Integrating Learning into Everyday Routines

Children are always learning! Whether it is a trip to the grocery store or eating a meal, everyday routines can be prime learning opportunities. This blog series aims to highlight these moments and describe some simple steps to enhance your child’s learning and development.

This week we are focusing on getting dressed! Making decisions about your wardrobe was tricky enough when it was just you, but now that you are responsible for someone else (or even several someones), it can be downright exhausting. We don’t want to make it more difficult, but we hope by seeing the learning possibilities you will recognize how you can, with little effort, be your child’s first teacher!

Give Yourself 10 Extra Minutes

Allowing extra time isn’t exactly a developmental milestone, however it can really make a difference. It will help relieve some of the pressure you feel in the mornings as you rush to get out the door. Children not only feed off your energy, but they also model your behavior. So by taking extra time in the morning, you are setting a good example of how to manage their time. In reality though, that ten extra minutes can be hard. On those days when you are running late, remember to take a deep breath and remain as calm as you can – a smoother morning will lead to a better day.

Fine Motor

This skill will look different depending on the age of your child, but children are pinching, grabbing, pulling, and pushing while they are getting dressed. Exercising these small muscles in their hands is an essential pre-writing skill. It enables them to develop the strength they will need to hold a writing implement properly. These small motor movements come naturally while they are getting dressed. Pulling a zipper, pinching their fingers to pull up socks and pushing buttons through their hole are a just few examples of this skill at work! While these are very difficult skills that take time to perfect be sure to allow them the time to try it themselves. For example, when learning to zip, make sure you model slowly so children can see what you’re actually doing, assist in starting the zipper and then allow the child to pull it the rest of the way up. You know how to zip a coat, give them a chance to give it a go!

Gross Motor

Hopefully getting your child dressed in the morning involves less gross motor activity (running, jumping, climbing, etc.) than other parts of their day, but it will probably still include some more controlled big muscle exercise. A younger child will probably be sitting as you assist them with their dressing. In this situation, they are using their core muscles to sit up and maintain balance as you pull on their clothes. For an older child they may be balancing on one foot as they put on their pants or push on their shoes.

Math

Math for a young child doesn’t look the same as it does for school age children. Math is about categorizing, sorting, counting, measuring (short, long, longest), and weighing (light, heavy, heaviest). Getting dressed actually involves a lot of math.  For example, as your child puts on gloves, they are doing simple addition by deciding that each hand needs a glove, so they will need two gloves. The same is true with socks and shoes! You can also emphasize these math skills by counting as they push buttons through the holes and put their fingers in their gloves. They are also sorting and categorizing as they match their shoes, socks, and gloves!

Cause and Effect/Consequences

The idea of consequences can be quite abstract for a young child. Giving them concrete examples of “if this…than this” is an important part of their development. These opportunities come very naturally as they are getting dressed. A child may protest putting on a particular item of clothing. I encourage you to allow your child to feel those consequences (within limits) of their choices as they get dressed in the morning. For example, if a child does not want to wear shoes on a cold wet day, allow them to step outside the house and experience how it feels without them. It allows them to make their own independent decision and to discover the consequence of their behavior.

Learning is a natural part of everyday activities! Be sure to check back in two weeks for our next installation. We will be exploring  more ways parents can use getting dressed as a way to help your child learn.

The holidays season is upon us, and we know from experience that it can be difficult to come up with a gift that children can actively contribute to while also being economical, useful, and meaningful.  This task becomes even more daunting if you are a classroom teacher with a large number of students.  Over the years our teachers have found several DIY gifts to be a hit.  See our list to be inspired!

Snow Globes

These snow globes from Our Best Bites are festive and fun for children to make,especially taking the “I’m in a snow storm!” photo. They’re also cost effective, which is always a plus!

Silhouettes

We’ve found these silhouettes canvases from Christina Williams to be easy and a huge hit with families!  We also love these silhouette canvases because even the youngest of ages can help! After sticking the contact paper silhouette to the canvas, children can paint with their fingers or a paint brush.  In the past we’ve ordered these canvas panels to ensure we had enough for all the children in the class.

Trivet

Talk about fun and functional!  These DIY trivets from Inner Child Fun look like a blast to make and also have a practical purpose.  For younger children, help them stick long pieces of tape on the trivet, and encourage them to pat it down flat.  Allow children to use colored paint with their fingers or paintbrushes.

Bookmarks

How cool are these bookmarks from Creative Family Moments?  When we make these here at SEEC, the kids love to pose for their photo and help pick out the silliest one to make into a bookmark.  After the teachers laminate them, the children also help by picking the colored yarn or ribbon they think their family will like, and work on their fine motor skills by threading it through the hole at the top.

Sleds

This fantastic and personalized gift idea comes from two of our past SEEC teachers, Rebecca Wilcox and Erin Pruckno.  The children painted popsicle sticks and posed for a picture acting as if they were going sledding.  Then the teachers hot glued it all together and created a fun winter display for the class and families to enjoy before taking their sled home for the holidays.

If you have other ideas for fun DIY gifts that children can make for their families, please comment; we’d love to hear your ideas!  And check out our DIY Gifts from Kids Pinterest board for more ideas!

With our recent post regarding Thanksgiving and breaking stereotypes in the classroom, I found myself getting reacquainted with the National Museum of the American Indian. On one of my visits, I discovered a display case, near the Maryland/Independence Avenue entrance, full of utensils and thought this was the perfect group of objects to highlight during a month when we seem to find ourselves doing a lot of eating. The text adjacent to the case speaks specifically to the importance of spoons and ladles as they were traditionally used to serve oneself from a communal dish or pot.

I thought the collection was especially relevant to our early learners who are beginning to discover new foods and master how to use utensils. Finally, it is a collection that has the ability to remind young
children of how the human race is so often alike and yet, different at the same time.

Infants and Toddlers

Eating is especially important to this age group as they are trying new foods and learning how to handle utensils. What better way to encourage a young child’s development than by taking them to see this collection and narrating the physical features of some of the objects – differentiating between spoon and fork and noticing differences in size.  As you visually explore these objects, introduce key vocabulary like; handle, mouth, scoop, or pierce. Before you head into the Museum, take five minutes outside to demonstrate how forks and spoons work with different types of foods. Give them time to touch and explore real foods and utensils.

Twos and Preschoolers

By the time children are two, they are becoming more familiar with utensils and are more adept at using them. It makes sense to connect this growth and explore more details about utensils in general, i.e. steak knives versus regular knives or, teaspoons versus tablespoons.  Since the objects are conveniently displayed together, look at the utensils as a group and lead children in a sorting activity based on shape, material, use, or decoration. In addition to sorting, students would benefit from having materials to touch that reflect those seen in the case. At home or in the classroom, children can curate their own collections of utensils and continue to explore those from cultures around the world.

A visit to the case can provide a small glimpse into the types of utensils used by a range of Native peoples.  Two things are important to keep in mind. Firstly, these utensils are reflect specific cultures, which can be referenced in the labels. Parents and educators might consider using the spoons to demonstrate the wide variety of places and environments in which Indigenous Americans live.  Secondly, teachers want to be careful not to support stereotypes, namely that American Indian cultures exist only in the past.  The objects on display in this case represent a wide time frame and while, young children have difficulty with abstract concepts of time, they can benefit from being introduced to things that happen long ago and things that have occurred in recent history. Sometimes this can be done by giving context to an object for example, explaining that it was made long ago before your parents and grandparents were born. Or you could elaborate by creating a visual timeline that shows in what order a group of objects were made.   An introduction to a collection such as this one can help children begin to understand that Native peoples have a long history in the Americas that extends to the present day.

Below is a sampling of some of the utensils represented:

Serving Utensil from King Island Village; Bering Straits Native Corporation; Alaska; USA 

Gitxsan Spoon

Pueblo Dipper/Ladel

Lakota (probably) Spoon (Teton Sioux)

Tlinglit Fork and Spoon

Spoon/Ladel with bear effigy handle

Recently we brought you a Teacher Feature from one of our four-year-old classes, the Honey Bears, as they discussed their thoughts and curiosities.  This lesson was part of a mini unit on inquiry, which fit into a larger unit of Me, Myself, and I.  The web below depicts the many facets the class, led by Jessie Miller and Will Kuehlne, explored during this unit to get know one another, their school and their community.  Following the web are photos highlighting some of their experiences from the unit.

My Family

To discuss families, the class went to Nicholas Nixon’s Brown Sisters at the Smithsonian American Art Museum , an exhibit of forty photographs of the same four sisters over the course of four decades. After observing the photographs, each child got a chance to share their own family portrait and tell the class about who makes up their family.

The class discussed how all families are unique and different, but all families enjoy spending time together.  After talking about their favorite family activities, they played family charades.  Jessie printed out images of families doing favorite activities and placed them in a hat.  Each child got a turn to pull a picture and act it out for the class.

Myself

After talking about their families, the Honey Bears turned more attention to themselves.  They visited Giuseppe Arcimboldo’s Four Seasons in One Head at the National Gallery of Art to discuss portraits. They defined a portrait and carefully observed Arcimboldo’s unique portrait made of food and other natural materials.  The class worked together to create a portrait using play food in the galleries.

Back at school the children made their own food portraits using food print outs on a paper canvas.

Later in the week the children made their own self-portraits.  Will and Jessie printed out each child’s face, cut it in half and glued one half to a piece of paper.  They provided the children with mirrors and flesh tone markers to create the rest of their self-portrait.

To end their week on “myself” the class went to the United States Botanic Garden to talk about the five senses.  Will and Jessie made little books for each child that had a sense on each page.  As they walked through the gardens they paused to identify what senses they were using.

My Community

Since the class ventures out to the museums and community daily to support their learning, Will and Jessie wanted to spend some time talking about our local community.  The class took a community walk and added pictures of local buildings they visit to a big map of our surrounding area.  They displayed the map in their classroom and reference it each morning when they discuss where they will be visiting. To talk about how our local community fits into the larger global community the class visited The United States Navy Memorial to see a giant world map on the ground.  They learned a song about the seven continents by Wise Little Owls that Jessie found as a free download on Teachers Pay Teachers.  Then they played a game where they passed a globe to each other and named a different place in the world (continents, countries, etc.).

We hope you enjoyed getting a bigger picture of our Honey Bears class’ unit on Me, Myself and I!  Visit our Me, Myself, and I, Self-Portrait, and Family Portraits pinterest boards, for more ideas.

It’s Teacher Feature Thursday!

This week we are featuring Will Kuehnle and Jessie Miller of the four-year-old Honey Bear classroom.  At SEEC we believe in fostering a sense of curiosity and thoughtfulness that will stay with children long after they leave our school.  In this vein, Will and Jessie wanted to spend some time at the beginning of the school year explicitly exploring curiosity with their children to set the stage for an inquisitive year. I joined them for a visit to the National Portrait Gallery where they discussed their own thinking and how our thoughts can be linked to our curiosities. Below you will find a reflection from Will and Jessie and images from the lesson.

Lesson Reflection from Jessie and Will:

The Smithsonian Early Enrichment Center’s Honey Bear class is made up of a diverse group of four-year-olds. During our study of curiosity, the students focused on questions, thoughts, and things we were curious about. We started out by asking ourselves “What is a question?” and “How can we find the answers to our questions?” The goal of this process was to get the children excited about learning, and interested in finding out the unknown. By using language such as “I wonder…” and “I’m curious…”, the wheels in their brain began to spin a little faster and we opened up a world of exciting, new things for them. To enhance this process, we traveled to the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery to see a piece of art called Caja De La Memoria Viva II by Adrian Roman.

The objective of the lesson was to get the children thinking about their own thoughts. Thoughts are constantly rushing through our heads but it is hard for children to conceptualize those abstract thoughts. This lesson allowed the students to see a visual representation of thought, which sparked their curiosity about the artwork as well as the things they were thinking about in their own heads.

One thing that made the lesson so effective, was the freedom the children had with their minds as well as their bodies. We were surprised to see how each child interacted differently with the piece. When they were given the journal pages and told they could go anywhere in the room to work on them, some children gathered under the woman’s head to get another look inside, while others stayed back to get a larger view of the piece. Some children laid on their stomachs, some sat on their knees, while others laid on their backs looking up into the inside of the cube. They were all completing the same activity but we were fascinated by the variety of ways each child approached it.  Logistically, the space in the museum was also crucial to the effectiveness of the lesson.  It was quiet and empty, which freed us from the distractions many museum visits can have.  If we could go back and change something about this lesson, we would have allowed more time to discuss the journal pages with each child one on one. When you wait and have the children explain their pictures later, you can sometimes lose exciting details. Providing the students and teachers with a quiet space with extra time to finish this part of the lesson is ideal.

It is amazing to see the looks on the children’s faces as their minds race with ideas and thoughts. During our walk back from the museum, we could hear many children saying things like, “I’m curious what they are building in that construction site” or “I wonder what country that flag is from”. Modeling this language for young children and showing them your own excitement about the world helps children feel confident in their own thoughts and questions. It is important to support each child as they bring up questions and past experiences they would like to share so that they grow to have confidence and a love for learning. Setting up experiences like these, lights a fire of curiosity in the children that is only built upon as the year progresses, and helps us as teachers follow their interests and enhance their education. This lesson allowed the children to balance a structured activity with the freedom to express themselves and that is when they are most susceptible to learning and fully experiencing the world around them.

Here are a few images from their lesson on Thinking about Thoughts:

Before traveling to the museum, Will began their lesson by introducing the concept of thoughts in our head. To do this he shared a portrait that one of the children created in a previous lesson.  The children noticed that they could tell what the child looked like based on the portrait, but they could not tell what the child was thinking about. Will explained that they would be visiting the National Portrait Gallery to see a portrait that has objects inside its head to provide clues about the person’s memories and what they are thinking about.

Will showed the class objects that are similar to the ones they would see at the museum. After laying out all the objects Will set a sand timer for the children to look at the objects and think about what this person might be thinking about based on the objects.  After looking silently the children shared their thoughts including that the person might like to wear jewelry, that the person might like disguises, and that the person might be thinking about a baby sister because of the doll.  Now that the class had a context for the piece they headed to the museum.

While in the elevator on the way to the exhibit Will asked the children to look for the portrait with the objects inside.  He reminded the children that the portraits they see are usually flat, but the portrait they would find today would have an inside that that they could look in.  This reminder from Will helped the children refocus their attention after the walk to the museum, and they ventured into the gallery with a purpose.  It didn’t take long for the children to find the portrait!

Once the class spotted Caja De Memoria Viva II: Constancia Clemente-Colon by Adrian “Viajero” Roman, Will led them around the entire piece to see it from all sides.  They stopped in front of the face section and Will asked what they noticed.  One child said, “I see one eye is closed”, while another child noted that the person had a nose.  They noticed that they didn’t have any ideas what the woman was thinking about.

To take a look inside the piece, the children laid in a circle on the floor, facing up.  From this vantage point, all the children were able to see the various objects inside the artwork.

As the children shared their observations, Will used a laser pointer to point out what objects the children were noticing.  They discussed what they thought the person was thinking about using the objects as a guide.

After looking inside, the class came back together in a circle.  Will asked if they felt they knew more about what the woman was thinking now that they had observed her portrait on the outside and the inside.  The children agreed they felt they had a better idea of who she was, but had some questions including, “did she live a long time ago?”  Will said, “That’s a good question, and I don’t know the answer.  What could we do to find out more information?”  The children suggested they read the label on the wall, so Jessie did, and they found out that the piece used a recording of the woman’s voice, so she most likely didn’t live a very long time ago.  By respecting and responding to children’s questions, Will and Jessie were creating a community of thinking where curiosities, and information-seeking are valued.  (To read more about how to create a culture of thinking, check out the article “Making Thinking Visible” by David Perkins.)

Will asked the children if the thoughts that the woman was thinking were important, and they all agreed that her thoughts are very important.  Will emphasized that all of our thoughts are important and asked the children to think about what they think about in their head.  Will explained that they would draw whatever those important thoughts were if they could be represented in objects.  Will handed out clipboards with paper and a pencil to each child and said that they could go anywhere in the room to draw.

Many children started in one location, but got up and moved after some time to look more closely at the piece or to get another view.  They looked at the piece for inspiration, but drew objects that were familiar and important to them.

Some of the items they drew included their family members, hair, fireworks, remote control cars, bones, sharks, and boats.  These drawings helped the children to practice meta cognition – to think about their thinking, and gave them a way to communicate it.  These drawings also helped Will and Jessie see the important things the children were thinking about, so they have a better idea of what topic to explore next.

Through their mini-unit on curiosity, the four-year-olds practiced careful looking, asking questions and thinking about their own thinking, which will set them up for a thoughtful, inquisitive, and meaningful school year.  Check back next week for the Round Up to see how this lesson and their exploration of curiosity fit into their larger unit of Me, Myself, and I.  See you in two weeks with our next Teacher Feature!

Welcome to our new blog feature, the Round Up!  This blog series will follow our Teacher Features and provide a fuller picture of how the featured lesson fit into a larger unit.  At SEEC our educators often use webbing as a planning tool at the start of a unit.  This helps to visualize all the directions that can be taken within a topic while also brainstorming books, museum and community visits, interactive activities, songs and more. The Round Ups will share a web of ideas from the unit, as well as highlights with images and more detailed information.

Last month we brought you a Teacher Feature highlighting our kindergarten class as they learned about haboobs.  This lesson did not stand alone, but was part of a larger unit that explored Extreme Weather.

Clouds

To learn about cloud types, the Kindergartners sat outside on a cloudy day, looked at images of cloud types, and observed the sky.  Kindergarten teacher Silvana Oderisi taught the class a fun cloud song by Cynthia Sherwood that she found on pinterest that helped reinforce the new vocabulary in an engaging way.

The class also went to the National Gallery of Art and walked around identifying different cloud types in paintings.  The teachers found it helpful to do this lesson in the beginning of the unit as cloud types were discussed in many of the different extreme weather lessons throughout the unit.

Weather Forecasting

The class went to visit a large world map on the floor of the Martin Luther King Jr Public Library to learn about weather symbols that are used in forecasting. After learning about the weather symbols, the children took turns placing weather symbols on the map to predict the weather for different regions of the world.

 Back in the classroom, kindergarten teacher Cathryn Prudencio, showed the children how radars are used in weather forecasting.  The children used the radar projected on their Smart Board to report the weather for their classmates.

Hurricanes

When learning about hurricanes the class went to the National Gallery of Art to see Ships in Distress off a Rocky Coast by Ludolf Backhuyesen and talked about the big waves that hurricanes cause.  They moved their bodies as if they were on a boat during a calm day, and then moved their bodies as if a big hurricane was approaching.

The class also went to the National Museum of American History’s exhibit Within These Walls.  They looked at categories of hurricanes and measured the height of waves in each category to see just how high the waves could go up the house walls.

Cathryn explained that in areas where hurricanes are more common people prepare by packing an emergency bag that they can take with them if a hurricane comes.  The children brainstormed what might be in the bag and helped pack one.

Tornadoes

When learning how a tornado forms, the children enjoyed swirling water in a bottle to mimic the way a tornado twists.

The class visited the Smithsonian American Art Museum to see The Girl I Left Behind Me by Eastman Johnson to explore the effects of tornadoes.  To illustrate wind blowing, Silvana blew up a balloon and let the air out on the children’s hands.

Also in the Smithsonian American Art Museum they visited No Mountains in the Way: Photographs from the Kansas Documentary Survey to learn about Tornado Alley – the part of the US where tornadoes happen the most, and why they form there during warm months.

We hope you enjoyed getting a bigger picture of our kindergarten class’ unit on Extreme Weather!  Visit our weather pinterest board for more ideas on how to explore weather with young children.

Halloween is quickly approaching, and our children are eagerly awaiting the spooky fun.  We’ve compiled a Top 5 list (okay, it’s really a list of about 10, but it’s hard to narrow it down when you’re talking about Halloween!) of Halloween ideas, that will hopefully give you some new ideas about how to celebrate Halloween in a fun, yet educational and meaningful way with young children.

1. Pumpkins.  What’s Halloween without pumpkins?  We love this idea from I Can Teach My Child to let babies explore pumpkins mess free.  Putting pumpkin seeds and guts inside zip lock bags will allow babies to explore the seeds without the risk of eating them, and will help keep things clean,  while also storing the pumpkin for future uses.

If your school is in a city, like ours, you know it can be difficult to get out to a pumpkin patch.  We’ve found an alternative way to get pumpkins – take a wagon ride or walk to a local Farmer’s Market or grocery store to see the variety of pumpkins on sale, and chose one (or more) together as a class. After bringing them back to the classroom our children use them in a variety of ways from painting to carving them.

2. Spiders.  Put those plastic Halloween spiders to good use!  This Giant Spider Web idea from Clare’s Little Tots is such a fantastic way for children to practice their fine motor skills while engaging in imaginary play.

Spiders also provide a wonderful topic for exploration.  Our classes at SEEC have visited the Insect Hall at the National Museum of National History, and the Spider by Louise Bourgeois at the National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden to learn more about these arachnids.

3. Monsters. Monsters are fun because they are so open-ended and the possibilities for imaginary play are endless. This Invitation to Create a Monster from Cutting Tiny Bites allows children to use their imagination to create any kind of monster they want.  We love that it’s process based rather than product oriented, and the results are so varied!

Last year one of our 3-year-old classes was intrigued by monsters so they went to Nick Cave’s Soundsuit at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden to talk about Frankenstein.  See more about this lesson here.

4. Bats.  Sensory activities are always a favorite of our students, and we bet they will love these two play opportunities.  The Bat Slime from Little Bins for Little Hands and the Bat Sensory Bin from Modern Preschool are both easy to create and look like a ton of fun, while also providing sensory input and fine motor skill practice.

Our classes have used the excitement of Halloween to learn more about bats by going to the Mammal Hall and Bone Hall at the National Museum of Natural History to see a bat inside and out.  Teachers of this class also brought along a bat stuffed animal for the children to hold and make connections to.

5. Books. The Girls at Eighteen25 created a list of 15 Awesome Halloween Books for Kids.  We have many of these books on our shelves and can confirm that our kids love them.  We often get requests to read them over and over again – even after Halloween has passed!

For more Halloween ideas, visit our Pinterest board here.  Happy Halloween everyone!

It’s Teacher Feature Thursday!

This week we are featuring Silvana Oderisi and Cathyryn Prudencio in the Kindergarten classroom.  Our teachers noticed that their students had been very interested in weather, especially extreme weather. I joined them during their week on extreme heat for a lesson on haboobs (sandstorms).  Below you will find a reflection from Silvana and Cathryn, and images from the lesson.

What were your topics of exploration? Why did you choose them? Where did they come from?

Our latest topic has been a unit on extreme weather. We have studied thunderstorms, tornadoes, hurricanes, tsunamis, monsoons, blizzards, and haboobs. We chose this topic based off of the interests of the kids, who had been discussing different types of weather and asking a plethora of questions about weather. One of our students even made his own weather book and brought it in to show the class during a sharing time. His curiosity blossomed into a class-wide interest of weather phenomena and extreme weather.

Why and how did you choose the visit?

We chose to cover haboobs in this particular visit because it is a type of extreme weather that one of our teachers experienced when she lived in Arizona during monsoon season (haboobs occur most frequently during monsoon season in the southwest United States).

What were your learning objectives? (What did you want your children to take away from the lesson?)

The learning objectives for this lesson were to understand what causes a haboob, use our five senses to describe a haboob, and understand how people can prepare and respond to a haboob. The information we wanted the children to take away was that a haboob is caused by an incoming thunderstorm whose winds cause the sand and dust to be blown up and create a domelike sandstorm known as a haboob. We also wanted them to know what people do to protect themselves during a haboob, such as wearing scarves and goggles, or staying inside.

What was most successful about your lesson? How did the lesson reach your objectives to expand the topic?  What was successful in terms of your preparation and logistics?

I think the most successful part of this lesson was engaging all five senses in order to create the experience of a haboob for the children. We discussed what it sounds like, looks like, feels like, smells like, and thought about what it might taste like. This manner of approaching the subject made it much more approachable and meaningful for the children. Through using the five senses it also helped us understand why you would want to protect yourself in the first place. Preparation and logistics were also perfect that day because it was so windy! In addition, on our way to the Hirshhorn we passed by the construction taking place on the National Mall, which kicked up a bunch of dirt and dust creating a haboob of sorts (we really loved using our imagination here).

What could you have done differently to better achieve your objectives and expand the topic?  What was challenging regarding logistics?  What recommendations would you have for another teacher trying out this lesson?

We wanted to find an object in the museums that we could use in an interactive way, but also matched the learning outcomes.   We found a great painting,  Jake Leg by Robert Irwin at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, that reminded us of what it might look like if we were in a haboob, but it required us to put a lot of thought into how we could bring it to life for the students!  We thought about ways we could encourage the children to use their imagination, how they could use their five senses to describe what they were interacting with, as well as make a connection to a piece of artwork. This was great because it helps the kids connect with artwork in an imaginative way that makes art more approachable. A recommendation we would make for another teacher trying out this lesson is to make sure you think through your students’ interests and learning styles because I think that in the end that is what made this lesson so successful because they were so invested and loved the idea of using their senses to experience what a haboob is like.

Here are a few images from their lesson on Haboobs:

On their walk to the Hirshhorn, the kindergartners felt like they were in a haboob! On this particular day the wind was very strong and it was blowing dirt from the construction area on the National Mall into our faces.  It was not very pleasant, but very appropriate for the day’s lesson. The class made it to the Hirshhorn and went to the Robert Irwin’s “All the Rules Will Change” exhibit.They found a piece entitled, “Jake Leg”.  Silvana asked the children to think about what the artwork reminded them of.  Some of the children shared that this piece’s color reminded them of a dust storm, the desert or dust devils. Next Silvana showed a diagram of a haboob, and pointed out that she had written haboob in arabic, which means, “strong wind”.  She explained what a haboob is and how they form using the diagram and a video of a haboob.

The class used their senses to imagine what it would be like to be in a haboob.  First they explored haboobs with their sense of sight by putting on goggles that were covered in sand (Silvana prepared these by cutting contact paper to fit inside the goggles, and pressed sand onto the contact paper).  The children took turns putting on the goggles and said that they could see shadows, but nothing else.  Looking through the goggles reminded the children of the painting, as they could only see one color. Some of the students said that they might be scared if they could not see anything during a haboob, but Silvana emphasized that while it may feel scary, people have developed ways of protecting themselves during a haboob to stay safe, and they would talk about that more later in the lesson.Next they focused on what it would sound like to be in a haboob.  They brainstormed sounds they might hear such as crashing noises, gushing winds, sand blowing, footsteps, and people saying, “I want to get inside!”  Then they used their voices and bodies to make these sounds together to make a soundscape of a haboob.
They explored haboobs through their sense of touch by feeling sand, and imagining how it would feel if it was blowing on their body.Silvana told the class that haboobs typically happen in the southwest from mid June to the end of September, but they cannot be predicted like a rainstorm.  She said that in order for people to stay safe and protected in case of a haboob, people might carry a scarf and goggles with them.  She put on a scarf and showed the children how this protected her ears, nose and mouth, while the goggles protected her eyes, keeping her body safe.

Back outside the kids had a turn to put on goggles and scarves for their walk back to school.As they crossed the construction site their faces were protected from the dust and dirt by their gear, much like it would be in a haboob.While the conditions of a haboob are much more intense, the strong wind and blowing dirt helped the children imagine what it would be like to be in a haboob.

After learning about Haboobs, the kindergartners continued learning about weather and meteorology.  Come back next week for more ideas from their unit on Weather! See you in two weeks with our next Teacher Feature!