Window Cleaning
Children from 18 months onward are eager to help with window cleaning. Through this, they learn values such as cooperation, helping others, respect, independence, and care for the environment. Children take pride in helping the educator or their mother, mimicking the movements adults use to clean windows. The educator demonstrates how to clean (the child calmly and attentively watches the educator), and then the child repeats all the movements. This activity is very popular among children, so new volunteers always come forward to learn window cleaning for the next session.
Opposite Cards – What’s Right and Wrong, Honesty, Responsibility
This activity is particularly useful for teaching children over the age of three about responsibility, politeness, respect, what’s right and wrong, care for the environment, obedience, love, fairness, and tolerance. To teach this, we need opposite cards, which we place on the table or on a rug. The educator or parent reviews the opposite cards with the child. The educator shows the first card and asks the child what they see on it. If the child cannot describe it, they describe it together: e.g., I see two boys peeling a banana. One boy throws the peel on the ground. An older lady walks by, steps on the peel, and falls. The educator asks, “Do you think the boy acted responsibly when he threw the peel on the ground?” The child answers, “No.” “How could he have acted differently?” “Let’s look at this card. What did the boy on this card do?” “He threw the peel in the trash can.” The children then review the other cards to find the appropriate one that shows how to behave in different life situations.
Carrying a Chair, Table, etc.
This activity emphasizes the following values: care for maintaining order in the group, on the playground, and at home.
By carrying larger objects, the child is allowed to coordinate movements. This also helps develop concentration, balance, and independence. By taking care of things and keeping the space tidy, the child learns responsibility and develops a positive self-image.
We teach the child to carry a chair and other objects without dragging them across the floor. They choose a spot and quietly place the items on the floor.
Introducing this activity to a child is simple. The educator stands by the chair next to the table. They hold the chair by the backrest and the seat with both hands, lift it to waist height, and carry it to the other end of the room. They silently place the chair on the floor.
Depending on the child’s age, the educator ensures that the chair or other objects to be carried are appropriately sized and weighted for the child’s age. Suggestions for what the child can carry include: a table, a tray, a basket, a bin, a bucket… With a partner: a table, a cabinet, a bin, a box, a lounger…
Cleaning Up After Lunch
Cleaning up after lunch involves various activities through which the child internalizes many values: cooperation, care for the environment, kindness and politeness, independence, and responsibility…
Each child in the group contributes to maintaining the shared space.
The educator demonstrates each activity to the children. Children enjoy independently taking care of the space. Tasks can be assigned to “duty children,” or each child can choose what they will do on a given day (task cards can be prepared to hang around their necks with the written task). The educator chooses how tasks are divided. Some tasks can also be done in pairs.
After lunch, each child takes their plate and utensils to the cart and washes up.
Then they choose from the following tasks that need to be done: