The use of items in the
Crayons Count kit
within an Early Childhood
setting.
Compiled by: Shaanii-Grace Robinson
Early Childhood Development Resource Centre Officer
Caenwood Early Childhood Resource Centre
The Early Childhood Commission
Vision
All children having access to high quality early
childhood development services enabling the
realization of their full potential.
Do Good Jamaica and Crayons Count
How did Crayons Count Start and why?
Crayons Count first started when Deika Morrison,
the founder of Do Good Jamaica, heard that
Jamaican children didn’t have crayons. She
consulted with the Early Childhood Commission
(ECC) and was advised that there was a severe
shortage of appropriate learning materials in early
childhood institutions (more commonly known as
basic schools) across Jamaica.
Do Good Jamaica and Crayons Count
Crayons Count was established with two objectives:
• Objective 1: To increase awareness of the
importance of early childhood education and good
early childhood practices.
• Objective 2: To provide recommended learning
resources to basic schools
The Early Childhood Commission and
Do Good Jamaica
The Early Childhood Commission’s vision fused with Do Good
Jamaica’s mission support within the early childhood setting:
1.
The availability of developmentally appropriate and safe
teaching/learning material.
2.
The full enjoyment and success of all teaching/ learning
experience by both early childhood practitioners and students.
3.
An integrated lesson where students experience holistic
development while ‘Learning through Play’.
4.
That early childhood institutions adhere to the standards of
operating within a conducive learning environment for all
students.
Learning through Play
Learning Through Play - a Child's Job
Play is fun for children. Play is the way children learn.
Through play, children learn about themselves, their environment,
people and the world around them. As they play, children learn to solve
problems and to get along with others. They enhance their creativity
and develop leadership skills and healthy personalities. Play develops
skills children need to learn to read and write. Play in early childhood is
the best foundation for success in school.
By Jane K. Frobose, Colorado State University Extension, Family and Consumer Education Denver County, February 2008
Do Good Jamaica-Crayons Count Kit
The Crayons Count Kit supplied by Do Good Jamaica includes:
• Items of various textures, colours and shapes.
• Items that are kid-friendly.
• Items that are age and developmentally appropriate for all
students/children at the early childhood years.
Do Good Jamaica-Crayons Count Kit
Benefits of wooden blocks to the
early childhood student.
Wooden Blocks
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Promote creativity
Encourage cooperative play
Develop fine motor skills
Foster hand-eye coordination
Ensure letter and number recognition
Enhance spelling and number skills
Provide the opportunity for the
development of spatial relationships
and problem solving skills
Ideas
1. Have students create words and interchange letters to make nonsense
words.
2. Ask students to find the matching number for the amount of letters in a
word, then use the math symbols on blocks to perform simple mathematics
problems.
Do Good Jamaica-Crayons Count Kit
Assorted Art Supplies
Benefits of paint and paint brushes to
the early childhood student.
• Allow the release of stress as art
therapy
• Encourage the identification of
colours and designs
• Develop fine motor skills
• Enhance imagination
• Fosters the learning of different
painting/art techniques.
Ideas
1. Let students paint their interpretation of a story that was read or
supply an outline of the characters and let them paint in the colour.
2. Allow students to paint items to represent counters or letters.
3. Let students mix paint colours or melt pieces of crayons together to
discover new colours and create new crayons.
Do Good Jamaica-Crayons Count Kit
Assorted Art Supplies
Benefits of crayons to the early
childhood student.
• Foster language and selfexpression skills
• Develop small muscle
coordination
• Promote writing skills, Math
skills, Science skills and
creative skills
Ideas
1. Have students use the crayon as a writing tool.
2. Provide students with two pictures, one that was pre-coloured with more
than three (3) hues and the same picture without colours; let students
select matching colours to replicate the picture.
Do Good Jamaica-Crayons Count Kit
Assorted Art Supplies
Benefits of pairs of scissors to
the early childhood student.
• Develop fine motor hand skills
• Develop the use of the index
fingers
• Promote Language
development (in and out, open
and close)
• Sequencing
Ideas
1. Have students cut along varied types of lines, such as curvy, curly, wavy,
straight lines among others eg. Healthy Foods-banana, apple
2. Allow children to cut out objects and make a collage.
3. Invite students to cut along the outlines of numbers, letters and shapes.
Do Good Jamaica-Crayons Count Kit
Benefits of paper to the early
childhood student.
Paper
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Is versatile
Increases the imagination
Is a medium for self-expression
Promotes fine motor skills
Enhances creativity skills
Ideas
1. Engage students in simple paper folding techniques, such as origami, to
make objects such as , birds, rings, boats among others.
2. Allow children colour or design plain papers and tear or cut to make confetti
for the desired celebration.
Do Good Jamaica-Crayons Count Kit
Wood Blocks
Benefits of wood blocks to the
early childhood student.
• Build hand-eye coordination
• Develop fine motor control
• Support mathematics skillssorting, counting, adding
• Assist in the creation of
designs
Ideas
1. Make an object and allow students to use the blocks to create a design
that matches the previously made item.
2. Invite students to create outlines of geometrical shapes using the
prescribed pieces or colours.
Do Good Jamaica-Crayons Count Kit
Shape Sequencing Sorting Set
Benefits of shape sequencing sorting
set to the early childhood student.
• Promotes math skills-sorting
skills, sequencing
• Fosters colour identification
• Develops problem solving
skills
Ideas
1. Have students trace around the outline of any shapes.
2. Invite students to label items with adjectives such as biggest,
smallest.
Do Good Jamaica-Crayons Count Kit
Tall-Stacker
Benefits of tall-stacker to the
early childhood student.
• Builds hand-eye coordination
• Develops fine motor control
• Supports mathematics skillssorting, counting, adding
• Assists in the creation of
designs
Ideas
1. Have students create or form a letter from the alphabet.
2. Allow students to create irregular and regular shapes and designs.
Do Good Jamaica-Crayons Count Kit
Rainbow Stacker
Benefits of rainbow stacker to
the early childhood student.
• Builds early shape, colour and
size differentiation skills
• Promotes problem solving
Ideas
1. Assist students to roll the parts on the rainbow stacker towards a target.
2. Allow children to thread the open circles to create a design of their
choice.
3. Allow children to ‘find the same’ or ‘spot the difference’ among the
stackers.
Do Good Jamaica-Crayons Count Kit
Benefits of balls to the early
childhood student.
Balls
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Help to address bilateral skills
Develop hand-eye coordination
Ensure timing, sequencing skills
Encourage motor planning and
attention.
• Support focus and direction
Ideas
1. Have students compare the sizes, texture, shapes, colours, design and use
of the ball.
2. Pass a ball to a student after he/she has supplied a correct answer and
allow them to ‘dunk’ or ‘kick’ or ‘bounce’ in the direction of a target.
3. Have students practice counting skills by ‘dunking’, ‘kicking’ or ‘bouncing’.
Do Good Jamaica-Crayons Count Kit
Play Dough
Benefits of play dough to the
early childhood student.
• helps to strengthen small fingers,
hands and wrists.
• builds imagination.
• helps children develop self esteem
• fosters cooperative play.
• Builds communication skills
• Teaches dividing, numbering skills
Ideas
1. Allow students to twist and mold two different colours of ‘play doh’
to create a new colour.
2. Invite students to make exact models from a given sample.
3. Ask students to make items of various sizes, shapes and depth.
Do Good Jamaica-Crayons Count Kit
Puzzles
Benefits of puzzles to the early
childhood student.
• Build cognitive skills-problem
solving skills, critical thinking
• Develop fine motor skills
• Promotes hand-eye
coordination
• Encourages good social skills
and self-esteem
Ideas
1. Use as Flash/Clue Cards for picture and letter identification.
2. Allow students to use only the letters that spell their name or any other word.
3. Letter hunt/matching: pre-place letters at various location within the class,
write a word on chart/board. Let students search for letters and place under
the given letter.
Do Good Jamaica-Crayons Count Kit
Hand Puppets
Benefits of hand puppets to the
early childhood student.
• Foster creative skills
• Enhance communication and
social skills.
• Develop oral Language skills
• Promote the processing of
emotions
• Build imagination skills
Ideas
1. Have students use puppets as characters to compliment a read story.
2. Allow students to use puppets in imagined scenario or to express an
upsetting situation if unable to ‘voice’ feelings openly.
Do Good Jamaica-Crayons Count Kit
Lacing Shapes
Benefits of lacing shapes to the
early childhood student.
• Develop fine motor skills
• Supply the support to build
muscle strength and flexibility
• Encourages mastery of
learning designs, colours and
shapes.
Ideas
1. Have the students take turns lacing geometrical shapes during mathematics.
2. Help students to create their own lacing tool by tracing around the supplied
shape.
3. Allow students to pair similar colours, shapes.
Do Good Jamaica-Crayons Count Kit
What are the benefits of using the items in the Crayons Count
kit to the Early Childhood Practitioner
The use of the items within the Crayons Count kit by an Early
Childhood practitioner can:
• Provide instant accessibility to attractive and engaging
teaching/learning materials.
• Ensure the integration of varied academic disciplines in the
early childhood lesson.
• Promote sustained focus; students will be less distracted
during a lesson as they are more likely to remain on-task.
• Encourage the use of simple and direct instruction while
minimizing the frequency of commands.
Do Good Jamaica-Crayons Count Kit
When should the items in the Crayons Count Kit be used?
• The time span for the use of each item in the Crayons Count
kit is relative to the desired activity. However, the time may
be expanded or reduced to reflect or coincide with the time or
period allotted for circle time, guided learning , free play,
creative activity and outdoor play.
Do Good Jamaica-Crayons Count Kit
How should the items in the Crayons Count kit be used?
• Early Childhood practitioners may choose to restrict the amount of
items distributed to the students at any given time or session. For
example within the theme ‘Water Transportation’ a practitioner may
give a student a set of eight (8) blue, rectangular and triangular
wood blocks to create a boat/ship.
• Items in the crayons count kit may be used with a set of students or
per child.
• Ideally the use of the Crayons Count kit should foster within the
early childhood classroom students’ maximum enjoyment as they,
through play, explore learning opportunities within an atmosphere
that is ‘tooled’ for their optimal holistic development.
Do Good Jamaica-Crayons Count Kit
Conclusion
Do Good Jamaica and The Early Childhood Commission support
the use of the items within the Crayons Count kit to compliment
any early childhood lesson or topic. Both entities endorse the
standard that early childhood lessons should promote the
holistic development of children within a rich learning
environment with accessible teaching/learning materials for the
enrichment and enjoyment of the teaching/learning experience.