While being at school from 6-9 p.m. could seem like some students’ nightmare, for members of Future Educators of America, it sounds like a night of pure fun.
On Friday, March 7, the club hosted their annual Spring Kids Night event at the Husky Pups Preschool. Seventeen kids ages 3-10 attended, and 30 FEA members made sure the event ran smoothly. While the majority of kids that attended were preschoolers the teachers were familiar with, there were several new faces for the kids to play with.
The members prepared several activities before the night began, like a sensory table, face painting, bunny headbands, handprint flowers, and decorating spring animals with paint dotters, so the kids could be entertained throughout the three-hour event. In addition, they made sure the children had labeled bags to take home with stickers, crayons and markers to hold all of their crafts.
“We thought that a bunny would be really cute for the headband design since it’s spring,” senior and FEA president Alexis-Grace Anderson said. “For each of the activities for our kids nights, we try to make sure that we curate the activities and crafts around that theme, and we try to pick activities that both older and younger kids will enjoy.”
After their activities, the kids ate a pizza dinner and watched “The Land Before Time,” completing the night. While every member in FEA is in ECE and works in the preschool, the Spring Kids Night differed from a typical day at school for the preschoolers.
“In the preschool, structure is really important to us, and we make sure the children go through a consistent routine with planned lessons,” vice president Brooke Bohan said. “The big difference is that most of our FEA events are free play. If they’re bored or done with an activity, we go find their favorite toys and just play games with them until it’s time to eat and then settle down with a movie.”
FEA typically hosts a few kids nights a year as a way for members to practice creating elementary-level activities and crafts and for kids in the community to have a fun night.
“My favorite part of the event was seeing the kids’ excitement while doing every activity,” junior Hailey Zientara said. “I really enjoy our events that are open to our community, and I think it is important to have open events because it allows kids from the preschool to socialize with new people, helping them create new friendships.”
