Starting Out Right

When the October class photos arrive, it is always discouraging to see how few of their classmates the children can remember. How can this be? They play together, share lunches, collaborate on projects and often go to the same child care centre. Since September, they have spent almost 200 hours together -- together yet sometimes very much alone. Without the focus of inclusion, the children have learned very little about their playmates.

Often, they do not know the name of today's supply teacher; the aide who helped out at nap time all last week; or the musician who came in every Friday to do a music circle. Are our children callous and unfeeling or do they lack social skills? Are we remiss in naming children and in introducing ourselves and our colleagues?

The answer says a great deal about inclusiveness. Children may hear a name once, make a quick connection, then go off to the subject of play and away from the players. They move in many groups -- flexible groups with transient members. The teacher who helped open their canned peaches on Monday was gone on Friday, and someone new came: "I'm not sure who."

That is why September's child care priority must be inclusion. By making connections, we can help children get acquainted with their teachers and their friends in child care. These connections, in turn, will help children develop positive self-concepts by making them feel like an important and valued member of the group.

Play an inclusion game at snack time or just before going outside. The next morning be ready to talk to the children about the game. This is one way of debriefing. They'll say what they liked or didn't like, a funny thing they remember, or when they want to play it again. The five games that follow always provoke calls for encores!

What's in a Name?

This game lets children share their own name's history, its meaning or significance, a nickname derived from it, their feelings about it and what name they might prefer. Play it while the children are sitting together waiting to start their snack or lunch. They may want to make a placecard for themselves too. A follow-up job is to ask a different child each day to hand out the placecards, thereby combining a reading and memory game all at once.

This is an opportunity for you to talk about losing names. Sometimes a person's name is lost by being taken away or changed; this has happened to some people who were put in prisons and concentration camps. When they lost their names, they lost their personal identity. That is why it hurts so much when people call you by another name, mock your name, or shorten it to a name they prefer. Losing your name just isn't fun!

Culture Collage

When children choose to draw, encourage them to draw a collage that includes all the symbols that are special to them. The next day, let them change their collage if they choose. At the end of the week mount all of the pictures together. Try to see how many symbols are shared, and how the pictures reflect the artists. You might want to ask the children to guess whose collage belongs to which artist. The children usually want to re-draw their pictures at this point. Their culture collages have already changed in a few short days. This experience reminds the children not to stereotype their friend's culture, or say that they know all about it.

I Can't Eat That

Eating lunch together is a springboard for playing a game about food preferences. Have each child name a food they didn't like when they were very small, a food they didn't like before they started school, and a food they don't like now. You can act as the group recorder with a felt marker and a piece of flipchart taped to the wall.

This shows the children how their own tastes and those of their friends have changed. It also tells them a little more about their friends. You can share your own food preferences with them too. Tell them why, "Yuk that stinks" hurts your feelings when you offer someone your favourite food. Suggest that they say instead, "I don't like that now, I may try it someday."

Gifts

Feeling accepted and appreciated by the group is very important for school-aged children. This game is a chance for them to feel appreciated and to learn names too. It is also a positive alternative to the habit of passing notes. Encourage each child to write a positive note to each of the other children in care. The note can be simple: "you can skip"; "I like your pink shoes"; or "you make me laugh" are some of the ones I have read. Fold the paper and help put the child's name on the outside fold, then put it in that child's cubby or take-home file. The gifts are lovely to give and lovely for the recipient to read at the end of the day.

Standing Ovation

This is a good game if someone in the group has had a very frustrating day. It's easy to play -- just have everyone stand up, put their arms out and brings their hands together quickly 10 times. Thank them for the standing ovation. Then ask them to close their eyes. Tell them you will count from 10 to one. The people who have had a great day sit down when the number 10 is called. If they have had an average day, they sit down when the number six is called, and so on. Inevitably, only a few will remain standing. Have everyone open their eyes and clap hard for those few who have had terrible days. It helps!

September is a great time to meet new friends and become part of the group. These five games will help children feel included and learn how to include others as well. Maybe this October, when the class photos arrive, you'll have a wonderful surprise!

These are just a few of the 40 games from "Globalchild Growing Up," a forthcoming publication by Addison-Wesley. The book will help school-aged children look at bias and become active advocates for equality.

This article appeared in Interaction (Fall 1994), published by the Canadian Child Care Federation.

Posted by the Canadian Child Care Federation, August 1997.

---