The children have appeared to be watching the sky for plane trails and making paper airplanes as of late. We have thought to extend this by creating an airport and an airplane in their dramatic play area. We had added a few jobs to the area, someone in charge of boarding passes and the cash register, we had a flight attendant who passed out drinks as well as a pilot who told us where we were going and got us there safely.
The children have been asking to go to different areas that they have previously travelled to before and are sharing their experiences with their peers. The children have been practicing communication and turn taking while waiting for a position to open up. The role of the flight attendant is practicing early numeracy by counting the cups and the passengers before adding them to a tray and passing them around. Through imaginary play, the children are growing cognitively while they use their experiences as their representation of the activity. This helps each child gain a sense of belonging by feeling like they are included in the process.
After listening to the children's conversations, the one thing that was brought to our attention is that they can't board without a passport! So, we have begun the process of creating passports for each child. When asked what they thought should be on that passport, the children answered their favourite colour, of course! As we continue to create passports with the children, we will also introduce new places to travel to as we read and research about different places around the world.
