Try It Out

Try It Out

[ Music ]

Dawn: Hi, Kelli!

Kelli Heikkila: Hi, how are you guys?

Dawn: So we are talking about relationships today. What could you use?

Kelli: You don't need a lot of stuff to build relationships, but these are some really great tools to help you. Once you've kind of decided which children maybe need a little bit of extra support from yourself or maybe need a little bit of extra positive reinforcement, a really great idea is I just have these three rubber bands on my arm. And so, maybe my goal is I'm going to give three positive supports to this one child throughout the day. And so this is my goal, is to do that for that child. And so once I've given a positive compliment or played with that child, I'm going to move this to my other arm. So then I see I've done one, but I still have two left to do. So this is a really great physical, visual way that you can quickly look down and see, oh hey, I've still got two left to do for this child. That's my goal.

Kristin: What about this?

Kelli: So, the next is "all about me" type of thing. And this is really great for helping children feel like they're part of the classroom, helping them feel part of the community, feel like they have a spot in the classroom, and that helps build the relationship with them as well, if they feel important and if they feel like they're represented in the classroom.

So the first thing we have is an All About Me book, and this is a book that each child can do. And you maybe are going to draw a picture of your face, you know, your portrait, a picture of your eyes, maybe your favorite things. There's all sorts of different things in here. And this is something that you could do at a group time or a center time and have each child do one. And then if you maybe bind them together and put them in your library area so that the children could read each other's and they could learn about each other as well.

Dawn: And it just makes one child feel really special.

Kelli: Absolutely, absolutely. Another great All About Me is this is a poster. Yeah, and so this one is a little bit, maybe you have a star of the week if you want to do it that way. And so, this is an All About Me poster where each child could maybe have one in the classroom, or you could have And again, this has how old they are, what their favorites are, and they've got to draw some pictures of their favorite things. They've got to talk about, you know, themselves in it.

And so, it's a really great representation in the classroom of each child. Along with that is a photo album, And this is something that you could have pictures of their family, the children's family. You could have pictures of their grandma, their grandpa. It can be something that lives in their cubby area that they can maybe go look at when they maybe are needing a pick-me-up or maybe they're missing mom and dad. And it's also a really great way for the teachers to get to know what types of family members they have, who's important in their life as well.

The next couple things I have are just about setting the tone of the classroom. The first thing I have is a big wearable hug. And so, if you have children who maybe need an extra hug in the classroom, are maybe having an emotional day, or maybe just need some extra loving, this is just something that you could make. Maybe each child could make as well; that's super easy. You get that hug, you feel really special about it.

Dawn: Yeah, I feel special.

Kelli: Yes, totally. You feel really special. You get that hug. It's something that the teachers can interact with the children about, too.

Dawn: Yeah! And it's adorable.

Kristin: Great. Love that. It's easy to make.

Kelli: Oh, super easy. Yeah. So spending time one-on-one playing with the child, giving your full attention to them, actually playing with them, talking to them, having a conversation. Super easy, Play-Doh. Every kid loves Play-Doh.

Kristin: Right. That brings all the children.

Kelli: Brings everybody there. So sitting down, playing Play-Doh with them. You maybe could make your own Play-Doh with them. So, you could turn it into maybe a science or a math activity, as well, that's kind of one-on-one. They're helping you, you're creating something together. It's an experience that you guys have had together.

Dawn: There's so many great ways to connect with a child here.

Kelli: There's tons of different ways to connect with a child. And again, the best way is really just giving your attention to them, spending that time with them, and making sure that what you're doing is positive with them.

Dawn: That's perfect, Kelli. I want to spend more time with you. Kelli: Awesome.

[ Laughter ]