January 2022: Keeping Our Bodies Healthy!
Exploring diversity, health, and body functions!
Our delightful differences…
This month the children went into great depth learning about our bodies! Our delightful differences and similarities, how to take care of our body, and even human anatomy and function! We celebrated Martin Luther King Jr. and diversity. The children used their 5 senses in their mindfulness practice, exploring art, nature, and academics.
With the new year, teachers introduced some new games and activities with steps and rules. The maturity the children displayed was exciting and we will continue these types of activities over the remainder of the school year.
We luckily got to have some fun in the snow this month, (and mud!) The children have become proficient at putting on their outdoor clothing each day. Although there hasn’t been a lot of snow, it has been very cold. We explored in our outdoor classroom every day.
How can you take care of your body?
There is so much more to our health than exercise and nutrition…
We mindfully focused on the different ways to take care of our bodies. Such as nutrition, exercise, positive affirmations, sleep, kindness, being in nature, reading, and hygiene.
We played “Healthy or not so healthy?” Where the children got to decide what foods are good for us to eat all of the time and what foods we should only have sometimes. We made hard boiled eggs and pumpkin muffins for snack, yum! We were also able to get practice on hand washing, tissue use, and covering our sneezes and coughs. We explored other ways to take care of our bodies such as exercise/movement, brushing teeth, taking baths, sleeping, mindfulness, and many more! There is so much more to our health than exercise and nutrition, we promote this at SimpleLife by modeling, encouraging, and creating a loving environment where the children can express themselves openly and honestly.
We had so much fun playing with the doctor toys. The children enjoyed taking turns playing doctor and patient, and taking care of all the classroom baby dolls. A family surprised us by donating REAL child sized stethoscopes to our school! All the children sat quietly listening to their heartbeat, then again after we did some exercises.
Exploring Anatomy and Body Functions:
Listen to your body…
We started by reviewing the body parts we can see. Then we used books to show us what is on the inside of our body. The children learned about the functions of our skeletal, muscular, nervous, digestive, and cardiovascular systems. We used different mediums to practice such as the plexiglass board, drawing and labeling a picture, working on a body anatomy puzzle that a family shared with us, and making a life-size body of ourselves!
Body awareness is so important. We often say “listen to your body”, teaching children that taking care of your body’s needs comes first and foremost. At this age children are also developing their body’s spatial awareness. We get lots of practice moving our bodies in yoga, dance, and outdoor play. At SimpleLife we promote respect toward all bodies, including your own.
Celebrating Diversity:
“The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus charter - that is the goal of true education.”
~ Martin Luther King Jr.
It cannot be expected of young children to truly understand oppression, but children can be taught to stand for equality. Children have innate love for everyone. At SimpleLife we strive to represent inclusion in all forms. Teaching children about Dr. Martin Luther King can be tricky, but the children at SimpleLife understood the importance of allowing children to learn and play together, no matter what their skin color is. We read “Just Ask” by Sonia Sotomayor to help children understand diversity within our physical and learning capabilities.
We used Colors of the World Crayons to make paper doll chain decorations for the children to take home. We celebrated by going on a march, waving flags, clapping hands, and singing out words of virtue. The smallest voices can make the biggest impact; these children are the advocates of the future!!!
Art Exploration:
Winterscapes, Finger Painting, and Wooden Sculptures
The children used multiple mediums to create a winter scene. By painting, glueing, and maneuvering cotton balls and styrofoam across a blue paper we had a variety of winter-scapes from light snowfalls to blizzards.
We explored finger painting and color mixing by creating an individual handprint to celebrate their individuality and a large mural to represent unity. We let the children choose two primary colors that they mixed with their hands, they really enjoyed the way the paint felt on their fingers, they made predictions about how the colors would change with different mixing. We did the mural in the driveway to give us plenty of room, although it was a beautiful and sunny day, little hands were cold! The resilience of children is admirable and there were still smiles all around.
Assembling and painting wooden sculptures may have been a favorite among the children! First we reused pieces of wood, sticks, and old building blocks to adhere to a square base. We used paint brushes and wood glue to bond our structures. After the glue had dried the children spent time painting their masterpiece. They were so engaged and happy listening to music and expressing their creativity in SimpleLife School’s soothing ambiance.
Not only is art fun, but it is a valuable time to process the world and your emotions in a safe way.
