Learning Areas: Math, Movement, ECSEL
What is this activity?
What skills are being enhanced? What knowledge is gained?
What do you need to prepare for this activity?
Step by step guide
What questions can you ask to promote ECSEL thinking and discussions?
How can you extend children’s thinking?
What skills are being enhanced and what knowledge is being gained through this activity?
Self-Awareness
To prepare for this activity, take some time to place different “cozy” items around your classroom for children to find. Here are some examples of cozy items, but use whatever you have available:
Scavenger Hunt!
1. Gather students in a group and tell them that they are going to walk around the classroom to find something that makes them feel happy or cozy.
2. Walk around the classroom all together and support students to find things (one or two) that make them feel cozy or happy in the classroom. If you are able, take photos of the children as they move about the room collecting cozy items to document the activity. If further scaffolding is needed, bring some items to your meeting area and have the class practice making choices between two items: which one makes you feel happy/cozy?
3. Return to your meeting area and have students show their item to the whole class. Help students identify their feelings about the item, and what about the item makes them feel this way. You can help prompt responses by describing the item.
4. After each student has shared, line up the cozy classroom items and count how many things make everyone feel cozy together!
ECSEL prompts are helpful questions or statements you can use to promote children’s thinking about emotions. These prompts are related to this specific activity.
What does your face do when you are feeling happy? Show me!
What does your body do when you are feeling happy? Show me!
What classroom item did you choose? How does this item make you feel?
What about this object makes you feel this way?
Do any of the items your classmates choose make you feel happy too?
How many items do we have all together? Let’s count them all to find out!
Use these questions and statements to extend children’s learning!
1. This game can also be played outside. Children can find objects in nature that make them feel happy and share them with the class. Explain that these things can also be something that you cannot hold, like the sun or sky!
2. Plan a show-and-tell day for children to bring in items from home that make them feel cozy! Have them share how their special item makes them feel.3. Use the photos of the Scavenger Hunt to create a cozy classroom feelings chart of your students and the items that make them feel cozy in the classroom. Have children help decorate the chart with colors that also make them feel cozy!