Soon it will be time to put a face on the pumpkin and the only limit is imagination. Reading faces is an important social skill for more than kindergarten readiness. Gwen Dewar from Parenting Science writes “The evidence is accumulating: Good social skills may depend on the ability to decipher facial expressions, particularly…in the eye region,” (DeClerk and Bogart, 2008).
Like other skills, reading expressions is something that children learn from practice and experience. Before carving the jack-o-lantern face, talk with your child about faces and what they show. Make a few exaggerated ones showing happy, sad, angry, scared, and maybe bored, nervous, sleepy, etc. Together you and your child can look in the mirror and practice some faces. Guide your child to notice how parts of the face change for different expressions, especially in the eyes, encouraging recognition of facial expressions.
Dewar also states “…experiments suggest that people who are better at identifying fearful facial expressions are also more kind and generous towards others,” (Marsh et al, 2007). To help with that, make some scary faces, too. Making all kinds of faces in the mirror is not just preparation for carving pumpkins, but great fun and readiness for kindergarten learning at the same time. Does this put a smile on your face?
