Mindful, Cognizant & Eco-conscious

Rain, rain go away,

Petals wants to play INSIDE TODAY!

We start the day with a lot of excitement in class this morning. No rain has dampened our spirits today!

The tables were set up with playdough and colour sorting games. On the carpet, our lovely teachers had a little surprise for the children, shhhh…

 OH, what is this? It looks like our soft toys had or are having a picnic inside when we weren't her. Children walked in looking confused and excited at the same time. Some children argued that the toys were playing already (as if to complain that the toys were not listening). Others were just excited that the soft toys were playing and had come alive.

At the tables, children sat with Pauline and started playing with the playdough that Sayaka had helped us to make. This time around no one was bothered by the way it looked. For them, their imagination and creativity were much stronger than the visual they could see. Some children experimented with different patterns and designs. They recognized that they could layer different patterns to create a new design altogether.

J: I made dolphin Kiki, look!

R: Look….(he had made a new design)

E1: I am rolling it out.

E2: Look it is pasta

M: Look it’s coming out. It’s a start shape snake.

L: Oh no! (Looking shocked) Pauline it is stuck!

While some children enjoyed the playdough, others were having a ball with Sayaka at the carpet area. The children started feeding the animals the food but decided to go get some more. They all pretended to go on an “adventure”  to get food, but wait, what's this you are galloping? I see Sayaka is prompting them with actions to go get “food” for their animals.

Children ran, galloped, skipped and crabbed walked to their “food store” to get yummy treats for their animals. 

After our morning fun and snacks, we had circle time with Kiki. Today's learning center focused on being eco-conscious. As Ohana had its “No Plastic Friday,” it was the perfect time to discuss the topic. The focus of the lesson was to teach children to not waste water and tissue paper.

Kiki started by asking the children how the weather was.  They all agreed that it was raining. Kiki then asked, whey they think its raining, or why are the sky and sun sad today.

All: Looking confused.

Kiki: You see the sky and the sun is sad because lots of trees and plants are being cut! Do you know why?

All: No.

Kiki: You see lots of people are wasting things, like paper and tissues. Do you know where they come from?

R: Trees!

Kik: Exactly!

Kiki then explained that 1 tissue is equal to 1 tree. The more we use, the more trees get cut, which makes our Earth very sad, “That means no beautiful parks, no fresh air to breath, no beautiful flowers to see and to shade from the sun to relax in.” At this point, the children were all very concerned about it. Kiki then further explained and demonstrated the amount of tissue is actually needed in and out of the toilet. The consensus was, 2 squares for pee-pee and 4 squares for poo-poo, of course, we are allowed to use more if there is more to clean up, especially big pooh...hehe. As for facial tissues, 1 tissue can be used three times before throwing it away. To always check and see if it can be reused one more time, or is it falling apart. This went the same with water. Always making sure we turn off the taps, so we don’t waste water for our trees, sea creature and for us to drink.

The idea of taking care of the earth can seem overwhelming to kids, particularly given the scope of the problems facing their generation and the complexity of many of the issues involving the environment. By starting with basic concepts and introducing them at a young age, we can help our children become good stewards of the environment.

Kiki then ended the learning center with one of her favorite Earth songs, “One seed” by Laurie Berkner:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDtehB-BpIA

 One of the ways we can help kids understand the importance of being environmentally friendly is through the choices we make in our own lives, including the purchases we make. As parents and educators, we have the power to influence corporate decisions through our spending choices. We can influence our kids by showing them we care about the kind of products we purchase.

As always talking to kids about why we are buying certain items and why we are avoiding others is critical in helping them understand the need to be environmentally-friendly. For example, you can talk to your child about the need to avoid excessive packaging or how disposable items create too much trash. You may also talk about buying quality products that will last a long time, rather than buying cheaply-made items that will need to be replaced quickly.  Remember, the goal is not to brainwash your children, but instead create a learning environment that increases the likelihood of our children to have a concern for the world and its sustainability.

We then enjoyed a relaxing and cozy play time with our teachers in class. It was another popular vote for the marble tracks.

What do you like to do on a cozy rainy day?

We had a conscious and cozy filled day!

We hope you have a lovely afternoon and see you all next week.

Lots of love,

Conscious Petals Class 2018-2019