Stories from Dramatic Play

As we walked through the halls getting closer to the classroom, I became more and more nervous. My heart was beating just a little bit faster, and I began second guessing myself. I have worked with children around the same age and I was never this apprehensive. I read Oonga Boonga at least five times the night before, and twice more outloud in the middle of the train station. I was prepared but still there was an overwhelming presence of nervousness that I could not shake while walking through the halls.

Walking into the classroom all of the children turned their attention from their tuna fish sandwiches to the people with the red shirts. Standing there awkwardly, I breathed and reassured myself that today would be perfect. The smell of tuna pervaded through the classroom while we acquainted ourselves with the children. Some of the children talked a lot about what they liked to read and about themselves, and others refused to talk unless absolutely necessary.  After a slow start, we began to read and it felt natural that I was there.The hours of book preparation along with the long training days felt well worth it.

The second session was significantly less overwhelming than the first. I was more comfortable with the children, and less apprehensive about implementing the session. During session plan one, my “center” was dramatic play. I can easily say that no amount of material objects could have competed with the imagination of the children. The dramatic play area was limited to a small area with a makeshift barn, kitchen sink area, a shovel and pail, hose nozzles, an array of vegetables, and a few thing we brought from Jumpstart including baby dolls. We started in a house giving the babies a bath and putting them to sleep with lullabies, and moved rather quickly to a “sailboat” that travelled a to mysterious island. We used a scarf as both the sail of the boat and the wind. I controlled the wind moving the scarf up and down in a fanning motion.  The girls sat on chairs while the boat was in “motion” and they loved the whole pretend sailboat. Normally I would have been a little wary of performing that action because I did not look cool doing it, but I had a lot of fun with them and it was nice to see that they were having fun too.

After singing “Goodbye Jumpstart,” we went upstairs as usual to debrief, but I forgot something downstairs. The girls jumped up with their faces glowing with excitement because they thought “Jumpstart” was back. I had to explain that we would come back on Tuesday for another session. At that moment, I realized how much I enjoyed being a part of this program that the children absolutely loved. 

~Iashai Stephens
Corps member
Team Courage