The Dog theme project emerged in Class K 2.3 It came out through pretend play – kids role played that they are a family of dogs (daddy dog, mummy dog and puppies).
The children became more curious and interested about dogs when provided with books, songs and rhymes and also with the collaboration of their parents/guardians who sent items, toys, books, pictures, etc about this. With the help of pictures and features, children talked and discussed about different dog breeds, anatomy,reproduction, diet, care and much more.
Some kids also shared photos and information of their pet dog and also brought it to school to visit our class.
In class we documented our understandings on a web chart.
In sensory play, kids experimented about dirty dogs in mud and washed them with clean
soapy water and using soft towels.
They also responded creatively to a variety of stimuli using a tuff tray with different
shapes & textures of dog food and toy dogs.
Outside, experts were visited in their salon (dog grooming) and department (Police
Dogs’ Section) – aggressor, drugs and chemical substances
During our walk to our destination the kids noticed dogs’ waste bin. Listening carefully to the children, these findings led us to investigate new topics such as dogs’ poo and the dogs’ waste bin. The kids created poo using play dough and constructed a dogs’ waste bin using a box and a piece of a broom stick. They also painted it in the right colour code as seen outside. They asked for the symbol found on the bin. First I encouraged them to draw it but they wished to have it printed.With some glue they attached it to the bin. They put the bin aside where later they pretended to take out the dog for a walk (using a leash) and cleaned up after his dirt. On childrens daily walk to school, they noticed that dog owners dont clean up after their pet.
During our cooking session we did some play dough where children used rolling pins and dog themed cutters to create biscuits.
Kids also developed the formation of a written letter in flour. i.e. in this case k for ‘kelb’
More hands on with the formation of ‘k’, where first, children did the formation with their finger on the paper provided and glued pieces of brown paper (to associate it with ‘kannella’). They loved to do so in sand and with other items as well.
They also loved to imitate dogs’ tricks & behaviour and how dogs eat and drink.
Kids also sorted various sizes of bones to the corresponding dog and bowl size (big,medium and small).
They also developed fine motor skills (tripod grip) using laminated dog size themed pictures and markers.
Children loved to use their imagination in creativity e.g. drawing, creating a leash,role play, pretend play and much more
We also investigated new topics regarding dogs such as sledge dogs, guide dogs and adopting rescue dogs.
This project lasted four weeks and with a surprise.
