Constructive Activities as 'Purposeful Activities'

       In determining what the constructive activities or projects of little children are, to be, the motive prompting the children in the doing of any special task is of greatest importance, also the fact that the activity shall wholesomely and naturally form an intrinsic part of the life of the child at any given time. The motive may vary considerably and yet be acceptable. It may be social and cultivate the growing and sharing spirit, as when gifts are made for different seasons of the year, or refreshments served for special occasions at school; it may be the expression of the love of beauty and show itself in a desire to decorate the schoolroom, or to make covers and portfolios for the preservation of school work; it may answer a special need, as when costumes, spears, helmets and other accessories are simply made in order to lend to dramatic expression an added sense of reality, or when material is needed for nature study; it may furnish a fitting climax to industrial studies, leading to an understanding of actual conditions, as when jelly or biscuits are made from the fruit and grain harvested. Insistence upon a genuine motive there should be; otherwise constructive activity loses its educational significance and becomes barren of its best results.

       The love of beauty being essential to all appreciation and adequate expression, it may be considered a dominant factor which permeates and accompanies all other motives in their attempts at realization. Hence the artistic training in design and color must be kept in mind.

       Crude results should be accepted and given due credit, providing only that they represent the best effort of the child at any given time, and that conditions exist for growth. The work should be that of the child, with only so much of the teacher in it as prevents discouragement through insurmountable obstacles, or standstill through lack of vision. The difficulties must be within the capacity of the growing child at any given time.

       The suggestions following have been carried out in various schools with little children. 

   A. Constructive activities growing out of roll play activity

• Activities and artifacts for children to act as parents to their doll infant here.

   B. Constructive activities growing out of the social motive

• On the left hand sidebar, I list those artifacts a child might use to construct an entire village where they and their doll may engage with one another socially. This is called "The Places to Visit in Dollville"

   C. Decoration of schoolroom and care of same

• Young ones may set up a classroom/school in order to teach their dolls here. I include may crafts, and even ideas for lessons under this page.

   D. Useful articles for preservation of classroom work

• Under "Dollplay that informs literacy and the arts" are many ideas for integrating the literary artifacts and arts/crafts according to three levels of increasingly difficult strategy.

   E. Useful articles and activities for class and home use

• All of our articles on the blog are written professionals who have designed literacy based in topics like natural history, science or biographies based in fact. So, your child will be learning while she is teaching her dolls at the same time!

   F. Constructive activities growing out of school-garden, excursion to a farm, dairy, trades etc...

• Build upon an intricate group of lessons using materials from our camps: "Little Blossoms" doll camp or a farming camp for dolls here.

   G. Constructive activities growing out of desire for dramatic expression and realistic representation - Make costumes and other simple accessories. 

• Under both our Halloween Artifacts and Mardi Gras Artifacts I list how to craft costumes for doll playtime as well.

The Role of Play in the Overly-Academic Classroom