Recognizing Office Chairs for Young Children
In kindergarten courses and activities, young children can learn about office chairs through various methods, including on-site observation and touching to perceive their structural features.
In the course related to 'My Chair Friends', young children step out of the kindergarten and into the community, observing and recording to recognize different types of chairs, including office chairs. For example, a child named Yang Yinuo mentioned, 'This chair is for my mom's office work; it has wheels at the bottom and can slide.' This indicates that during observation, children can notice the distinctive features of office chairs that set them apart from other chairs, such as the presence of wheels, which provide mobility and convenience for users to adjust their position flexibly within the office area.
During activities to understand chairs, children also learn about the structure of chairs through touching. Office chairs typically consist of a seat, backrest, and legs. While touching, children can perceive whether the seat is flat or soft, depending on the material of the office chair. Some office chairs have leather seats that feel smooth and slightly elastic, while others have mesh seats that are breathable but relatively harder to the touch. The design of the backrest also varies; some office chairs have higher backrests that provide good support for the user's back, alleviating fatigue from prolonged sitting, while others have lower backrests with a simpler design. Regarding the legs, in addition to the design with wheels, there are also stable structures like five-claw designs to ensure the stability of the office chair during use.
Through these exploratory processes of observation and touching, children can gain a more comprehensive understanding of the characteristics and functions of office chairs. They not only learn that it is a chair used in office settings but also have an intuitive feel for its structure and usage, which aligns with children's cognitive characteristics and helps them better identify and understand different types of chairs in their daily lives.
