The Underground

Social studies with preschoolers is tough. Their concept of a world beyond their view is limited at best. You can tell them about other cultures, but they really learn best through experiencing. Short of whisking them off to foreign lands, it’s been a whole lot of thinking outside the box to plan this particular part of the curriculum.

This week we’re talking about the United Kingdom. Which, seriously, does anyone truly understand the United Kingdom? (This snippet Susie found seems to shed some light on it.) Anyway, I thought we’d zoom in on London and talk about the Underground and all the places it can take you.

I retro-fitted my Playmobil train and station to resemble the Underground. I created a map of destinations, all of which we had discussed in class, and told the children to think about where their passengers were headed that day. The loading and unloading the passengers had the additional aspect of refining fine-motor skills.

They loved this work, and it was in use most of the week. I smiled each time I heard a small voice call out, “Mind the gap!”

Really—I have no idea how anyone becomes a preschool teacher without training as a designer.