Purpose: This
project gets the whole child involved.
The children can see the things that are similar amongst themselves as
well as their differences. These
creations can be referred to again and again as you discuss the senses or
health issues or math (count the legs, eyes, etc.).
Like All About Me #1 this activity offers children an opportunity to tell their own stories.
As children dictate their stories they see that their spoken words can be
written down and read back. This helps them see that printed words have
meaning, a critical early stage of learning how to read and write.
Materials/Advance Preparation:
- Large roll of paper
- Markers or paints
- Writing paper
Directions:
- Do a full body tracing of a child. The child lies down on the
paper and an adult traces the outline of the child with a pencil.
- Help the child “dress” him/herself by coloring in clothes or painting
them. Take the time to talk about what kinds of clothes the child likes to
wear, favorite colors, where the child might wear these clothes.
- Help them pay special attention to the face. What are the features of
the face? This is a good opportunity to talk about the senses. What do we
do with our mouths? What are our ears for?
- Prepare a piece of writing paper and have
each child dictate a few facts,
such as: “My name is Johnny. I am four years old. I like to play soccer.”
This is powerful preparation for learning to read and write. The child can learn to read or
recognize the words that they have dictated. Younger children can see their
names and learn to recognize the letters.
- Attach this personal description to the chest of the body tracing.
- Hang this up on the wall.
(You may want
to trim the tracings to conserve wall space.) Make sure to
visit these creations often before you send them home. You could also leave
them up for a long time and point out how the children have changed. Another possibility is changing the writing after a few months when the
children have new things to say about themselves.
- Allow children to talk about each other’s creations. What do they notice?
Notes: This project can take several days. Break it up
into manageable parts. Children love the finished product.
Eric Gidseg
All About Me #2