Persona Dolls methodology in kindergarten to support well-being and good relations
As one of the Eco-School´s topics we are focusing this academic year is health and well-being, it is also important to pay attention to mental well-being and caring atmosphere.
Therefore, our group has since January been using Persona Dolls
methodology. It is an approach that helps to prevent different forms of
discrimination, foster emotional literacy and support the development of tolerance and self-confidence of young children. The themes and activities can
be designed according to the age, needs and current issues of a certain group of
children so that the situations presented by the dolls would be relevant to children´s prior experiences and they could relate with
these. It is important that unlike solving a conflict between two or three children, the situations are discussed with
the whole group being included and without the direct reference to any certain occasion or child.
A boy doll named Iniko has been visiting the children every other week. First meetings were for getting to know him - through the teacher, he shared his and his family´s background, told children what he liked and did not like, what food was his favorite and which games he liked to play in kindergarten. We discussed the differences and similarities between him and the children in our group and concluded that in some things we are very similar to each other while we also differ from one another in several details. Iniko brought some photos of his home country, city and animals living there.
Next step was that Iniko started to share different situations (both sad and happy) that he had been in. He told his stories through the teacher, asked for children´s advice and opinion and gave good chances for discussions on the same topics and about similar situations that children had experienced themselves. When you are 4 years old, it s a big deal when someone says that you are not going to be invited to your friend´s birthday or cannot join the game because it is a two player game. For that reason it is easy for the children to relate with the stories in which someone else is going through something similar. It is heartwarming to see that in certain situations, apart from Iniko´s visits, children have occasionally asked about Iniko and wondered what he would do in one or another situation or what he would like or not like. When we were having a discussion about different professions, children started to talk about Iniko and remembered that he wanted to become a firefighter. Last time Iniko visited our group, a girl asked if he could bring some pictures of his family next time.
I have experienced that adults sometimes have opposite feelings about these kinds of dolls. Some people have said that they look scary (big dolls, their facial expressions). I think it is important to keep in mind that we as adults come with our prior preferences and childhood memories. I have not witnessed these kinds of feelings among the children so far and I think it is important to control our words in front of them so their opinions and feelings about the dolls would not be influenced by ours.
Our group is just taking first steps with Persona Dolls but I can see that children are interested in the doll and fond of his character. When you care about someone, it is easier to bond with it and feel empathic towards the stories and situations he shares. I see that we can keep building on that character that children have started to care about and relate to many other situations that are coming up.
We are looking forward to other fun meetings coming up with Iniko!
More information about Persona Dolls approach: https://personadoll.uk/about/
About Persona Dolls schooling in Estonia: https://personadolls.eu/koolituskeskusest/
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