The month of October is the beginning of lots of festivities, bringing out new camaraderie amongst the after-school group. We have discovered our love language and developed friendships with the help of collaborative crafts, adding relational benefits such as sharing remarks, feelings and ideas through the triumphs of learning new techniques and knowledge. Seeing all the children working together allowed a natural flow of conversation about techniques, and crafts they did when they were in kindergarten. Throughout the month, the educator introduced lots of group crafts, to foster a sense of belonging and allow the addition of their newer peers to go smoothly, as collaborative projects reinforce bonding amongst peers.
Children of different ages enjoyed using certain art materials in different ways- encouraging age appropriate exploration and adaptation. We cut out bats and decorated them by using crayons, while others used tape to make them look “Mummy-like.” While cutting out the bats, James F. noticed Braya using the scissors pointing downwards, to which he then assisted her to use them pointing upwards and showed her how to use her thumb and pointer finger to move the scissors. The joy they both experienced with practicing motor skills indeed brought a huge smile on their faces.
The week leading up to thanksgiving, we made Turkey’s and wrote on each feather what we were thankful for. Geetan and Olivia assisted their JKK peers with their spelling while they were attempting to write what they were thankful for, and gave lots of words of encouragement when they wrote their letters the correct way.
For our PD Day, we made Halloween characters using popsicle sticks. This craft introduced a slight challenge for some, where they used a hot glue gun. Catherine had used it before, so she was a great cheerleader for her peers, giving them lots of warning before their turn on how to hold the tool, and the precautions they would have to take before starting. Each child made their own favorite character, painted and decorated them with googly eyes.
During these crafts, the children displayed lots of joint attention towards each other. They made connections with one another by giving each other a helping hand or passing remarks such as, “Hey you're colouring in between the lines this time,” sharing relatable experiences of them going through the same when they were in kindergarten or in a specific teacher’s class in school, providing a sense of belonging to the little ones that they also have friends who have experienced the same challenges.
