Kindergarten: Mother, May I?
“Play fosters belonging and encourages cooperation.” - Unknown
Each Wednesday afternoon the kindergarten class participates in classic children’s games. The focus of this activity is to teach cooperation and listening skills, as well as build friendships and promote teamwork amongst the children. This past week, we played Mother, May I?. None of the children had played this game before and were excited to learn how to play. Simple and fun, the game consists of one person playing the mother (or father, or “captain”) and the other children playing a familiar role: the children. Each child takes a turn asking requesting permission from the mother. For example, “Mother, may I jump up and down?”. The mother responds with, “Yes, you may” or “No, you may not”. Alternatively, the mother can say yes but add additional instructions like “Yes, you may but only 2 times!”.
On this Wednesday, each child had a turn in small groups to be both the “mother” and the “child”. Much laughter ensued as the children grew confident with the game and began requesting sillier things. Everyone took turns easily and cooperated with one another beautifully. This is sure to be a game we will play again and again this year!
