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Masking Up Magic?

Posted by: Rhonda August 25, 2020

One of the fine arts of working with young children is creatively persuading them to do things they’d rather not do. Washing hands, picking up toys, taking a nap . . . and now, add to that list, wearing a mask. How do teachers manage to do it?

One experienced teacher related to us how she encouraged some reluctant students to willingly don their mask:

As with any undesirable task, if you make it play, they’ll join in! We started with “Simon Says”: “Masks on lap”, I chanted, “Hands on head”. They copied my motions, until by the end, everyone was wearing a mask!

We followed this with the “Humming Game”. With everyone’s mouths now covered with a mask, I secretly selected one child to hum. The other children had to guess who was humming. Everyone wanted a turn! I expect we’ll have to play games like this daily until wearing a mask, just like washing hands, simply becomes a routine part of our day.

Anyone else have any successful tips or tricks to share?