It is true that the 2018 Winter Olympic Games are happening in PyeongChang, South Korea, but did you know that they are happening in South Burlington also? In the Preschool classrooms at Lund’s Early Childhood Education Program to be exact.
Preschool teachers Kent Huntoon, Zoe Elliston, Anne Davie, and Laila Copperansky have brought the Olympics alive for the children in their classrooms by hosting an opening ceremony, decorating the classroom with flags from around the world, streaming Olympic coverage for the children to watch, and setting up Olympic events such as ski-jumping, ice hockey, bobsledding and more.
Preschoolers are inherently interested in the world around them and the Winter Olympics provides a lot of new and interesting things to learn. There is new vocabulary – luge, podium, Zamboni, competitor, – new physical experiences to witness, and lessons about winning and losing, grit and perseverance that are as valid on the ski jump track as in the preschool classroom. But the best way to learn about the Winter Olympics is to experience it. With a field trip to PyeongChang off the table, the next best thing was to set up the Olympics for the preschoolers to participate in themselves.
Last Monday morning in the preschool classroom, while alpine skiing, speed skating and curling were happening in Korea, Lund preschoolers were participating in the ski-jump and hockey. The ski jump was built out of two ramp hollow blocks and the children took turns running up the ramp and then leaping into the air. After the jump was cleared away, hockey took place on a rink taped out on the floor with a foam puck and plastic knee hockey sticks. It was high scoring game with multiple players scoring upwards of 25 goals each. The players cleared off the rink during an intermission and one brought out the Zamboni, made from another hollow block, to smooth out the ice for the next period. It was a perfect example of play mimicking real life and indicative of the versatility of open-ended playthings such as hollow blocks to be used for diverse, imaginative purposes.
The highlight of the week was the bobsledding which took place at Farrell Park, a walkable distance for the preschoolers from Lund’s Hoehl Family Building. When asked earlier in the month what they thought bobsledding was, the preschoolers immediately replied that it must mean sledding with Bob Robinson, Lund’s Director of Operations. Bob is a beloved figure to the children at LECP as he is the one who fixes problems, maintains and equips the outdoor play space, and circulates in his hi-vis yellow vest after a fire drill letting the kids know that they are safe to go back into the building. Unfortunately, Bob was unable to join the young athletes but that did not stop them from sliding, spinning, and sometimes spilling down the slope. Gold medals for all!
