BY RYAN MERARD
Valentine’s Day is based around love, friendships and showing affection for others. With the classroom decorated with hearts of all sizes and kids dressed up in bright red and pink colored clothes, the Littlest Cowboys preschool stayed with a traditional theme and celebrated Valentine’s Day by throwing a friendly party.
The Littlest Cowboys teachers held a “Sweetheart” dance for the children as well as a fashion walk, where the kids walked along a red carpet showing off their Valentine’s Day themed outfits. In addition to these events, there were also many games and activities for the children to participate in such as musical chairs, which brought lots of competitiveness out of the kids.
While the kids were having loads of fun with all the activities, the teachers still wanted to impart valuable skills that would benefit the children in the long term. For example, the teachers were encouraging the students to dance in groups in order to bring a sense of fellowship to the classroom.
Along with all the festivities at the party, the children got a chance to strengthen their friendships and show appreciation for their peers. At the beginning of the day, the Littlest Cowboys had come in with their special boxes for Valentine’s Day. Inside these boxes were gifts like candy and cards that all the children brought to share with the class to spread the Valentine’s Day spirit.
“I got a lot of candy today,” Littlest Cowboy Drew Scarlatelli said. “I think I’m going to share some for my mom and save them for later.”
“We are trying to spread love and friendship within the preschool.”
The teachers in the early childhood care department had set up the party and made sure the kids were having a great time, but the CCHS students that are enrolled in early childcare also assisted the teachers in order to help make Valentine’s Day a success.
“I think it’s nice seeing the kids run around and just having fun together,” junior Zach Zaleski said. “I think times like these would definitely help them in the future with their social skills and basically being able to be more comfortable with their friends.”
Valentine’s Day for the Littlest Cowboys was a day filled with fun, laughter and friendship. The kids got together and found ways to make the day enjoyable. Also, with the help of teachers and students in the early childhood care department, the kids learned how to interact with their peers better along with other social skills. While having a delightful time, the children also learned valuable lessons that could help them through their development.
“We are trying to spread love and friendship within the preschool,” Littlest Cowboys Preschool Director Deborah Covard said. “We are also trying to teach them certain skills— the children learned how to dance to music with a friend [and] how to ask a friend to dance. As basic as that sounds, these are skills that children need to learn, just to know how to communicate and be nice with friends but still have fun at the same time.”
Photo courtesy of Deborah Covard
