Re: earth day for toddlers. They're not ready for that
Posted by Marilyn B on 4/21/08
On 4/14/08, Sarah wrote:
> On 4/14/08, Marilyn B. wrote:
>> If children are old enough to be consumers, thereby generating
>> solid waste, and if they can understand simple words such as
>> trash, garbage truck, etc., they're ready to learn to be
>> environmentally responsible. Making an edible landfill will be a
>> fun way to teach young ones where garbage goes after it's picked
>> up from the curb.
>
> I agree that the activity you posted is cute and will be pleasing to
> do with children of toddler age. I disagree that it will be
> meaningful to them in any way other than as an enjoyable activity
> and a yummy snack.
>
> Toddlers and 2.5 year olds are not developmentally able to
> understand the symbolism of "two 1 inch pieces of licorice 'whips'
> to represent leachate collection pipes," or cookie crumbs that
> represent the "3 ft. of clay placed in the bottom of a cell to
> prevent fluids from seeping out."
>
> They will spoon in then eat "1 teaspoon fruit cereal" but they are
> not developmentally ready to understand that the fruit cereal is
> "to represent organic waste" - they will simply eat it and not see
> the connection to GARBAGE.
>
> When they "Punch in 2 straws to represent Methane gas collectors"
> they will simply be punching in 2 straws, IF they can wait that long
> to eat the yummy snakc they've helped assemble.
>
>
> Children at this age need concrete experiences and not highly
> symbolic activities that are meaningless to them. Use the edible
> landfill as a recipe, but let it be just a snack without the symbolism.
>
> For earth day they can sing about a garbage truck, or pick up trash
> from the classroom floor while singing clean up, or even sing happy
> earth day to the globe (still meaningless to them, but hey, it will
> please the adults), then enjoy a nice Happy Earth Day snack with
> their little community which IS their world.
>
> Too often we design activities that are totally without meaning to
> young children simply to make adults feel good. First of all, allow me to apologize for contributing to this thread
for the second time. Since I picked up on the discussion from the top
of the threads, I didn't return to the whole chatboard. I suggested the edible landfill because very young children tend to
put things in their mouths anyway. Having taught art for many years, I
have found that children of this age have few art making skills, so
one's options are limited. I also have an M.S. in psychology, with a
specialty in early learning, so I understand developmental stages. I don't think it's necessary to go into all the details about the
"leachate collection pipes" and the other terminology. I see nothing
wrong with having fun with this and providing a yummy snack. I still
think that children who are old enough to be consumers can start
learning simple vocabulary and how to be socially responsible. Many others have given some good advice about meaningful Earth Day
projects. You may find more at The Imagination Factory, but you'll
have to sift through them for ones that are appropriate for toddlers.
Happy Earth Day!
The Imagination Factory
Posts on this thread, including this one
- earth day for toddlers, 4/09/07, by Heather.
- Re: earth day for toddlers, 4/10/07, by Marilyn B..
- Re: Trash Walk, 3/14/08, by Carisa.
- Re: earth day for toddlers, 4/13/08, by Taci.
- Re: earth day for toddlers, 4/13/08, by Taci Z.
- Re: earth day for toddlers. They're not ready for that, 4/13/08, by I think toddlers are too young for Earth Day concepts.
- Re: earth day for toddlers. They're not ready for that, 4/14/08, by Marilyn B..
- Re: earth day for toddlers. They're not ready for that, 4/14/08, by Sarah.
- Re: earth day for toddlers. They're not ready for that, 4/16/08, by Anne.
- Re: earth day for toddlers. They're not ready for that, 4/18/08, by Arlinda Felix.
- Re: earth day for toddlers. They're not ready for that, 4/19/08, by Right..
- Re: earth day for toddlers. They're not ready for that, 4/21/08, by Marilyn B.
- Re: earth day for toddlers. They're not ready for that, 4/22/08, by michelle.
- Re: earth day for toddlers. They're not ready for that, 4/23/08, by Heh heh. Yeah, mixing toddlers with dirt. Unheard of! nfm.
- Re: earth day for toddlers. They're not ready for that, 4/28/08, by Leah.
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