Polar Bear Kindergarteners

There is nothing more satisfying than seeing a parent and their virtual child during these hybrid days take a photograph of their child wearing their polar bear mask.

The hybrid children of my class have it hard. I tried to aim for the projects that pertain all materials that are most common in the home, or at least to post the materials in advance. The Kindergarteners found it difficult to fold and cut, weave and glue without a parent to help them. Yet, I still implemented many Origami and STEAM projects that promoted endless cutting and folding. The challenge was not the act of cutting and folding but the fear that they would not do it right.

Most parents working online from home have children working from home as young as five years old. The parents have no other choice but to leave me, a virtual authority, to remind my students not to jump on the bed or put scissors in their mouths. Some parents would be able to hire a nanny or babysitter to sit with their five-years-old during class time.

For the polar bear project, we watched a video describing polar bears and their habitats and proceeded with the following tools: a paper plate, string, cotton, construction paper, glue, scissors, and drawing tools. Not all virtual students had construction paper, so we substituted regular notebook paper and colored it. Not all students had glue, so I told them to draw out their favorite animal or a polar bear.

The challenge was real and tough, but the reward in the lesson of problem solving and troubleshooting was extremely strong in which the Kindergarteners learned very well.

Cutting eyes out of a plate is difficult and dangerous without a parent. I told the virtual students to poke holes all around the eye oval they drew so as not to hurt themselves. Even poking is tricky. I told them, "Okay, let us fold the plate and cut a wedge-shape," if it was a paper plate.

Cutting out ears was the easy challenge; the Kindergarteners were extremely advanced by now with cutting. Throughout the school year, I have challenged them above and beyond the normal cutting skills. Because most of them were on their own, their motor skills were very advanced because of the forced independence. Safety was an issue that many calls and emails would resolve.

Busy parents working in their offices tried to check up on them from time to time and I would give a thumbs up or down to let them know all was well or a letter would address some issues. The main issue was jumping on a bed or walking around the house with their devices. It would distract the class but bring a lighter tone to our Kindergarten class. I would allow children to show off their toys or keep them around while working to reduce the stressors.

Sometimes parental, or adult supervision can hinder a child from trying something challenging. With no parent to cut or glue with, the children were up for this challenge.

The polar bear project needed cotton balls. I could only get make up removing pads and some of the Kindergarteners at home used toilet tissue. Adding string to make the mask complete was another challenge that we got through. Some of the students had no string but substituted with a few popsicle sticks or simply held the mask to their faces.

Once the project was done, and the polar bear masks were on (or pictures displayed) the children laughing, clapping, growling was so rewarding. The best thing was seeing a busy, working mom excitedly take a photograph of her child wearing the mask she did all by herself and seeing their laughs.