Community Helpers

*The community helpers I've done in the past are: Policeman, Garbage Man (one of my favorites as it provides an opportunity to teach a little about recycling; a good time to do this helper is with a unit on Earth Day), Beautician/Barber, Doctor/Nurse/Hospital, Repairman, Plumber, Painter, Chef, Gas Station Attendant, and/or Carpenter/Construction Worker/Architect.  I like doing Postman and Dentist in February, and Fire Fighter in October.

*Here's an activity for your Games Center (small manipulatives): When doing the community helper of "Repairman," put out a basket with pieces of wire and wire cutters in it.  Children cut the wire (I wouldn't use this with younger children without supervision).

*When doing the theme of Doctor/Nurse/Hospital, a wonderful fine motor activity is to have children transfer small squares of gauze from one container to another using tweezers.

*Nurse, Nurse, Someone Stole Your Cotton Ball: Everyone knows (I think) the familiar "Doggy, Doggy, Someone Stole Your Bone" game.  Well, you can adapt it to almost any theme.  I particularly like to do it with community helpers.  In the case of a hospital theme, the child facing away from the others can be the doctor or nurse.  The teacher gives someone in the group the cotton ball to hold in a clenched fist.  Then everyone in the group pretends they have the cotton ball in their clenched fists while chanting, "Nurse, Nurse, someone stole your cotton ball."  The "nurse" turns around and tries to guess who has it.  The child who does have it then becomes the nurse and the game starts again.  Items need to be small enough to be held in a small hand, or you could have children all put their clasped hands behind their backs if the child holding the tool is having a hard time keeping it hidden within their hands.
Other helpers/tools might be: Chef/spoon, Policeman/badge, Garbage Man/gum wrapper, Beautician/comb, Repairman/screw, Postman/small, short pencil, Dentist/piece of dental floss.
 
Name the Helper: Draw around patterns of various community helper hats, then color and laminate them.  During Group time, have children name the helper by looking at the individual hats as you hold them up (nurse, chef, fireman, policeman, etc).

Community Helpers Snack:
Let children "build" a house: square piece of bread (house), triangular piece of cheese (roof), carrot rounds (windows), small rectangular shaped cracker (door).  (You could let them cut out their house and roof if time, or just for this day, you could set up this snack in the Play Kitchen or Pre-Math Learning Center and allow children to take turns "having snack" during Free Choice Playtime.  And then if your regular snack time is later, provide another small snack so they won't get too hungry before lunch time.)

Kathi, from Maryland, wrote me willing to share some great ideas for changing the classroom playhouse area into other themes of dramatic play:
These are great for use with a "Community Helpers" unit.  She writes, "We have had fun changing our playhouse every 3 or 4 weeks.  Here are a few favorites: PIZZA PALACE: I've laminated menus from local restaurants and we use Styrofoam packing peanuts for food; HAPPY FEET SHOE STORE: I got a foot measurer from a store that was going out of business, and tap and ballet shoes from a second-hand shop.  We then supplied shoeboxes and a cash register for added fun.  VETERINARY CLINIC: Stuffed animals are our patients.  We also put out rubber gloves, slings, and neck braces.

Donna King (Roxboro, North Carolina) likes to take her class on a field trip to the Hospital during her unit on "Doctor/Nurse."

From Angela L:
Make a kit based on an experience: I had hip replacement surgery and later made a kit from items I was given while in the hospital (patient gowns, large basin/tubs for sponge baths, emesis basins -- kidney-shaped bowls, and copies of my old x-rays).  The children loved hearing about the surgery and I showed them a model of a hip so they could get a better idea of what happened to me.  I explained my surgery (on a 4yr old level of understanding) by saying that part of my bone had gotten sick and it had to be taken out and replaced with a piece of metal.  I explained how x-rays were taken.  I acted out what I had heard about my surgery (drilling, hammering, stitching and stapling).  All this led to the children then incorporating the classroom dolls and dishes into various hospital occurances like putting my x-ray up against their own hips and pretending to make their own x-rays.

Related field trip suggestion from JoAnna Clark in New York, who says:
Nice for the theme of "Community Helpers" or "Transportation": Some of the best trips are the ones that aren't the typically traditional ones -- like, we have a parent who runs his own construction company, so we went to a site with him and saw a "big pile of dirt and lots of big trucks!"

From Krista Ritchie:
Camera: I bought a disposable camera to take on our field trips.  I photograph the grocery store clerk, butcher, postal worker, nearby environmental park, etc.  I also send the camera home to each family so the parents can take it to work with them and photograph their jobs for our "community helpers" theme.  The children love looking at and showing the pictures of their parents at work.  Our photo album is such a success -- we have photos of everything in it now!  This activity is actually appropriate for many themes.

From Lori T., Stewartville, Minnesota:
Community Helpers Theme in October: When I have a law enforcement officer come to visit my class, I have them talk about the fact that they are friends to the children (many children are taught to be afraid of police officers).  The officers often bring coloring books, badge stickers, information cards, etc.  And of course, they often bring the police vehicle.  I have them come in October so that they can also discuss Halloween Safety (sometimes they bring Halloween bags for the children).  Actually, I do the theme of Community Helpers in the month of October since it's also the month when we have Fire Prevention week (when we also focus on firefighters).

Favorite Books:
 From Donna King, Roxboro, North Carolina:
Barney & Baby Bop Go To The Doctor, Written by Margie Larsen, M.Ed.; Illustrated by Dennis Full is a good book explaining what goes on at a check-up.  Wonderful pictures!
From Stormie:
*Franklin Goes to the Hospital, by Paulette Bourgeois; illustrated by Brenda Clark: Franklin, the turtle, is apprehensive about going to the hospital to have his shell fixed.  Neat book for a doctor/nurse unit.
Tools, by Gallimard Jeunesse and Claude E. Delafosse; illustrated by Daniel Moignot: Here's a great book for accompanying a unit on community helpers who use "tools."  This book has neat see-through pages that children can lift up.
All About Tools (Fisher-Price CarryAlong PlayBooks); by Susan Hood; Carolyn Bracken & Jim Durk, llustrators: This book is so cute because it has a handle allowing children to carry it around like a toolbox.  I love the tool illustrations and the fact that safety is discussed.  Like the book above, it's great for talking about community helpers who use tools.

Suggested Children's Computer Software:
Fisher-Price Big Action Construction, from Knowledge Adventure: Children get to be construction workers.
 

Making a Multicultural Connection:
To provide a frame of reference, show children where countries are located on your classroom globe or map, and if possible, provide related pictures and books:

Rochelle, from Manilla, Philippines sends us this "community helpers" theme idea that is also multi-cultural:
We had a "Day of Countries" by setting up centers: French cafe (menus and ordering croissants), Chinese school (painting bamboos, cooking chinese food, cutting paper to make chinese noodles), Italian kitchen (making pasta), Italian Shoe Factory (making shoes from craft paper), and Japanese Sumo Wrestling Competition for the finale!  And children learned about using money through paying their bills.  Our next module is Philippines, our own home.
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