Art projects are an amusing activity your preschool class can use to show appreciation for community helpers, while learning a little about what those helpers do. Select a new helper each week and engage your preschool class with a different project, such as a group drawing, collage or finger painting, as a way to thank your weekly helper for her hard work. Encourage the kids to include images associated with the helper. For instance, an art project for a city librarian may include pictures of filled book shelves, a librarian reading to children or drawings of each child’s favorite book. When finished, present the project to the community helper.
While many preschool children are too young to write fluently, they can prepare special thank you video messages that you can record. Encourage kids to include special messages about experiences they had with the individual helper or the service he provides. Instruct your class to include specific information about the role of the helper in the community, showing their understanding for the importance of the community helper. As an example, a video message for a firefighter may acknowledge that the worker is on-call for emergencies and willing to go into dangerous areas to help people. In addition to gaining basic experience working with the video technology, your preschool class has the opportunity to learn how to give short presentations and begin developing effective presentation habits.
Take your class to visit a community helper in her workplace. This will allow the children to experience the environment where the helper works and learn to understand the role of the helper. Schedule the visit ahead of time, so the community helper can prepare an activity for your class to do while you are visiting. For instance, if you are taking your class to visit your local librarian, ask her to sit with your class for a moment and read a short story in the library.
Prepare a series of fill-in-the-blank sentences describing the work your weekly community helper does. Instruct your students to raise their hands and fill in the blanks to earn points. Reward the child who has the most points at the end with a special treat. This encourages your preschool class to spend a little extra time learning about the functions and responsibilities of your community helpers.