These past few weeks while drawing we noticed a few of our preschoolers drawing treasure maps. It is usually made up of an unusual closed loop shape with smaller depictions inside like a pirate ship or a treasure chest. This month during outdoor time the educator called the group over and showed them what she had just found. “What do you think this is?” “A treasure map” a few of them yelled. The educator then asked, “How can you tell?” One answered, “Because there is a pirate ship” We stuck it to the window and the educator explained that if we follow the lines it will lead us to somewhere on the playground. The first guess was the sandbox. We took a closer look and noticed that is a place on our playground that has a black border. “How do you know?” asked the educator. “Because there are a bunch of logs in the garden” said a preschooler as they pointed to the depiction map. As soon as that was spoken they immediately guessed the garden area and ran to see what they would dig up. Under the leaves we had found two more pieces of the treasure map. This led us to the giant log and then to the log tunnel. Running to the tunnel they quickly went to search and dig. There we found another piece. “This piece of the map depicted a green gridded circle with four logs”. Explained the educator. Hearing the key word, “green” the preschoolers guessed the log pillars we use to climb up. One brave preschooler climbed up to get the last piece of the map. As we found each piece we brought it to the widow to assemble. This led us to the sandbox where X marked the spot! Now it was time to dig for treasure! This activity encouraged the preschools to think about how a topographical perspective and depictions apply to their real-world surroundings. It engaged their critical thinking and listening skills to discover glues and come to conclusions (guesses).
