PIZZA!! Who isn't thrilled at the mere thought of pizza?
Better still? How about the non-caloric, open-ended, Art process type project -- that requires the 'delayed gratification' of working on making your personal pizza over the course of several days!! Behold a brilliant project in the making.
Children each have their own paper-plate base..... cover it to their liking on:
- Day #1 -- with tomato sauce (aka: red tempra paint)
- Day #2 -- sprinkle generously with cheese (aka: yellow and white yarn, glued into place)
- Day #3 -- add the toppings of mushrooms, pepperoni and peppers to taste
We know that children who develop the ability to 'delay-their-gratification' have the best predictive outcome when it comes to school and lifetime success [according to Dr. Pam Schiller and lots of others.] Whenever we provide experiences that require additional steps over the course of days and weeks, we strengthen those skills.
I just LUV LUV LUV that Community Church Preschool in Vero Beach was providing just such an experience for their students -- in a CREATIVE way. If the well-worn box is any indication, this must be one of the best games for children ever to be played at preschool!
I have some other articles here that help address this idea of 'delayed gratification.' Think growing seeds or look here for hatching eggs. How about asking children to wait-to-roar when they see a picture of a lion?
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| Delayed Gratification: Seeds Grown in a Baggie |
What a gift to know that I was responsible for providing the motivation for a child's first spoken word: "ROARRRRRRRRR." The sound at the end of my song, "Lion Prowl." Some things are worth waiting for. When we wait, the party is especially memorable.
I'm in the business of delayed gratification. Yesterday in the mail I received a package of handwritten feedback from a conference in Gainesville where I presented to eager ECE professionals. It's been a long time since I received old-school, hand-written feedback. I thought you'd get a kick out of what they had to say!
This is my seventeenth year of traveling about as the 'music-lady' now morphed into 'author/illustrator.' I remember so well when Mimi Chenfeld told me I'd have to pay my dues. There are times when being on the road makes me a little frazzled (like right now, I have lost my cell phone: UGGGGGGG.) Then I get a package where people have expressed their appreciation and I realize anew how fortunate I am to get to do what I LUV LUV LUV!
Yes. I cut the evaluations ALL apart and then glued the tidbits back together with an old-school glue stick. Now I have my very own happy, kick-in-the-pants for times when I get a tad frayed at the edges. It's not everyday that you get to read,
"She was phenomenal!! EVERY person/teacher should be required to attend a session taught by her!"It's also pretty amazing to receive all "10's" on a scale of one-to-five. I saved all of the 'fives'. What can I say?
"They liked me, they liked me."
What could you begin today that would show its value in seventeen weeks, seventeen months, seventeen years? What can you plant, nurture and bring to fruition? You probably have to pay your dues, but the reward is PHENOMENAL!
***Continuing with my theme of gratitude..... I'm so grateful to +Zina Harrington of Lasso the Moon for her leading me through the jungles of social media. The woman has over a million Pinterest followers. Need I say more?
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| I now have 114,029 Followers |
