The week before Halloween, I invited all the students to wear a costume to class. Many students did, and we had fun doing our normal class activites as princesses, witches, cats, baby cavemen and even astronauts. It was so much fun to get to share the magic of pretend play in a new and special way in class. "When your child engages in pretend (or dramatic) play, he is actively experimenting with the social and emotional roles of life. Through cooperative play, he learns how to take turns, share responsibility, and creatively problem-solve. When your child pretends to be different characters, he has the experience of "walking in someone else's shoes," which helps teach the important moral development skill of empathy. It is normal for young children to see the world from their own egocentric point of view, but through maturation and cooperative play, your child will begin to understand the feelings of others. Your child also builds self-esteem when he discovers he can be anything just by pretending!" [1]
So much of what we do in Kindermusik revolves around these concepts and how they are essential to the development of the whole child. I love that so may children have their first experience with learning to share in my classroom, or learn to give up a treasured jingle when it's "time to put the instruments away" by watching the other children and modeling this helpful behavior after their peers.
On this post, you can see Astronaut Jonah floating in a field of egg shakers. You can visit the gallery of costumed kids on my facebook. Thank you all so much for allowing me to share in the joy of your growing children!
[1]http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=10175 : "The Importance of Pretend Play" by Ellen Booth Church
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