I am Special
The Personal, Social and Emotional Development (PSED) area of learning in the Early Years Foundation Stage involves helping children to develop a positive sense of themselves. It is important for young children to feel good about themselves to raise their self-esteem, boost their confidence and promote a positive body image.
When focusing on this area of learning at 1st Place, we encouraged our children to talk about what makes them special and to explore their unique features. During group discussions, the children described their various looks such as “I have brown hair” and “I have a small nose”. We introduced a mirror into the activity and the children talked about images of themselves. They examined their reflection, created different facial expressions, described features of their faces in detail and shared their uniqueness with one another.
The children looked in the mirror and decided to draw their faces using their reflection. While drawing, they talked about the similarities and differences of their own faces compared with their friends. In doing so, they learned new vocabulary for describing and naming facial features such as eye and skin colour. More importantly, they developed an appreciation and an understanding of what made them special.
To reinforce our learning, we sang, played and danced to the ‘I am Special’ song (to the tune of “Frère Jacques”). This helped the children to have fun while expressing their feelings and boost their self-confidence:
I am special,
I am special,
Look at me, you will see,
Someone very special,
Someone very special,
It is me.
It is me!
Self-portrait activity
This activity is easily replicated at home so why not give it a try?
Ask your child to observe their facial features in a mirror. Compare each other’s features, and name and describe the different parts of the face including similarities and differences.
Explore different facial expressions by pulling funny faces, take turns describing what you see.
Encourage your child to draw a self-portrait.
Finish the activity by having fun singing and dancing to our ‘I am Special’ song.