During my observations, I noticed that the Preschool 2 children have shown a strong interest in arts and crafts activities, often eagerly expressing their desire to participate. They have been enjoying working with popsicle sticks, creating a variety of items such as spinners, puppets, picture frames, stars, ornaments, instruments, cars, trucks, and fans. This enthusiasm inspired me to design an engaging activity that not only encourages discussion about the people we care about and explores their self-identity but also fosters their creativity and imagination. Following last Mother’s Day, the children continued to create cards and gifts to honour their fathers, expressing love and appreciation. To prepare a special Father’s Day gift, the preschoolers commenced on a new challenge using popsicle sticks. To inspire their creativity, I provided a plain pencil holder and a mobile holder that I had made from popsicle sticks. As I set them on the table, the children were curious about the items and eagerly wanted to make their own versions of Father’s Day gifts. They began by making handprints on the pencil holder using various colours of paint, adding a personal touch. They also decorated their projects with colourful bingo dabbers, gems, and wooden shapes such as vehicles and hearts, which they glued onto their creations. For the mobile holder, they painted using their loved ones’ favourite colours. This activity spanned over two weeks, during which the preschoolers participated actively and enthusiastically, demonstrating perseverance and dedication toward creating their special gifts. During the painting process, Calvin, Abby, and Cyril enjoyed blending colours and layering paint, while others preferred working in separate areas to achieve a rainbow effect on the mobile holders. As they decorated their gifts with bingo dabbers and gems on the pencil holders, some preschoolers, including Skylar, worked diligently to create patterns by taking turns with different colours, arranging them in a row. Meanwhile, Ellie enjoyed doing nail art by placing sticky gems on her nails and showing them to me.
