Guiding Children 1.9 Explore: Iqaluit 2025 by

ece37 — 2025-05-12 20:35:39 UTC

What did I learn through play as a child?
What kinds of cultural or family tools were part of my learning?
How did adults guide me through using those tools?
How did it feel to participate in / play with traditional materials in this activity?
What is one action I will take to better integrate cultural play in my future work with children?

2025-05-21 15:00:12 UTC

Jolene -

what did i learn through play as a child?
When i was growing up, not all of the things that are used at the preschool were available to me as, i owned a few things that used to be played with like inuujaqs and i dont remember anything else.
What kind of cultural or family tools were part of my learning?
Cultural tool or family tool i had growing up was a small dull uluk my mom own and gave to me that her dad made for her before.
How did adults guide me through using those tools?
When i was learning how to use an uluk when i was growing up, i was taught on how to hold it and which way it goes, that the metal part can make a cut if its not used properly or using it careful.
How did it feel to participate in/ play with traditional materials in this activity?
Participating in this activity or playing with the traditional tools, we didnt play with them yet, but i have seen some of them in the daycare facility we did our practicum, there wasnt a lot and some children didnt know what they are called but they played with them.

2025-05-21 15:08:04 UTC

what did i learn through play as a child?
Hide and seek, hop scotch, pick up sticks, these are find a person and seek were they are. Gross motor skills with hopping and numbers. Using fine motor skills with finger grasp.
What kinds of cultural or family tools were parting of my learning?
Seal bones flipping game, throw a rock on a target to who ever gets it first.
How did adults guide me through using those tools?
When i was little my dad told me when cutting up fish we would have to cut from bottom to the head to cut it open.
How did it feel to participate in/play with traditional materials in this activity?
It felt great when i was taught about sewing by my grandmother on sewing slippers because she knew what to do and was sewing all her life back in the day where we didn’t have buildings.

2025-05-21 15:18:33 UTC

What did I learn through play as a child?

Imagination and play using Inuit culture tools and materials

What kinds of culture or family tools were part of my learning?

That they used the bones to play, on 2007 as a family we joined the Nunavut Dog Team race from different community to another community, as we were out on the land and I didn’t have any toys so I used rock for pretend play like the rock was my pretend baby and I packed it on my back.

How did adults guide me through using those tools? They explained so well about how to use the tools and they taught us how to use it or do it, like how to pack things well or how to use an ulu, or how to sew.
How did it feel to participate in/play with traditional materials in this activity? I felt great to watch my grandma teaching me how to sew kamiks, while she was still sewing parts of the kamik, she told me to angulak the bottom part of seal skin sole

2026-05-20 19:46:03 UTC

What did I learn through play as a child?

I learned that after playing we need to clean up.

What kinds of cultural or family tools were part of my learning?
Ropes, knives, needles, materials for out wear making.
How did adults guid me through using those tools
Showing me the correct way to handle the object and how to position them, and what ways are more efficient to use them.
How did it feel to participate in / play with traditional materials in this activity?
I felt useful and glad I can be of help and learn more about my culture.
What is one action i will take to better integrate cultural play in my future work with children?
Bring in more supplies and ideas to bring into the daycare centre and learn some things I don’t know of, of our culture to make culturally fun activities they can later use for their lives later in the future.

Samantha

2026-05-20 20:00:15 UTC

Linda Leah

What did I learn through play as a child?

Imagination playing house with animals bones
Preparing to cook ujjuq like my mother did.
What kind of culture or family tool’s were part of my learning?
Throwing rocks as a target who ever fit it first
Bone game call innugait (seal flippers bones)
How did adults guide me through using those tools?
By watching our mother what she’s doing and by guiding us and with her soft patience words
How did it feel to participate in/play with traditional materials in this activity?
It felt real to play a house play with traditional material such as animal bones
Pretending to scarp seal skin
Pretending to make ujjuq for the whole family like our mother do animals bones
What is one action I will take better integrate culture play in my future work with children
Talk to board members to get more traditional materials for future use

2026-05-20 20:13:40 UTC

~Annie~

What did i learn through play as a child?
I didn’t really have experience with traditional games but when i went to elementary school i started playing with inujaaqs which i really enjoyed playing with other kids.
What kinds of cultural or family tools were part of my learning?
When i used to go camping with my grandparents they taught me how to play string games and i learned how make caribou using string and much more.
How did adults guide me through using those tools?
My grandmother used to guide me to learn all of the steps using string games it took me while to learn them.
How did it feel to participate in/play with traditional materials in this activity?
I felt really proud when i learned the caribou string because it took me months to learn, my cousin learned it before me so he teach me some of it too.
What is one action i will take to better integrate cultural play in my future work with children?
To get more traditional stuff in our centre like frames for seal skin and seal skins tent and much more.

2026-05-27 00:30:56 UTC

As a child I learnt so much through play, I grew up playing mostly outdoors with my friends. I became a social butterfly! A lot of children even teens were out most times and everyone was friends with everyone so we did so much such as play house where we would pretend to have kitchen to cook or bake, play baseball with older kids or go sliding in the spring, so much we did that we wished that last forever. What kinds of cultural or family tools were part of my learning? Family tools that were part of me as a child was to respect everyone and to help if people are in need. How did adults guide me through using those tools? I was told once and had to be reminded other times but the adult made sure that I respect that. How did it feel to participate in/ play with traditional materials in this activity? I had so much fun as a child I was very happy, when we went sliding our parents would let us use Polar bear hide as sled if the hide need extra cleaning and sealskin was the fastest beside regular sleds. What is one action I will take to better integrate cultural play in my future to work with children? I want to bring in an Elder more often that can teach us more of the cultural traditions our ancestors survived with, what sort of tools they made and used, by listening to the stories from our elders.

Oloosie

2026-06-07 22:49:57 UTC

What did I learn through play as a child?

i grew up in an outpost camp and being the youngest and only kid, we didnt have much but i would play out most of the time and pretend cooking/baking with sand, or pretend having an office outside ans use rocks as ‘ computer, books, chairs, desk, phone, picture frame ’ i learnt that we can play anyhow we put our mind to
What kinds of cultural or family tools were part of my learning?

part of my learning was hunting, seal skinning and respecting the land and animals avatitinni kamasiarniq
How did adults guide me through using those tools?

my dad would always tell me to never kill an animal that we wouldnt eat and never make fun of them, and my mother used to teach me steps on how to majjak
How did it feel to participate in / play with traditional materials in this activity?

i always enjoy to participate and play with traditional materials, and i want to make sure to always use our tradition

What is one action I will take to better integrate cultural play in my future work with children?

one action i want to make better intergrate in cultural play is having an elder to guide us more, us ECE educators would learn more to keep our tradition alive and teach our children/daycare kids

-Martha