“Voices of Care, Hearts in Action” – Last week, Little Atlas Preschool dedicated a special activity to celebrating and appreciating our grandparents! The primary objective was to foster love and a sense of gratitude towards our grandparents by encouraging children to express their appreciation in meaningfully creative ways.
We began by inviting children to share their best memory of their grandparents during a Show-and-Tell. The children eagerly recounted a variety of heartwarming stories, such as eating together at dinner time and playing games in the park. We realised that children are capable of reflecting on their experiences and understand the importance of spending quality time with their families. They could verbally talk about the concept of ‘love’ and why we need to care for those whom we love.
Following the Show-and-Tell, the teachers introduced an event, “A Day with Grandparent(s)”, where children would be placed in charge of planning a day out with one of their grandparents. On this day, children would interact meaningfully and bond with their elderly family member. This propelled the children into thinking about their grandparents’ interests, likes and dislikes, as well as making consideration towards their needs/abilities. However, there are also a group of children whose grandparents are no longer with them. An empathetic approach was used, where children were led to talk about and identify people who cared for them outside of their own parents. This includes aunts, uncles, family friends, and helpers. We decided to include these people to our initiative as well because we wanted to show them that they are also appreciated.
Our young innovators engaged in a lively discussion about the different activities they could include in this event. Suggestions ranged from visiting the zoo, reading stories, and gardening, to having a tea party. One underlying principle stood out clearly – the children wanted to focus on what they think their grandparent/caregiver/loved ones would enjoy the most and add it to the itinerary.
Ideas turned into action as our little innovators charted the sequence of events onto an activity sheet. With remarkable independence and enthusiasm, they carefully worked out each detail, the best timings to carry them out, as well as the materials needed to realise their plans. Many children demonstrated a growing ability to think critically and empathetically. The children then brought their plans home to discuss with their parents and arrange the logistics for a special day out with their grandparent/caregiver/loved ones. Take a look at the outcome of our children’s splendid efforts!
“A day out with my Po Po” - Amelia (K1)
“My Ah ma” - Yu Chen (N2)
“My Grandma bring me and Mei Mei see turtles near her house” - Zareth (N2) & Azea (N1)
“We like to go to Nai Nai and Ye Ye house” - Noah (N2) & Renee (N2)
Through this event, children developed an invested interest and engagement with their plans and were proactive in ensuring that their grandparents felt loved and appreciated. Their family bonds were strengthened and children’s socio-emotional abilities were enriched. Not only did children come to learn about the value of gratitude and showing affection in their relationships, but they also derived joy from giving back to those who cared for them. It was a beautiful demonstration of the theme, “Voices of Care, Hearts in Action”; helping children make their love and care visible.
