November 2021: Gratitude!
Mindfully Experiencing Gratitude:
Gratitude can be an abstract concept for young children. Check out how we brought it into our hearts this month!
We have found that one of the best ways to help children grasp the idea of being thankful for something is by expanding their frame of reference to compare and contrast their lives with the lives of other children around the world. This has been such a fun and eye opening month here at SimpleLife as both parents and teachers gave presentations to the students about how children in other countries live.
As children noticed similarities and differences compared to their own lives, they innately started saying things like, “I’m glad that I have my toys”. “I’m glad I have my house and soft, warm, bed!”. “I like my mom’s food!” We informed them that what they were noticing is things they are grateful for and it was a joy to watch genuine gratitude bubble forth from these thoughtful children.
Africa Exploration
Miss Jenny lived in a Zambian village for two years as a Peace Corps volunteer.
This month, Miss Jenny brought many interesting photos, tools, instruments, clothes and stories about the children’s lives in Zambia. The students were fascinated and had endless questions about how people live without electricity or running water. They liked learning about how people make their own houses and musical instruments and how they have to grow or forage their food. They really liked hearing about how the Zambian children make their own toys and dance to the music they make themselves.
Our students quickly noticed that in the photos children had bare feet, old clothes, and slept on the floor. Without any prompting from the teachers the children started shouting out how much they like having all their clothes and blankets and beds. They really felt a sense of gratitude!
Exploring Homes and Kids Around the World
How are their lives similar and different from ours?
As we looked at photos, read books and listened to parents and teachers talk about what homes are like in other places of the world. The children became excited to build their own homes and play “village” during free play time. Teachers set out teepees in our classroom and the children built clusters of homes outside with cloth and play frames. As the play houses were small and many children crowded in them, we reminded them that in other parts of the world many people have to share one home and space is truly tight!
Some of the children even built their own “African House” out of sticks and grass and wood in the building area. Setting up their houses became a daily routine during their play. They were often heard outside saying, “Let’s play Africa! Let’s go find some food!”
Tools Exploration
This was an impromptu exploration brought on by the children’s curiosity!
As we studied lives of various cultures around the world, we noticed that people used a variety of different tools in their daily lives. So we decided to start a mini-exploration about tools. We learned about how many people in Africa make their own tools from resources they have around them. Thanks to one parent’s presentation on China, we even practiced using chopsticks as a tool to eat with. We decided we still need a lot of practice making them actually work for us!
We gathered and practiced using tools that we have here at the school. We practiced using creative tools like paintbrushes, scissors and glue sticks in the art studio this month. We even found that our own fingers can be tools to paint with!
Thankful Celebration
The grand finale to this month’s focus on gratitude!
For our Thankful Celebration, we spent the whole day celebrating things we are grateful for. We made thank you cards for our families with drawings of things at our homes that we are thankful for. We celebrated our gratitude for the food we have by having a Thankful feast; a tableful of delightful snacks. We showed our gratitude for nature and its bounty by working in the garden planting garlic. And we showed our gratitude for our bodies by moving them joyfully together, playing with our parachute in the beautiful fall weather. So many many simple joys in our lives to be grateful for!
