Superheroes with a (face)mask – but what are our special powers?

ust as we began to return to a degree of normality after 2020’s lockdown, we were thrown back into it earlier this year. As an essential service and continued support for the children and their families in our care, we gladly remained open.
But as more restrictions were put in place, we had to adapt to our new, but temporary, normal.

Much of early years education is about communication. Children learn through our interactions with them; they build relationships with their educators through non-verbal communication, and they rely on our facial expressions to give them the cues needed to give an appropriate response.

“As one of the major developmental tasks in early childhood, learning to communicate is key for children to interact with the persons in their world and to have their needs met. Few tasks in early childhood are as important as this one!” Gooden, C. and Kearns, J. (2013)

As facemasks were made mandatory, a whole section of interaction has been taken away.

Children cannot see your smile under a mask; they cannot see when you are giving them the approval to continue their task or take another toy. And as much as we are smiling with our eyes and emphasising those other non-verbal cues, including speaking, without a whole face to give a visual prompt can prove challenging.

We must meet the needs of the children, but we also must consider it in a COVID safe way. So, what can we do?

Our current society is full of people wearing face masks, their parents and families also do it, so we can take some comfort in a way, knowing that children are used to seeing people with them on.
As the world around us changed, it undoubtedly became a little scarier and more uncertain. The conversations we needed to have as a team and then with our children helped lay the foundations for how we would move forwards.
Talking to the children about the use of face masks in keeping us healthy in relation to another tangible action such as washing our hands to stop the spread of germs has proved a useful tool in their understanding.

As educators, we see the gap in communications caused by using face masks. But children are resilient, and we are supporting them in becoming strong and independent learners. They adapt and appreciate they may need to listen a little harder, or that we are using more hand signals to direct and prompt them.
Carlingford Kindergarten is inspired by the Reggio Emilia approach to Early Childhood that aligns with the notion of The Hundred Languages of Children. Through this, we understand that communication is not restricted to the verbal and non-verbal, but to the many other ways, children tell us things. Their natural curiosity allows them to express themselves freely.

“Children need the freedom to appreciate the infinite resources of their hands, their eyes and their ears, the resources of forms, materials, sounds, and colours.” Loris Malaguzzi

We know it won’t be like this forever, and when restrictions ease and we no longer have to wear them, we will be making up for lost time. We’ll be sharing our facial expressions and having fun with them. We will teach the children all we know about non-verbal communication and how to recognise it.

Behind our face masks are superheroes in disguise, doing all we can to ensure there is some normality and consistency for the children in our care. Right now we will use our special powers to educate and facilitate learning through play in the best way we know-how.