Children really like looking at themselves in the mirror.
No, they’re not worried about how their hair looks or checking for food in their teeth (if they even have any).
For children, looking in the mirror is play. It’s fun and fascinating. Our Echidna’s have loved the opportunity to continue their discovery of emotions through stories, games and now mirror play. Our very clever Echidnas team have created their very own ‘How are you feeling’ play space, with photos of our Echidna friends expressing many different emotions through photographs.
As our children engage in this play space, our Educating team encourage the children to express different emotions, sad face, happy face, scared face, worried face etc. Mirror play nurtures your child’s developing self-awareness and emerging identity as a distinct and unique individual.
Here are 3 ways you can support your child to build new vocabulary and social-emotional learning through mirror play at home;
Imitation
Create your own ‘Inspired by Echidnas Mirror’, ask your family members (near and far) to take photographs representing different facial expressions, print the photos and add them to the mirror. Invite your child to imitate their facial expressions, a perfect way to stay connected to family and encourages your child’s memory of familiar faces.
Dress Ups
Place a basket with different dress ups from hats, jewellery, sunglasses and scarves beside your mirror and encourage your child to dress in the many different items. This provides children the opportunity to further their imagination and self-identity.
Mirrored Nature
Invite your child to collect a variety of natural materials, whilst outdoors, lay the mirror flat to reflect the sky and explore the natural materials on the mirror. This provides children the opportunity to discover reflection and light. If you have any whiteboard markers, you can encourage your child to draw/trace the natural materials, we assure you this will keep your children entertained!
