Exploring Needs and Wants in Kindergarten

November began with an opportunity to participate in our school wide Helping Hands Drive and to live out our Positivity Project motto, “Other People Matter.” Kindergarten got involved by “advertising” the drive over the school announcements. Since we were collecting toys, clothing, and food, it was a great opportunity to teach children the difference between needs and wants. We sorted what we collected into these two groups. As new items were donated, the children were asked to identify whether it was a want or a need.

The story of the first Thanksgiving became another opportunity to explore basic needs and introduce the concept of scarcity as it related to the hardships endured by the pilgrims on their Mayflower voyage and their first year at Plymouth.

We also learned about the cornucopia, a symbol of abundance, and created a list of things we have a lot of and are grateful for.

We circled the ones that were “needs” and had a great discussion about family, friends and pets and whether or not “love” was a need or want.

We drew cornucopias using Arthub and chose an item from the “abundance list” for which we were grateful. You can find the writing paper HERE!

During our Friendship Feast, I set an empty place setting as a reminder to be grateful for what we have and to remember those who might not have anything to eat.

As I look ahead to December, there are more opportunities to explore this concept. The story of December by Eve Bunting, is a touching story of a homeless family at Christmas, and a great read aloud to begin a month where children are often consumed with “wants!”