being.htm

BOOK ABOUT ME: A YEAR LONG COLLECTION

Benefits: A compilation of experiences over a year can enhance a child's feelings of accomplishment and sense of self.

Materials: Folders to store children's work in, materials to cover and bind their work at the end of the year.

Groundwork: Prepare folders in which to save each child's work.

The Experience:
Include photographs of the child being physically capable, expressing her feelings, playing with a friend, or taking pride in an accomplishment. Fall and spring pictures may indicate how she has grown and changed.
Save the child's personal products - a collage of favorite foods, hand and foot prints, her autograph, or perhaps a page with everyone's autograph. Include products from many of the experiences in AS I AM: MENU MAKING, THREE CHEERS FOR ME, and MY STORY.
Covers may be as simple as a piece of folded construction paper, or as elaborate as a laminated hand print. Allow the children to participate in compiling their work, making the cover, and putting the book together.
Before they take them home, talk with the children individually about the pages in their books. This is a chance to celebrate who they are, enhance self-awareness, record growth, and capture memories.

BOOK ABOUT ME: FOR PARENTS

At Preschool: One of the most important things we do is to help your child learn more about herself. This is part of developing a self-concept. We take photographs of her doing all kinds of things. We look in mirrors, make life-size portraits, and talk about her. Many of her words, works of art, and photos will go in a BOOK ABOUT ME that she will bring home at the end of the year.

Why We Do
What We DO: We all benefit from knowing about ourselves. This knowledge, our self-concept , helps us make decisions about what we do throughout our lives. You might become a carpenter because you know that you like to work with wood and you are good with your hands. You take pride in what you like about yourself and learn to accept or change what you don't like. Children need to develop accurate self-concepts.

What You Can
Do at Home:
Collect family photographs and look at them with your child. Put them in an album that she can get out and look at whenever she wants. Include photos of her and other family members: aunts, cousins, grandparents, or pets. They are all part of who she is.
Use specific comments to praise your child for her accomplishments. "I like it when you put your toys away. That helps me." 'You look very pretty today. I like you in red."
Encourage your child to take pride in her appearance by learning to wash her hands, comb her hair, and pick out her clothes. Let her look in a mirror to appreciate her work.
Talk with your child about her likes and dislikes, favorite foods, best friend, and feelings. Listen to her ideas, accepting them without judgment.

NAME GAMES: USING CHILDREN'S NAMES EVERY DAY

Benefits: Frequent and creative use of children's names shows respect for them as unique individuals and increases self-awareness.

Groundwork: For most people, names are an important symbol of who they are and often the source of strong feelings. At the beginning of the year, or when a new child enters, make sure you are using the correct version of everyone's name Becoming comfortable and familiar with their own names and those or the others in the classroom is one way young children develop awareness of their separate identities.

The Experience:
Early in the school year, talk about names - their importance, why we have them, and where they come from. "It's your own special gift from your family." Share something about your name with the children. How did you get it? Do you like it, or not? What's your "middle" name or nickname? Ask questions about their names. Then, throughout the year, make a point of using names each day in many ways. Here are a few suggestions:
- On first arrival greet each child by name. Notice something particular: "Good morning, Patty. You got wet this morning." "Hello, John. You're wearing a smile." From time to time, touch children in a way that is comfortable for you and them (on the hand, shoulder, or top of the head) as you use their names.
- When singing a song or reading a story, try substituting a child's name for the main character's. 'Judy Had a Little Lamb.' "Joel and Heather Went up the Hill."
- Have children leave a group one at a time as their names are called or sung. This is a good listening activity, helps children learn the names of the others, and allows teachers to set the pace as the group moves from one activity to another.
- Print each child's name on sturdy tag board. As the year goes on, some children will become interested in the "look" of their names. Don't feel compelled to teach them the letters, however. They will be learning them soon enough in school. In small groups of five to eight, play name recognition games. Hand the name card to each child as she recognizes her name. Later in the year. some children also may begin to recognize the names of others.
- When parents, substitutes, or other guests are in the classroom, make sure you introduce them. Have them share something interesting about their names. Do this with a few children or at circle time with the whole group. Give your guests the option of sharing in this way. Also, if the children wear name tags, visitors can learn and use their names.

Reflections: Some children will be shy about being singled out or having special attention paid to them. Note this and watch for changes as the year progresses. Most children will come to enjoy the recognition that comes with the use of names. With the child who truly seems to be embarrassed, don't push. Recognize that some children will naturally be more reticent than others. Try these and other "name" experiences on an individual basis.
Children may not know their middle or last names. You can suggest, "Let's ask your mom when she comes." Because of a divorce or remarriage, some children may have different last names than a parent or siblings. Be ready for and accepting of these situations.
One teacher noted, "This experience gave me an awareness of kids' feelings about themselves."

ABOUT MOVEMENT

Reflections:
Movement is basic to preschool children As they experiment with movement in imaginative ways, children are learning and expressing themselves. Creative movement can help children develop self-awareness, express their emotions, feel belonging, and exercise their imaginations. Among other things, children judge themselves on their physical abilities. Providing them with regular opportunities to develop skill through movement also contributes to their self-esteem.
Think about the ways you can build creative movement into your daily classroom routine. Structure regular time, indoor and outdoor space, and a variety of activities as a framework for self-expression. A movement experience may be as simple as imitating a kite in the air, or as complicated as acting out a story.
It is essential that the movement be an expression from each child. Many children express themselves spontaneously with movement, while others are more inhibited. Your role is to encourage each child. A smile, a touch, acknowledgement of an idea, respect for reluctance, and evidence of your own pleasure with movement are all reinforcing.

DANCING STATUES: A FREEZE MOVEMENT GAME

Benefits: By stopping movement, children practice awareness and control of their bodies.

Materials: Recorded music or a rhythm instrument, pictures of famous and fun statues.

The Experience:
Introduce this experience with a brief discussion of what a statue is. Show a few pictures, model for the children, and ask them to imitate. Explain that you will be playing a game in which they are to move around the room to the music. When the music stops, they are to "freeze" and become statues'
Have someone start the music or play a simple rhythm on an instrument. Listen for a few moments before you and the children begin to move around the room. Demonstrate that, when the music stops, you stop moving at the same time. After a pause, continue to move to the music, encouraging all the "statues' to come alive. Comment on details of the statues. "Oh, look at Mishap, her eyes are closed and she is standing on her toes." They may want to name their statues. "I'm a Jessica statue." "I'm the sun.
Play this game often. Take photos of statues. The expressive, free movement and stop-action help children develop body awareness and control. When the children are familiar with how the game is played, let them take turns at being the one who stops and starts the music.

Reflections: One parent said, "I really enjoyed it myself" Another said her children loved this experience. "They continued by themselves when I got tired."

Variations: Vary where and how you do this experience. Try it outside or in front of mirrors. Choose a variety of music as well.

HERE'S WHERE I SIT: MAKING PLACEMATS

Benefits: Using place mats they make helps children build competence and establish "their own space" at the table.

Materials: Clear contact paper, white or colored construction paper cut to place mat size, markers, crayons, or paint.

Groundwork: The children have a chance to feel proud when they produce a durable, useful place mat. Think through the logistics of this project ahead of time, planning for the children to do as much of the work as possible.

Experience:
Introduce this activity by talking briefly about why we use place mats - in particular, how it feels to have your own special place at the table, to know where you belong.
Then, have each child do a drawing to be used as her own place mat for meals each day. Make sure each child's name is printed in bold letters somewhere on the front. Some children will want to write their own.
Help the children cover their drawings with contact paper. For place mats that will last and are easy to clean, cut the pieces of contact paper larger than the drawing so an edge can be sealed all the way around. The younger children will probably need more help with this process.
Remember, you'll need a place mat tool

Reflections: For awhile at each meal mention something about the new place mats, what the children accomplished, or how it feels to have their own sitting spaces. "What do you see from your place at the table, Jesse?"
Use the place mats for table top cooking or clay projects. Children can easily identify their work by looking for their place-mats.
One parent noted, 'The children really enjoyed having their own place mats. It made them feel very important."

Variations:

This can be an ongoing activity. Make new mats periodically. Try different themes related to holidays, seasons, or classroom events. Hand prints can lead to discussions of how we are all different. Place mats with silverware shapes traced on them help children learn to set the table.

Combine this experience with MENU MAKING. During the month when the children do meal planning, they can also make place mats decorated with their favorite menus.

Place mats made from the children's drawings make nice gifts for family or friends.

WHIPPING UP SNACKS: DISCUSSING, FEELING, AND TASTING FOODS

Benefits: Learning about nutritious foods and preparing snacks gives children self-help skills.

Materials:
Healthful snack foods. You may want to represent the four food groups.
- fruits and vegetables: apples, melons, carrots, celery
- grains: crackers, bread, popcorn
- meat: tuna, peanut butter, eggs
- dairy: milk, yogurt, cheese

Groundwork: Try this experience at breakfast or snack time when the children are hungry and can enjoy the tasting process.

The Experience: Discuss healthful eating habits as you enjoy exploring an interesting variety of snack foods. Encourage conversation about how each snack looks, feels, smells, and tastes. Note how they sound when you chew them. "Let's find a food that crunches when we eat it." "Which one is soft between your teeth?" "How does this melon smell?" Discover the similarities and differences among the foods. "Which of these foods has a skin on the outside? A shell? Which have seeds?"

Reflections:   Practice at recognizing healthful foods and discussion of how they can nourish growing bodies helps children learn to take care of themselves.

Variations:

Young children can help prepare many snack foods. They enjoy changing the form of foods through whipping, grinding, and cooking. Make cream into butter by using an egg beater or baby food jars the children shake. Let them spread the butter on crackers or toast. Make apples into applesauce and peanuts into peanut butter. Help children pick projects in which they can be active participants.

Introduce the four food groups. Talk about how we can get all the nutrients we need by regularly eating a balance of foods from each group. Learning the four food groups is not a necessary skill for preschoolers. Children at this age are beginning to categorize, however, and many will enjoy thinking about foods in various groupings. Naming and sorting fruits and vegetables is a developmentally appropriate place to start.

IF I WERE AN ANIMAL: PAINTING FACES

Benefits: This opportunity for self-expression fosters children's awareness and enjoyment of individual characteristics.

Material: Orange, yellow, and black tempera paint mixed half and half with Ivory liquid soap, Q-tips, a mirror, a variety of animal pictures, paper.

Groundwork: The children will be deciding what animals they would like to be and having their faces painted. Previous knowledge of an interesting variety of animals will help them make meaningful choices. Before doing this experience, you may want to read some animal stories. Post pictures of animals at the children's level to stimulate their ideas throughout the experience. One teacher hung pictures of tropical fish, a tiger, an eagle, a horse, a kitten, a snake, a raccoon, and an ape in the area where she painted faces. This experience is complicated, but well worth the effort. It will take two teachers to paint faces and fill out IF I WERE AN ANIMAL papers. You may want to plan for extra adults to help with the rest of the group

The Experience: This all day experience allows the children to make decisions (which animal they want to be), and then express themselves (as that animal) both verbally and nonverbally.
Begin by asking, "Suppose you could be an animal right now. What would you be?" Working with one child at a time, paint her face with features representing her animal choice. Have fun creating whiskers, stripes, bright spots, noses, and circles around the eyes. Show her the new face in a mirror. Talk about the animal you would like to be and paint your face as well.
Encourage the children to move and make sounds like their animals. Allow plenty of time and space for this important self-expression, inside or outdoors. This experience is often a good opportunity for children to express feelings they don't express at other times. They may chase, snarl, or curl up in your lap while you "pet the kitten." Your acceptance and appreciation of their animals show acceptance of them.
Many of the children will have important things to say about their animals. One teacher recorded each child's comments on a sheet of paper entitled IF I WERE AN ANIMAL. She prompted discussion by asking: "Why did you want to be a fish?" "What do you do outside?" "What do you eat?" "What do you like about horses?" "What does a snake look like?" The children also drew their animals and the papers were put in the BOOKS ABOUT ME.

Elections: Teachers were excited about how much thought the children put into their choices and the feelings that were revealed. "If I were an animal, I would be a tiger. I want to be a scary tiger. I want to scare Dustin. I pretend to bite people. I am a mad tiger because the paint got in my eyes.
You may want to tell parents about this experience ahead of time. If they know the paint will wash off easily, they'll be prepared to share their child's enthusiasm.

Variations:

Create a jungle for the "animals" outdoors in the spring or summer.

Try making and wearing masks. It frees children to express themselves in new ways. How do their masked people or animals stand, walk, dance, talk? What do they say? Take pictures for each BOOK ABOUT ME.

FEATURING ME: LIFE-SIZE SELF-PORTRAITS

Benefits: Familiarity with their bodies and special features contributes to children's realistic self-concepts and awareness of individual differences.

Materials: A sheet of large newsprint for each child, colored markers, full-size mirror. Optional: paints, brushes, yarn.

Groundwork:
By working on life-size outline drawings of their bodies, children create "pictures of themselves." This project is best done on an individual basis over several days, or even weeks. Plan to display the outlines on classroom walls for awhile, and then send them home to be enjoyed there. As much as possible, let the drawings be the child's work. If you do the first one with a verbal, confident child, the experience may serve as a model.
Prior to trying this experience, practice drawing around hands or feet. This will acquaint the children with the idea of outlining. Indicate that on another day you will use bigger paper and draw around the whole body.

The Experience: Using a full-size mirror, look at and talk with individual children about themselves. Have the child point out such features as hair, nose, mouth, eyes, ears, hands, and feet.
With a marker, draw around the child's body, either having her lie down on the newsprint or stand close to paper taped on the wall. Talk with her about the drawing. "Where are your fingers? Legs? Shoulders?" Focus on the head. "Where do your eyes go? Your ears? Your mouth?" Have various colors of markers or crayons available and let her put in facial features. Instead of drawing in hair, children may want to paste on colored yarn. Have her refer to the mirror again as a visual reminder of where her features are located, but do not be overly concerned about accuracy.
Talk with each child about individual characteristics - hair, skin, eyes, freckles, or glasses. Add her name or some letters from her name, or sign the paper with a hand print. If you have a camera, photos of the children with their drawings will help them remember the activity for future conversations
Include outline drawings of all the adults in the classroom. This will allow for lots of comparisons (shorter than, taller than) and provide opportunities for talking about "as I grow bigger.

Refection's: Acknowledge feelings of pride or self-doubt as they are expressed. 'You have a smile when you look in the mirror." 'You wish you were as tall as Nancy."
Over time, encourage children to observe and appreciate shared characteristics, as well as those that are unique and different. 'Three people here have blonde hair like you, but you are the only one with green eyes.

Variations:    Using a yardstick and bathroom scale, measure and weigh the children. They might want to have their heights and weights written on their outline drawings. Ask questions to stimulate development of classification skills. "Are you taller than Amy?" "Who is shorter than you?" A permanently placed yardstick allows you to record growth throughout the year.

HOW I LOOK WHEN... MIRROR PLAY

Benefits: Children's self-concepts include familiarity with how their bodies look and work.

Materials: Large, small, and magnifying mirrors, magnifying glasses.

Groundwork: Set up mirrors in several places in your classroom - the housekeeping area, vertically along the floor in the block area, over the water table, and at eye-level in the bathroom. Give the children several weeks to become comfortable with the mirrors before using them in a special activity. Observe how they react to the mirrors and take notes about what you see. Who is using them? Who isn't? Do children make faces, parade with pride, or examine with curiosity? Let them see you look in the mirror regularly.

The Experience: You are a facilitator for the mirror play. The actual ideas and feelings come from the children By providing stimulation and observing results, you make a lively, self-directed, self-enhancing experience possible.
Try mirror play with one child or a small group, indoors and out. Having observed how children are using the classroom mirrors, encourage informal activities based on their ideas. If they make funny faces, suggest they invent some more. Encourage parading in dress-up clothes. A child can also enjoy and learn from looking at her accomplishments in the mirror - jumping, learning to skip, combing hair, or buttoning a coat.
The children may be least self-conscious when they are pretending to be something else - melting ice cubes, animals, story book characters, or objects like trees and kites. Whether it's in painted faces or dress-up clothes, let them imagine and admire themselves in the mirror.

Refection's: Some children may be uncomfortable looking in the mirror. Don't push them. Build their self-concepts in other ways. Do TURING ME or THREE CHEERS FOR ME, and take their pictures. Observe changes in their attitudes and feelings about mirror play.
A parent who used this experience with her children said, 'This is good for children with low self-esteem. It helps them feel better about themselves. Besides it's fun."

Variations:

Use pocket or magnifying mirrors to look at details of faces up close, including your own.

Put mirror tiles on a wall in the block area.

Use mirror tiles for art activities. Allow the children to draw on them with magic markers or paint with shaving cream. Cleaning the tiles when they're finished is fun, too.

Ask one child to become a "mirror" for another. Begin with facial expressions. Then include body movements. Initially, you may need to model this with individual children.

Some children like to have their pictures taken as they're looking in a mirror. Photograph their mirror images.

Table of Contents | BMCC Virtual Library | Bay Mills Community College Home Page

Benefits:	A compilation of experiences over a year can enhance a child's feelings of accomplishment and sense of self.
Materials:	Folders to store children's work in, materials to cover and bind their work at the end of the year.
Groundwork:	Prepare folders in which to save each child's work.
The Experience:	Include photographs of the child being physically capable, expressing her feelings, playing with a friend, or taking pride in an accomplishment. Fall and spring pictures may indicate how she has grown and changed. Save the child's personal products - a collage of favorite foods, hand and foot prints, her autograph, or perhaps a page with everyone's autograph. Include products from many of the experiences in AS I AM: MENU MAKING, THREE CHEERS FOR ME, and MY STORY. Covers may be as simple as a piece of folded construction paper, or as elaborate as a laminated hand print. Allow the children to participate in compiling their work, making the cover, and putting the book together. Before they take them home, talk with the children individually about the pages in their books. This is a chance to celebrate who they are, enhance self-awareness, record growth, and capture memories.

Benefits:	Frequent and creative use of children's names shows respect for them as unique individuals and increases self-awareness.
Groundwork:	For most people, names are an important symbol of who they are and often the source of strong feelings. At the beginning of the year, or when a new child enters, make sure you are using the correct version of everyone's name Becoming comfortable and familiar with their own names and those or the others in the classroom is one way young children develop awareness of their separate identities.
The Experience:	Early in the school year, talk about names - their importance, why we have them, and where they come from. "It's your own special gift from your family." Share something about your name with the children. How did you get it? Do you like it, or not? What's your "middle" name or nickname? Ask questions about their names. Then, throughout the year, make a point of using names each day in many ways. Here are a few suggestions: - On first arrival greet each child by name. Notice something particular: "Good morning, Patty. You got wet this morning." "Hello, John. You're wearing a smile." From time to time, touch children in a way that is comfortable for you and them (on the hand, shoulder, or top of the head) as you use their names. - When singing a song or reading a story, try substituting a child's name for the main character's. 'Judy Had a Little Lamb.' "Joel and Heather Went up the Hill." - Have children leave a group one at a time as their names are called or sung. This is a good listening activity, helps children learn the names of the others, and allows teachers to set the pace as the group moves from one activity to another. - Print each child's name on sturdy tag board. As the year goes on, some children will become interested in the "look" of their names. Don't feel compelled to teach them the letters, however. They will be learning them soon enough in school. In small groups of five to eight, play name recognition games. Hand the name card to each child as she recognizes her name. Later in the year. some children also may begin to recognize the names of others. - When parents, substitutes, or other guests are in the classroom, make sure you introduce them. Have them share something interesting about their names. Do this with a few children or at circle time with the whole group. Give your guests the option of sharing in this way. Also, if the children wear name tags, visitors can learn and use their names.
Reflections:	Some children will be shy about being singled out or having special attention paid to them. Note this and watch for changes as the year progresses. Most children will come to enjoy the recognition that comes with the use of names. With the child who truly seems to be embarrassed, don't push. Recognize that some children will naturally be more reticent than others. Try these and other "name" experiences on an individual basis. Children may not know their middle or last names. You can suggest, "Let's ask your mom when she comes." Because of a divorce or remarriage, some children may have different last names than a parent or siblings. Be ready for and accepting of these situations. One teacher noted, "This experience gave me an awareness of kids' feelings about themselves."

Benefits:	By stopping movement, children practice awareness and control of their bodies.
Materials:	Recorded music or a rhythm instrument, pictures of famous and fun statues.
The Experience:	Introduce this experience with a brief discussion of what a statue is. Show a few pictures, model for the children, and ask them to imitate. Explain that you will be playing a game in which they are to move around the room to the music. When the music stops, they are to "freeze" and become statues' Have someone start the music or play a simple rhythm on an instrument. Listen for a few moments before you and the children begin to move around the room. Demonstrate that, when the music stops, you stop moving at the same time. After a pause, continue to move to the music, encouraging all the "statues' to come alive. Comment on details of the statues. "Oh, look at Mishap, her eyes are closed and she is standing on her toes." They may want to name their statues. "I'm a Jessica statue." "I'm the sun. Play this game often. Take photos of statues. The expressive, free movement and stop-action help children develop body awareness and control. When the children are familiar with how the game is played, let them take turns at being the one who stops and starts the music.
Reflections:	One parent said, "I really enjoyed it myself" Another said her children loved this experience. "They continued by themselves when I got tired."
Variations:	Vary where and how you do this experience. Try it outside or in front of mirrors. Choose a variety of music as well.

Benefits:	Using place mats they make helps children build competence and establish "their own space" at the table.
Materials:	Clear contact paper, white or colored construction paper cut to place mat size, markers, crayons, or paint.
Groundwork:	The children have a chance to feel proud when they produce a durable, useful place mat. Think through the logistics of this project ahead of time, planning for the children to do as much of the work as possible.
Experience:	Introduce this activity by talking briefly about why we use place mats - in particular, how it feels to have your own special place at the table, to know where you belong. Then, have each child do a drawing to be used as her own place mat for meals each day. Make sure each child's name is printed in bold letters somewhere on the front. Some children will want to write their own. Help the children cover their drawings with contact paper. For place mats that will last and are easy to clean, cut the pieces of contact paper larger than the drawing so an edge can be sealed all the way around. The younger children will probably need more help with this process. Remember, you'll need a place mat tool
Reflections:	For awhile at each meal mention something about the new place mats, what the children accomplished, or how it feels to have their own sitting spaces. "What do you see from your place at the table, Jesse?" Use the place mats for table top cooking or clay projects. Children can easily identify their work by looking for their place-mats. One parent noted, 'The children really enjoyed having their own place mats. It made them feel very important."
Variations:	This can be an ongoing activity. Make new mats periodically. Try different themes related to holidays, seasons, or classroom events. Hand prints can lead to discussions of how we are all different. Place mats with silverware shapes traced on them help children learn to set the table. Combine this experience with MENU MAKING. During the month when the children do meal planning, they can also make place mats decorated with their favorite menus. Place mats made from the children's drawings make nice gifts for family or friends.

Benefits:	Learning about nutritious foods and preparing snacks gives children self-help skills.
Materials:	Healthful snack foods. You may want to represent the four food groups. - fruits and vegetables: apples, melons, carrots, celery - grains: crackers, bread, popcorn - meat: tuna, peanut butter, eggs - dairy: milk, yogurt, cheese
Groundwork:	Try this experience at breakfast or snack time when the children are hungry and can enjoy the tasting process.
The Experience:	Discuss healthful eating habits as you enjoy exploring an interesting variety of snack foods. Encourage conversation about how each snack looks, feels, smells, and tastes. Note how they sound when you chew them. "Let's find a food that crunches when we eat it." "Which one is soft between your teeth?" "How does this melon smell?" Discover the similarities and differences among the foods. "Which of these foods has a skin on the outside? A shell? Which have seeds?"
Reflections:	Practice at recognizing healthful foods and discussion of how they can nourish growing bodies helps children learn to take care of themselves.
Variations:	Young children can help prepare many snack foods. They enjoy changing the form of foods through whipping, grinding, and cooking. Make cream into butter by using an egg beater or baby food jars the children shake. Let them spread the butter on crackers or toast. Make apples into applesauce and peanuts into peanut butter. Help children pick projects in which they can be active participants. Introduce the four food groups. Talk about how we can get all the nutrients we need by regularly eating a balance of foods from each group. Learning the four food groups is not a necessary skill for preschoolers. Children at this age are beginning to categorize, however, and many will enjoy thinking about foods in various groupings. Naming and sorting fruits and vegetables is a developmentally appropriate place to start.

Benefits:	This opportunity for self-expression fosters children's awareness and enjoyment of individual characteristics.
Material:	Orange, yellow, and black tempera paint mixed half and half with Ivory liquid soap, Q-tips, a mirror, a variety of animal pictures, paper.
Groundwork:	The children will be deciding what animals they would like to be and having their faces painted. Previous knowledge of an interesting variety of animals will help them make meaningful choices. Before doing this experience, you may want to read some animal stories. Post pictures of animals at the children's level to stimulate their ideas throughout the experience. One teacher hung pictures of tropical fish, a tiger, an eagle, a horse, a kitten, a snake, a raccoon, and an ape in the area where she painted faces. This experience is complicated, but well worth the effort. It will take two teachers to paint faces and fill out IF I WERE AN ANIMAL papers. You may want to plan for extra adults to help with the rest of the group
The Experience:	This all day experience allows the children to make decisions (which animal they want to be), and then express themselves (as that animal) both verbally and nonverbally. Begin by asking, "Suppose you could be an animal right now. What would you be?" Working with one child at a time, paint her face with features representing her animal choice. Have fun creating whiskers, stripes, bright spots, noses, and circles around the eyes. Show her the new face in a mirror. Talk about the animal you would like to be and paint your face as well. Encourage the children to move and make sounds like their animals. Allow plenty of time and space for this important self-expression, inside or outdoors. This experience is often a good opportunity for children to express feelings they don't express at other times. They may chase, snarl, or curl up in your lap while you "pet the kitten." Your acceptance and appreciation of their animals show acceptance of them. Many of the children will have important things to say about their animals. One teacher recorded each child's comments on a sheet of paper entitled IF I WERE AN ANIMAL. She prompted discussion by asking: "Why did you want to be a fish?" "What do you do outside?" "What do you eat?" "What do you like about horses?" "What does a snake look like?" The children also drew their animals and the papers were put in the BOOKS ABOUT ME.
Elections:	Teachers were excited about how much thought the children put into their choices and the feelings that were revealed. "If I were an animal, I would be a tiger. I want to be a scary tiger. I want to scare Dustin. I pretend to bite people. I am a mad tiger because the paint got in my eyes. You may want to tell parents about this experience ahead of time. If they know the paint will wash off easily, they'll be prepared to share their child's enthusiasm.
Variations:	Create a jungle for the "animals" outdoors in the spring or summer. Try making and wearing masks. It frees children to express themselves in new ways. How do their masked people or animals stand, walk, dance, talk? What do they say? Take pictures for each BOOK ABOUT ME.

Benefits:	Familiarity with their bodies and special features contributes to children's realistic self-concepts and awareness of individual differences.
Materials:	A sheet of large newsprint for each child, colored markers, full-size mirror. Optional: paints, brushes, yarn.
Groundwork:	By working on life-size outline drawings of their bodies, children create "pictures of themselves." This project is best done on an individual basis over several days, or even weeks. Plan to display the outlines on classroom walls for awhile, and then send them home to be enjoyed there. As much as possible, let the drawings be the child's work. If you do the first one with a verbal, confident child, the experience may serve as a model. Prior to trying this experience, practice drawing around hands or feet. This will acquaint the children with the idea of outlining. Indicate that on another day you will use bigger paper and draw around the whole body.
The Experience:	Using a full-size mirror, look at and talk with individual children about themselves. Have the child point out such features as hair, nose, mouth, eyes, ears, hands, and feet. With a marker, draw around the child's body, either having her lie down on the newsprint or stand close to paper taped on the wall. Talk with her about the drawing. "Where are your fingers? Legs? Shoulders?" Focus on the head. "Where do your eyes go? Your ears? Your mouth?" Have various colors of markers or crayons available and let her put in facial features. Instead of drawing in hair, children may want to paste on colored yarn. Have her refer to the mirror again as a visual reminder of where her features are located, but do not be overly concerned about accuracy. Talk with each child about individual characteristics - hair, skin, eyes, freckles, or glasses. Add her name or some letters from her name, or sign the paper with a hand print. If you have a camera, photos of the children with their drawings will help them remember the activity for future conversations Include outline drawings of all the adults in the classroom. This will allow for lots of comparisons (shorter than, taller than) and provide opportunities for talking about "as I grow bigger.
Refection's:	Acknowledge feelings of pride or self-doubt as they are expressed. 'You have a smile when you look in the mirror." 'You wish you were as tall as Nancy." Over time, encourage children to observe and appreciate shared characteristics, as well as those that are unique and different. 'Three people here have blonde hair like you, but you are the only one with green eyes.
Variations:	Using a yardstick and bathroom scale, measure and weigh the children. They might want to have their heights and weights written on their outline drawings. Ask questions to stimulate development of classification skills. "Are you taller than Amy?" "Who is shorter than you?" A permanently placed yardstick allows you to record growth throughout the year.

Benefits:	Children's self-concepts include familiarity with how their bodies look and work.
Materials:	Large, small, and magnifying mirrors, magnifying glasses.
Groundwork:	Set up mirrors in several places in your classroom - the housekeeping area, vertically along the floor in the block area, over the water table, and at eye-level in the bathroom. Give the children several weeks to become comfortable with the mirrors before using them in a special activity. Observe how they react to the mirrors and take notes about what you see. Who is using them? Who isn't? Do children make faces, parade with pride, or examine with curiosity? Let them see you look in the mirror regularly.
The Experience:	You are a facilitator for the mirror play. The actual ideas and feelings come from the children By providing stimulation and observing results, you make a lively, self-directed, self-enhancing experience possible. Try mirror play with one child or a small group, indoors and out. Having observed how children are using the classroom mirrors, encourage informal activities based on their ideas. If they make funny faces, suggest they invent some more. Encourage parading in dress-up clothes. A child can also enjoy and learn from looking at her accomplishments in the mirror - jumping, learning to skip, combing hair, or buttoning a coat. The children may be least self-conscious when they are pretending to be something else - melting ice cubes, animals, story book characters, or objects like trees and kites. Whether it's in painted faces or dress-up clothes, let them imagine and admire themselves in the mirror.
Refection's:	Some children may be uncomfortable looking in the mirror. Don't push them. Build their self-concepts in other ways. Do TURING ME or THREE CHEERS FOR ME, and take their pictures. Observe changes in their attitudes and feelings about mirror play. A parent who used this experience with her children said, 'This is good for children with low self-esteem. It helps them feel better about themselves. Besides it's fun."
Variations:	Use pocket or magnifying mirrors to look at details of faces up close, including your own. Put mirror tiles on a wall in the block area. Use mirror tiles for art activities. Allow the children to draw on them with magic markers or paint with shaving cream. Cleaning the tiles when they're finished is fun, too. Ask one child to become a "mirror" for another. Begin with facial expressions. Then include body movements. Initially, you may need to model this with individual children. Some children like to have their pictures taken as they're looking in a mirror. Photograph their mirror images.