Celebrating Family Day in Kindergarten

Buttons ready to be gifted to loved ones. Photos provided by author.

By Mahima Lamba (she/her), teacher, Delta

Several years ago, I made a change in the way I plan my yearly calendar. I made the choice to consciously emphasize and celebrate Family Day in February rather than Mother’s Day or Father’s Day in May and June. While this was a departure from the traditional early childhood education thematic calendar, instead of making a special craft for Mom and Dad in May and June, I wanted the children in my class to be able to have a token of love for all of their important adults. 

Family will always be important to young children and a meaningful theme in the early years. Learning about our families is a way for children to develop a positive personal and cultural identity. It is for this reason that it was important to me to include all the iterations of families. I wanted to be able to recognize and include the many families that exist in our school communities, including queer families, blended families, children who are raised in care or by grandparents, single parents, or families living intergenerationally. This inclusive approach has the added benefit of being trauma-informed and sensitive to families who are experiencing separation or death, knowing Mother’s Day and Father’s Day can be hard days on the calendar for many children and adults.  

The button-maker ready for action.

For this project we chose to make “campaign” style buttons using a button-maker machine. A local high school teacher lent us the button-maker from his business education program and generously donated the supplies, so we had no limit on the number of buttons each child could make. Each child decorated a beautiful heart in oil pastel and chose a colourful paper background to make an image that popped. Then I photographed each one and printed them on to a template to use with the button-maker’s die-cut machine. Each child got to press and make their own collection of buttons and generate a list of people they wanted to make a button for. It warmed my heart as children listed parents, grandparents, siblings, and beloved neighbours they wanted to make buttons for. Now in our community I see people proudly wearing their buttons on jackets, bags, and lanyards carrying their Kindergarten love with them.  

Making a special project meets our ADST curricular outcomes such as making (a product using known procedures) and sharing (choosing who to share your product with). I was happy to find a way to continue to include the fun and learning of a Mother’s Day-type project with a simple, inclusive change.

Resources

I Love You because I Love You by Muợn Thị Văn

A Family Is a Family Is a Family by Sara O’Leary