Play: A Welcome-to-Waldkindergarten Puppet Show
Elder Gnome and the Starry Night Sky
The cognitive tool of play allows for an intuitive, multidimensional learning experience. Play, as stated in Sparks of Genius, "returns us to the presymbolic drives of gut feelings, emotions, intuition, and fun from which creative insights stem, thereby making us inventors." In the case of kindergarten, whether the Waldkindergarten model or not, play allows students a free-form way to experience unknowns on their own terms. Play is a tool best facilitated by imagination,
My introductory activity is both playful and meaningful, because it introduces students to the idea of outdoor learning through something they can feel safe with--a puppet show, which requires zero participation (just watching). As a beginning-of-the-year activity, it provides a comfortable space to get accustomed to the group and the classroom while observing these three gnomes. By setting up a story that takes place outside, and carries over multiple morals (stick together, learn from nature, always wonder), the multi-layered lesson is articulated in a way that kindergarteners can connect with. There is meaning throughout the puppet show itself, and also in the real-life acting out of the puppet show later in the day. That display of synthesis, something I have seen happen before in a kindergarten classroom, allows the students to perpetuate their own meaning-making by translating the show into their own dialogue, their own language. By reenacting the story of the Elder Gnome and the Starry Night Sky, interaction with nature and imagination can both fluidly take place. This synthesis provides the perfect introduction to a nature-infused kindergarten model: students putting theory into practice on their own terms, surrounded by nature.
I developed this activity because not only is it age-appropriate, but it also sparks wonder and curiosity in students from the very start. The whimsy that belongs to a puppet show such as this captivates the audience. By providing this sort of wonder-infused lesson early on, it allows the students to bond over a common experience and translate it in their own bodies as they see fit.
My introductory activity is both playful and meaningful, because it introduces students to the idea of outdoor learning through something they can feel safe with--a puppet show, which requires zero participation (just watching). As a beginning-of-the-year activity, it provides a comfortable space to get accustomed to the group and the classroom while observing these three gnomes. By setting up a story that takes place outside, and carries over multiple morals (stick together, learn from nature, always wonder), the multi-layered lesson is articulated in a way that kindergarteners can connect with. There is meaning throughout the puppet show itself, and also in the real-life acting out of the puppet show later in the day. That display of synthesis, something I have seen happen before in a kindergarten classroom, allows the students to perpetuate their own meaning-making by translating the show into their own dialogue, their own language. By reenacting the story of the Elder Gnome and the Starry Night Sky, interaction with nature and imagination can both fluidly take place. This synthesis provides the perfect introduction to a nature-infused kindergarten model: students putting theory into practice on their own terms, surrounded by nature.
I developed this activity because not only is it age-appropriate, but it also sparks wonder and curiosity in students from the very start. The whimsy that belongs to a puppet show such as this captivates the audience. By providing this sort of wonder-infused lesson early on, it allows the students to bond over a common experience and translate it in their own bodies as they see fit.