The class mascot concept is certainly not a new idea. In fact, it has been around for many years. It’s always been a cute way to acknowledge the class student of the week, by sending the class mascot home and asking the chosen student to write about what they did on the weekend and include some photo snaps.
If you’re an early years teacher and you haven’t done this – you’re missing out! The students I had in my class have always adored our class mascot and loved taking him or her home and going on adventures (parents – maybe not so much but they will always grin and bear it).
The Class Mascot – How to Introduce and Use in the Classroom Setting
Introducing a classroom mascot to the class is the first thing you need to do. At first, you may need to introduce the word ‘mascot’ to your students. You’ll find some students may talk about seeing mascots at sporting events.
The next step is to come up with a name for your mascot, you may like to have a pre-determined name for your class mascot. Alternatively, let the class brainstorm and vote on a name for their very own class mascot. Then, take the all-important photo of your mascot to use in a variety of different activities and resources throughout the year.
You’ll be surprised how excited your students get when they see their class mascot turn up in worksheets or activities.
We have a variety of editable page borders and printable templates that you could use – like the example below.
A Calming Influence for Students
We’ve often written about safe zones or chill out zones in the classroom and how they can impact students who sometimes need a little time to re-set in the classroom.
Using the classroom mascot in a similar way can also be beneficial. I had a student who, when feeling overwhelmed, would feel instantly at ease if he could hold the class mascot.
There’s nothing like giving a soft toy a little hug when you’re feeling overwhelmed.
Reinforce Social Skills
At the beginning of the year, use your class mascot to help talk about different routines and rules for school. You may like to utilise our printable social stories for the classroom to help develop a range of social situations at school.
Students can role-play appropriate social skills using the class mascot in their play. They’ll get a kick out of creating a funny voice for the class mascot too!
A Class Mathematician
You can even include your classroom mascot during maths lessons. The options are endless!
Use the class mascot to:
- explore measurement (measure height, width, weight, etc)
- use its name in word problems
- go on a 2D shape hunt on the mascot.
Helping Teach Social Sciences
A common activity students complete in the early years is looking at their own family tree. Create a fake family tree for your class mascot using our family tree templates.
Students then take home a family tree template and create a family tree with their family.
Reading Buddies
My students absolutely loved reading books to our class mascot.
There’s something about reading to a stuffed animal the kids love.
You’ll find that your students are not self-conscious about stumbling over words when reading to a stuffed animal friend.
Helping with Words
A classroom mascot is a fantastic way to get started with any type of writing or grammar lesson.
- Students can use the class mascot to create their very own character profile.
- When learning about adjectives – as a class come up with as many adjectives as you can about the class mascot.
- Use the class mascot as the main character in a narrative story – making sure there’s a problem and a solution.
- Use the class mascot in role plays for speaking and listening skills.
Explore the Arts
Even art can be planned around the class mascot. When learning about the different visual art elements (form, colour, line, shape, texture, value and space) use the class mascot as a prop.
Art ideas include:
- re-creating the class mascot in a paper structure.
- creating a collage of the class mascot using a variety of different textured materials.
- exploring space by creating two images of the class mascot – one using positive space and the other using negative space.
- exploring how using shading can create depth in an object.
Share Class Reminders and Birthdays
We absolutely adore this idea by Teaching with a Smile. She teaches Grade 5 and her kids still love having a class mascot.
Their class mascot, Spike, reminds them of important events and always remembers the kids birthdays!
As you can see, there are so many different ways you can use the class mascot in the classroom.
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