Zinc the Zebra Program

Amy Hutchesen, a Girl Scout representative, met with the preschool class Friday, April 18^th to present a Zink the Zebra activity program. The first activity she did with the children involved four volunteers standing in front of the other children. She helped the preschoolers identify differences (hair color & style, eye color, shirts, etc.) and similarities (all have hair, body, feelings) among the children.

Finding Differences Among Classmates

Then Amy read a book called, Zink the Zebra. The book was about a zebra that was different from the others because he had spots instead of stripes. At the end of the book, Zink finds out that all the animals in the jungle are different in some way and that “being different makes you special.” The children sat in a circle and passed around a toy zebra as they sang an “I am special” song. The children had a chance to say something that was special about each child every time the song ended.

I Am Special Activity

The last activity involved three volunteers tasting different colored M&M’s with their eyes closed. The children tried to guess what color the M&M’s were. The idea for this activity was that each M&M was different on the outside but tasted the same on the inside. Amy hoped that the children would understand that this is true with people as well. “Everyone is different on the outside but the same on the inside.”