities
“Play is how children begin to understand and process their world. Children's play unlocks their creativity and imagination,
and develops reading, thinking, and problem solving skills as well as further
develops motor skills. It provides the base foundation for learning.”
• Angie Rupan, Program Coordinator for Child Development Center in South San Francisco, CA and
early childhood educator for over 20 years.
Play
•Cognitive Levels:
a.Functional play
b.Constructive play
c.Dramatic play
d.Games with rules
Play
•Social Levels:
a. Solitary play
b. Parallel play
c. Group play
Question #5
How does a teacher
supervise and plan
play activities?
Observing Children’s Play
Sample Play Activities
Functional Play: Bead Stringing
Learning Areas: Motor development,
social skills, representational
development Instructions:
1. Provide children with beads and
lengths of string which are knotted at
one end.
2. Beads may be types of colored
macaroni.
Sample Play Activities
Functional Play: Bead Stringing
Cognitive Level
Functional Constructive Dramatic Games w/
Rules
Social Level
Solitary
Parallel
Group
Sample Play Activities
Constructive Play: Spider Webbing
Learning Areas: Mathematics, motor
development and social skills
Instructions:
1. Provide long lengths of yarn or
string for the children to make
spider webs on chairs and
objects in the classroom
2. Children wrap and unwrap the
yarn around objects, creating
“spider webs.”
Sample Play Activities
Constructive Play: Spider Webbing
Cognitive Level
Functional Constructive Dramatic Games w/
Rules
Social Level
Solitary
Parallel
Group
Sample Play Activities Dramatic Play: House Cleaning
Learning Areas: Social skills, motor
development, scientific processes
and language/ literacy development
Instructions:
1. Provide the children with brooms,
mops, sponges, water sprayers,
dust cloths, etc.
2. These items may be added to the
housekeeping center or to the
entire classroom.
3. The children may pretend they
are cleaning house.
Sample Play Activities
Dramatic Play: House Cleaning
Cognitive Level
Functional Constructive Dramatic Games w/
Rules
Social Level
Solitary
Parallel
Group
Sample Play Activities
Games with Rules: The Wheels on the
Bus
Learning Areas: Social skills,
Language/Literacy, Motor
development, Problem Solving
Lyrics:
The wheels on the bus go round and
round,
Round and round, round and round.
The wheels on the bus go round and
round all through the town.
Sample Play Activities
Games with Rules: The Wheels on the
Bus
Additional verses:
…Baby goes wah, wah, wah
…Lights go blink, blink, blink
…Driver says move on back, move
on back, move on back
…Money goes clink, clink, clink
…People go up and down, up and
down, up and down
Sample Play Activities
Games with Rules: The Wheels on the
Bus
Cognitive Level
Functional Constructive Dramatic Games w/
Rules
Social Level
Solitary
Parallel
Group
Workshop
•Directions: Given your play
materials, design a play activity
for your children and complete
the table below.
C
WHAT ARE DEVELOPMENTALLY
APPROPRIATE MATERIALS?
•Books and Records
•Board Games
•Active Play Materials (Indoor and
Outdoor)
•Puzzles and Form Boards
•Building Sets
•Carpentry
•Dolls and Soft Toys of Animals
•Dramatic Play Materials
•Sensory Materials
•Music and Art Materials
•Sand and Water
Books for Infants and Toddlers Should have . . .
•things to touch
•language that repeats over and over
again
•pictures of objects and words to match
Books for 2 –to –4 – year – olds should have . . .
•objects to identify
•language that builds or accumulates
•language that repeats and has
rhythm, like a song
•simple stories
•ideas that center around the child
REQUIREMENTS OF A GOOD IM
1. Meets student’s needs
2. Within student’s experience
3. Fits in well with the general program
4. Covers course adequately
5. Interests and stimulates students to learn
6. Appropriate to student’s educational and cultural background
7. Suitable to the situation in which they will
be used.
8. Suitable for use it is intended
9. Makes use of most appropriate methods
and techniques
10.Easy to use
11.Meaningful and natural
CRITERIA FOR SELECTING BOOKS
1. Theme
2. Plot
3. Content
4. Characterization
5. Style
6. Format
7. Illustration
8. Other considerations
Other External Factors to be considered:
•Is the layout and presentation clear or
cluttered?
•Is the material too culturally biased or specific?
•Do the materials represent minority groups
and/or women in a negative way? Do they
present a ‘balanced’ picture of a particular
country/society?
Culture Sensitivity
Culture Sensitivity
Culture Sensitivity
Stereotypes
Gender
Equality
Stigmas
Other Creative Activities
•Storytelling -Big books
-Design
-Font size and style
-Pictures
-Characters
-Plot
Other Creative Activities
•Puppet Show
•Role Playing
•Exhibits
Things to remember…
The Activities…
• Activities should involve (if possible) the child’s whole body
• Activities should interest the child
• Activities should address the learning objectives
• Activities should nurture and develop the children’s creativity
• Activities should promote social interaction
• Activities should develop children’s critical thinking skills
• Activities should be (if possible) play-based
Things to remember…
The Materials…
• Materials should be colorful and attractive
• Materials (such as art) should be cleaned thoroughly after use
• Materials (scissors) should be of plastic material
• Materials (paint) should be of high quality and non-toxic
C
FINALLY, REFLECT ON THIS…
The Animal School by Rev. Dr. Devorah Greenstein
•Many years ago, the animals in the Great
Forest decided that they wanted to start a
school for all their children. Until that time,
it had been the responsibility of parents to
teach their children the skills they needed
to know, but the animals in the Great Forest
wanted their children to learn from
professional teachers. So they organized a
school and hired staff.
•The teachers met and decided to provide a standardized educational curriculum to their animal students. So they adopted an activity curriculum consisting of swimming, running, flying, and climbing. All the animals took all the subjects – because it was very important to them that no child be left behind. To ensure that students were progressing satisfactorily, standardized achievement tests were administered to all students.
•Here's what happened. The ducks were excellent in
swimming. In fact, the ducks were better than their
teacher. But some of the ducks made only passing
grades in flying and all of them were very poor in
running. Since they were slow in running, they had to
stay after school for remedial running practice, and they
had to drop swimming in order to practice running
during their swimming class time. This was kept up until
all the ducks‘ webbed feet were very sore. And the ducks
were so tired, that soon they were only average in
swimming. But average was acceptable in school, so
nobody worried about that – except the ducks.
•In running, the rabbits started at the top of the class, but they did very poorly in swimming. Also, the rabbits insisted on hopping around, and the teachers were concerned about their hyperactivity – so they made the rabbits walk everywhere instead of allowing them to run or hop. And the rabbits had to come in early every day for special swimming class. Many of the younger rabbits developed severe fur problems because they were having to spend so much time in the swimming pool.
•The squirrels were excellent in climbing and
running. In fact, the squirrels were the best
students at climbing the standardized tree. But
they wanted to fly by first climbing the tree, then
spreading their paws, and gliding to the ground.
(That's the way squirrels fly.) But in flying class
their teacher made them start on the ground
instead of at the treetop, and the squirrels were
not mastering the course material.
•So every day, the squirrels had therapy – a flying
therapist took the squirrels into the gym and made
them do front-paw exercises to strengthen their
muscles so they could learn to fly the right way.
The squirrels' paws hurt so much from this
overexertion that some of them only got a C in
climbing. Some of the squirrels failed climbing
altogether.
•The eagles were definitely problem children – in climbing class, the eagles beat all the others to the top of the tree, but they insisted on using their own way to get there and were quite stubborn about it. The eagles said that clearly it was the goal that mattered, and that it was quite right for eagles to get to the treetop by flying. The school psychologist diagnosed them as having oppositional-defiant disorder. (That's a real diagnosis that some children are given in school.) A strict behaviour modification plan was developed for the eagles.
•We can end this story in
two ways:
1. A happy ending.
2. A sad ending.
Thank you and
Namaste!
References:
• Aguirre, Roderick Motril. (2014). Kindergarten Curriculum and Instruction.
Department of Reading and Literacy, College of Languages, Linguistics
and Literature, Philippine Normal University, Philippines
• Aguirre, Roderick Motril. (2014). Preschool Play and Developmentally
Appropriate Activities. Department of Education. Republic of the
Philippines.
• Stone, Sandra J. (2001). Playing: A Kid’s Curriculum. Harper Collins publishers.
• http://www.bostonchildrensmuseum.org/power-of-play
• http://raisingchildren.net.au/articles/why_play_is_important.html
• http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/why-children-need-play-0