Introduction
The following is reflection of the planning, implementation and evaluation of infancy learning experiences that took place at Donald Cousens Children’s Centre. The learning experience was titled “light box sensory experiences” with the main developmental focus being on cognition. The study involved two children, Zoey aged 2 years and Yiany aged 18 months who took part in an exercise where they glued some pompom balls on a drawing, an exercise designed to test their skills, behaviors and interests.
Plan
After the lesson had ended, we organized some children around a table for them to take part in an exercise dubbed “stick pompoms” activity. Zoey was the first to pick up a red pompom which she stuck on the drawing of a sheep made on a green paper. She held the gluestick and glued the paper after which she placed a plum stick beside the red pompom.
As the session continued a child tried to clap his hands when I sang “Baa Baa black sheep” with Yiany, aged 18 months. The children had just finished their snacks and while some went to the gym, three of them were left in the room waiting for a diaper change. In this case, I observed the interest in smaller child to copy things done by adults and other bigger children. It shows that a lot of learning in toddlers is through observation and copying.
As children picked up the pompoms and glued them on the drawing of a sheep, it acts to develop their motor skills as they have to make numerous motions with their hands, head, and legs. In addition, the gluing activity also required the children to use pompoms of different colors and this helps to develop their personal aesthetics and remote identification of colors (Best Start Expert Panel on Early Learning, 2007). In all, the combination of good motor skills brings about coordination and hand skills useful in art and when combined with the ability to match colors, and glue things on drawings, it sparks off some artistic creativity in children (Best Start Expert Panel on Early Learning, 2007).
The repetition of this exercise thrice per week maintains the momentum of getting the children to learn motor, artistic, coordination and creativity skills. I will be staring this activity in the morning when I have three or more children in class. I will have the children engage in the exercise for the entire morning sessions to allow all children enough time to complete the task. Having the children participate in 3 hour sessions of the activity will avoid monotony and the children will always look forward to the activity. They can glue different things such as pieces of cloth or some small pebbles of different colors on drawings of different objects and/or animals. If children engage in this activity for 2 months they will have acquired all the skills they are expected to learn from the activity.
The children enjoyed gluing. They were really interested and wanted to spend more time gluing pompoms and this creative process needs more time to develop their creativity.
Implementation
The implementation of the activity entails gathering the materials (paper, glue, pompoms). I then made a drawing of a sheep on each of the papers for the children but they were to pick pompoms from a single bowl and share the glue. I showed the children how to glue the pompoms on the drawing and they proceeded on their own. The children were able to glue the pompoms on the drawing with ease and they enjoyed the activity.
Jocelyn’s completed work
Yiany Akira’s work.
Evaluation
The children learnt how to glue things on drawings. The two children were successful in placing almost all the pompoms inside the drawings. Yiany had better distribution of the pompoms although a few of them went out of the drawing. She selected many big pompoms with an even combination of bright and dull colors. Jocelyn on her part concentrated her pompoms on the central part of the drawing and preferred small pompoms of dull colors.
My plan of showing guiding the children on how to glue the pompoms worked. The children managed to do most of the work on their own without my assistance. In included several bright pompoms to excite the children and have them enjoy the activity more. However, some few things that did not work well were that I omitted instructing the children on the finer details of handling the task such as choice of colors and sizes of pompoms.
I can make this exercise better by including some other materials to be glued to the drawing. Some sticks could be added for the children to glue them as legs, some small pieces of cloth as ears and any other materials that are a better representation of the actual thing. Moreover, the inclusion of drawing of varied animals and objects such as trees, chairs, cars among others would challenge the children and make the gluing task more interesting. Clear explanations are good to guide the children but I will leave children to express their creativity.
References
Best Start Expert Panel on Early Learning (2007). Early Leaning for Every Child Today: Framework For Ontario Early Childhood Settings. Toronto, ON: Ontario Ministry
