"Activities"

When "Activities" appears on the daily schedule, what does it mean and why is it included?

A few times a week there is an half hour at the end of the day in which children can choose what they would like to do.  Here is a glimpse into what occured one day during "Activities". 

Several children were playing with play dough. They decided to have a bakery. Children at the next table were painting and decided to create signs for the bakery. One child was going around the room asking if anyone wanted to place an order.

At the bakery, one child was very busy making cookies. Another child noticed the growing number of cookies in front of him, and decided to count how many had been made. There were over 50. This inspired a goal to make 100. The goal was met with great excitement.  I was told I should make lots more play dough so each child in the class could make 100 cookies and we would have 1200!

Bakery

Making signs for the bakery

100 cookies

Next "Activity" time 301 cookies were made

Why is it important to have "Activities"?   A quick glance at the "Activities" time may  make this time appear just a filler, but with further inspection one can see a wide range of skills at work. Children having the opportunity to play is a crucial, but often overlooked part of early childhood.  It spurs creativity and playfulness and is essential to children learning.

Here are a few social skills often being used during this time:
-cooperation with others
-negotiations and conflict resolution
-planning with others to reach a goal
-effective communication
-building friendships

During this time children also play with ideas that they are learning, for instance:
-using writing skills to make signs
-acting out a story they heard in Latin class
-using math skills to divide up materials fairly (or figure out 12 x 100 = 12,000)