T is for Themes: Building Skills How-Tos

🔥 Hot Topic Today!  Themes!  

These are often criticized as an outdated practice that should be shunned and yet I choose to do a blog each week with 'themed activities' and see it as a positive and inspirational post.  However, it is the context of themes that needs to be clarified and is what I am thinking through with this post.

A theme is considered to be an adult directed topic set up for a week or a month and a child is directed to learn about that subject for the duration even though they may not have any interest in the topic.  I do not agree with this format and according to this definition I also disapprove of themes.  However, if you have a child who is passionate about something, using their interest to expand their knowledge of the subject and how it is applied in different fields would only serve to further engage them in learning and expand their play with new ideas.  

For example, a desire to be a chef can expand to understanding how the food grows, where in the world different spices come from, how people groups around the world create staple dishes based on their native crops, development in the farm industry, plating, presentation skills, marketing, the use of colours for visual appeal, the impact of the sense of smell on taste and so much more.  Customer surveys, pricing out foods, shopping etc are practical life skills that can be a fun play experience too. Having a planned program to work through these is NOT what I suggest but having all these ideas in your mind so you can provide the appropriate opportunities for children to explore these IS what I suggest.  

Now, often a 'theme' is a broadly based topic of interest to most children and has diverse applications to begin with.  It is useful for children who are not explorers, who are not creative or risk takers to try new activities.  If you can draw on a subject of interest it will help them to engage. Perhaps a peer is interested in something, let's say, fashion or sharks. This child wants to interact but is NOT interested in fashion or sharks. How can you help them to bridge the gap?  Well, by looking at a list of things with a shark theme, for example, you could see on that list something this child would enjoy.  Say, shark tag or building an ocean diorama or finger painting an ocean with shades of blue paint. Now you can choose which of those three the other child might be interested in and set it up for them to explore. You can put a book about sharks in the same area to draw them in or begin a discussion with your idea based on the theme of sharks but you are not directing their play but you are providing them with ideas on how to bridge their play so an interest appeals to them both. 

Another example is a child who really does not like sensory activities, for example.  It could be any area of a room...no crafts, no gross motor, no dramatic play etc. That is fine as they are individuals but at the same time you want to entice them to explore it.  How can you do that?  Knowing they like something specific, like castles, you can put out a sensory bin with sand and tools to build a sandcastle. Or you can put out textured paper products or playdough or lego and encourage a castle making activity for the class in hopes their interest will override their hesitation and allow them to try something new. 

Maybe a child only likes one thing such as lego.  Adding in drawing out your designs, or making scenes with lego structures and adding in toy animals or using lego pieces to practice counting are ways to stick with what they love but see what else they can do with it.  Maybe this is a way to include other children in the activity and build their social skills in the process

When I present a theme, my idea is to use it to expand their world, to develop their skills and build on their interests ALL WHILE PLAYING and doing activities that are important to them as individuals.  It is a way to show them that I saw them for who they are and recognized their interests and provided new opportunities for them to explore them in new ways. I did not impose it, I presented the opportunity.. Presenting you with themed activities to be utilized in this manner is not an outdated practice from all I can see. It is a caring, thoughtful and creative way to support children as they learn through play. After all, that is what we want to do.