A favorite January project is cutting out snowflakes and talking about them. Kids seem to like the idea that: No 2 snowflakes are alike. They are all different, even when they don’t completely understand same/different.
That’s a good thought for today: No 2 people are alike. Just like snowflakes they are all different.
This project I saw on the weekend from No Time For Flashcards is a wonderful way to make people faces that are all different. Round up some bottle caps — we had to put some things in other sized containers so that we could use the small lids! Plasticine or playdough can be used in a variety of colors for faces. Talk with your little one about faces and people. Does everybody have 2 eyes? Yup, that’s the same. Are everybody’s eyes the same color? Check out the eyes at your house. How about noses? Looks like everybody has one of those and a mouth, too. A moustache? No, only some people have those. Draw some different expressions of mouths and eyes, too.
This is a fun activity and it helps with readiness for kindergarten. Practicing making faces helps children to focus on faces and figure out what other people’s faces are saying. When children go to kindergarten, they are placed in large groups of kids with usually only 1 or 2 adults. Helping children to develop relationships with other kids will not have the same kind of adult guidance and support as before. One way to support kindergarten readiness is to help kids practice figuring out what other people are saying with their face.
(Check out the inspiration for this post at: https://www.notimeforflashcards.com/2011/06/diy-mr-playdough-face.html
Reading faces is important for relating to others. Martin Luther King Day is about our relationships with others and this activity is another way of helping children develop an appreciation for how people are the same and different and communicating with faces.