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Classroom/Program
Mascots  
So what is a classroom mascot? Often
preschool/daycare is a child's first experience away from home for a long period
of time. This is a big adjustment time for young children. We try to make that
transition go as smoothly as possible using all kinds of different techniques
like home visits, open houses, family pictures, and teacher meetings. Mascots
are great for helping to welcome kids and to get them excited about school and
feel secure. A classroom mascot can be any character that the children may be
interested in or familiar with. For example, Clifford, Dora, a class Teddy Bear
given a special name, or some other character the children can relate to. Here
are some idea for how to use the character to help welcome student!
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Use the character in a welcome
bulletin board. (Make your own, use pictures from coloring books to make a
pattern, or search for clip art on the internet)
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Come up with an exciting theme
for your school year using your character for example: "Exploring Our
Preschool Year with Dora", "Preschool is Big Fun with
Clifford!" "Share Bear Welcomes You!" Use the phrase on your welcome
bulletin board.
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Use images of the character in
your newsletters, on helper charts, for name tags, etc.
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Purchase a stuffed animal
version of your character, have him or her visit each child in their home
throughout the year. Put the character in a backpack or a homemade bag with
some related books and other fun activities along with a journal so the kids
can record all the fun things they did with the class mascot and you can
read it in class. !!!
Great Idea!!!! Promotes Family Involvement!!!
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Have the character sit in your
classroom and encourage kids if they are feeling sad, worried, or scared to
tell their feelings to the character, give him or her a hug, or hold him
during story time for security.
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Classroom mascots can be used in
a variety of different ways to help build school spirit. They can be used to
help share rules, mediate issues, and promote social skills and
understanding.
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Be creative! How else can a
mascot help you in your classroom/setting?
Here are some more ideas for
Classroom Mascots and themes for the year:
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Exploring Our
Preschool Year with Dora
You can find all kinds of great
pictures, activities, songs and more on the Nick Jr. website for Dora
http://nickjr.co.uk/shows/dora/index.aspx
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Preschool is BIG Fun
with Clifford!
PBS Kids has tons of Clifford
resources!
http://pbskids.org/clifford/index.html |
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Find the Clues with BLUE to
Help Us Have a Great Preschool Year!
Great resources can be found at Nick Jr. for Blue's
Clues too.
http://www.nickjr.co.uk/shows/blues/index.aspx
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It's Going to be a "Beary"
Exciting Year in Preschool
Any stuffed Teddy Bear or another stuffed animal can
make a great classroom mascot!
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We are Hungry for a For
Learning in Preschool!
Bookworms and caterpillars are fun school mascots too.
You can find all kind of clip art on the internet. Ty makes a cute worm
beanie baby, and we all know the story of the Very Hungry Caterpillar
by Eric Carle, it a preschool classic! |
We are Having a DINO-Mite
year in Preschool!
Kids love dinosaurs and it is easy to find cute
stuffed dinosaurs to add to your room for a mascot! Check garage sales
for really inexpensive stuffed toys.
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We are Curious about our
World in Preschool!
Use pictures of Curious
George! Decorate your room like a jungle! Hang paper leaves from the
ceiling! Go WILD!
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We are WILD about
Preschool!
What a fun theme for the
year! Decorate everything with animal stripes and fun jungle theme
prints!
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Other resources to create
your "Mascot Backpack" for the kids to take home!
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These work good to print a
cover for and glue or laminate on top.
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