Community Caring Match Ups

Your hometown heroes help you stay safe and keep your community working. Learn about your community’s helpers by outfitting them with their gear and uniforms.

• 1.

  With your class, brainstorm a list of community helpers such as firefighters, police, and teachers. What do they do? What do these workers wear? What tools do they use to help them do their jobs? Look for a diversity of jobs and people.

• 2.

  Choose someone you would like to show, dressed and ready for work. Use Crayola Twistables® Colored Pencils to draw a big person on a recycled file folder. Cut out your community helper with Crayola Scissors.

• 3.

  Draw your person’s face using Crayola Twistables® Crayons and Colored Pencils. Does she or he look brave and caring? Happy to be helping?

• 4.

  On another recycled file folder, draw the helper’s uniform. You may want to place the cutout body on top of the file folder so you can get the clothing to be just the right size. It might be a jacket and hat, uniform, pants, or a dress. Color in the clothing and then cut it out.

• 5.

  What tools does your worker use? A hammer, a whistle, computer, or a stethoscope? Draw and color the tools and then cut them out.

• 6.

  Add Velcro® dots to the front of your worker and the backs of uniforms and tools. Display your helper’s uniform and tools. Share information about your worker’s job and tools with your classmates.

Benefits

• Children discuss different types of community helpers.
• Children create a large paper doll replica of the worker, including clothing and tools.
• Students connect with the community by describing their helpers to each other.

Adaptations

• Visit a fire station, library, or other facility. Write a class book that describes and illustrates what you learned on the visit. Take it home to share with your parents.
• Encourage children to work together, assisting those who have special needs as necessary.
• Invite community helpers into the classroom to share information about their roles. Write thank you notes to them to express appreciation for serving your community.
• Assessment: Mix up the workers, tools, and uniforms. Children exchange dolls and locate the correct accessories for their classmates’ dolls. Look for appropriate selection and placement of tools and uniforms—even if they are not the original selection. Check for understanding about workers’ roles through classroom observation and discussion.