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Patience is defined as the capacity of suffering or taking something in good spirit; also, the capacity to do difficult or detailed things, or the faculty of knowing how to wait for something that is much desired.

The 0-6 year old child acts accordingly to his immediate impulse and desire; he doesn’t know how to wait and have patience, he always wants to be satisfied immediately, for him “to have to wait” doesn’t exist.

As the psychological processes such as language, memory and thought develop in the child, the adult can work to develop in him self-control and the regulation of his behavior, it is then that we can teach him how to have patience.

The child has to learn to wait for his turn in line, his turn in the game, to listen to the adult, to answer the teacher’s questions at the right time, etc.

In the face of the demand of the system imposed by adults, by gradually and consequently learning that things cannot have immediate retribution; that everything doesn’t end as we wish, the child learns to be patient, although, even in the late stages of early childhood, this psychological quality is still very flimsy and easily yields before strong stimulation. This is normal behavior that must not be interpreted as bad manners, but just as mechanisms of behavior regulation that still are not sufficiently stable and formed.

Therefore, there are no activities to “be patient” in the educational process but activities that, when done, involve the deferment of the immediate reward, following a certain process, postponing attainments, and little by little, this shapes the psychological quality of patience.

ACTIVITY No 1
"THE WHITE DAISY"

Summary of the activity: In the first part of the activity we will prepare the children for the adaptation of the story “The white daisy”. After that, we will lead some work to prepare the room where the children will act out the story. A performance can be prepared and the parents can be invited to participate. Finally, there will be a discussion about the activity.

Objectives:
• To develop the basic elements about patient behavior in children
• To encourage the development of positive emotions towards patient behavior.

Procedures:
• Adaptation
• Narration
• Conversation
• Questions and answers
• Practical actions

Material Resources: Costumes for the characters: the daisy, the rain and the wind, papers, brushes, paint, scissors, glue, cardboard.

Development of the activity:
1st Part
The teacher will tell the children the adaptation of the story “The white daisy“ by Herminio Almendros.

Once upon a time, there was a white daisy that lived under the earth, in a hot, little, calm and dark house. (As the narrator says this, the girl who plays the daisy will be sitting on the floor with her head between her legs and hiding herself under her arms)

One day, she heard a few very soft knocks on the window: (the narrator continues)

-Chas, Chas, Chas. (the boy who plays the rain knocks the window twice ) _Who is that? (The daisy says)

_It is the rain (The child who plays the rain says)

_What does the rain want? (The girl who plays daisy)

_To enter the house. (The child who plays the rain)

_ Be patient, my friend rain because you cannot enter, you cannot enter yet! (The daisy)

_The white daisy waited patiently because she knew that it was not time yet for the rain to enter in her little house. (The narrator)

_ Why is the rain so impatient, if it has all the time of the world? (The white daisy says)

Many days passed by and she heard other slight knocks on the door. (The narrator)

_ Knock, knock, knock. (The child who plays the sun will knock slightly)

_Who is that? (The daisy says)

_I am the sun. (The child who plays the sun says)

_What does the sun want? (The daisy)

_To enter the house. (The sun)

_ Do not be impatient, dear sun because you cannot enter yet! Cannot enter yet! (The daisy)

And the white daisy slept, calmly and patiently. (The narrator says)

After several days, they both returned to knock at the door and the window. (The narrator continues)

_ Knock, knock, knock. (The rain)

_Chas, Chas, Chas. (The sun)

_Who is that? ( The daisy)

_It is the sun and the rain, the rain and the sun. (The children who play them)

_ And what do the sun and the rain, the rain and the sun want? (The daisy)

_We want to enter, God sent us (The two children who play these characters)

_Well, enter, both of you - the white daisy said, - now you can enter, because it is time to receive you, now I am ready to come out.

And she opened a small crack from where the sun and the rain could enter. (Daisy does as if she opens a split)

Then the rain took her right hand, the sun took her left hand, and they drew the white daisy, and pulled her, and pulled her up to the top. (The narrator says this and the wind and the sun take the daisy’s hand and pull her)

_ Daisy, daisy, is already time, show us your little head, you have waited with a lot of patience but you can come out now! (The children that play the sun and the wind)

The white daisy passed her head through the earth and found herself in a beautiful garden, with butterflies, birds and children that were playing in the grass and singing: (The narrator says and the young daisy, raises her arms and breathes)

Several children will make a circle with the young daisy in the centre and will sing a song about flowers.

And the daisy opened her petals all white with her blond bow. And she was very happy. (The narrator says )

For the dramatization of this adaptation, each child will learn the part he will play, and the group will rehearse it.

2nd Part
In this part of the activity, the class will work to make all the necessary things for the dramatization of the story. The children will help the teacher to draw a great mural with a garden painted on that will serve as a set.

Others will work cutting and pasting small flags to decorate the room, and others will draw, cut and paste cards with colored daisies to distribute on the day of the party.

3rd Part
The party will take place after the children have staged the story and they will give cards with daisies to their parents.

4th Part
There will be a group discussion and the teacher will ask the children:
Did you like the party?
Do you remember what was said in the story “The white daisy”?
What did you learn from this story?
Who can tell me why the daisy said to the rain and to the sun not to be impatient?
Why did not she let them enter the first time?
Why did the daisy have to have patience and hope?
What does it mean to have patience?
What does it mean to be impatient?

The teacher will summarize this part of the activity emphasizing that the children must also learn to have patience, wait for their turn to do things, as the daisy waited to come out, because the plants cannot come out without first germinating, and from that moment on they will begin to grow and to develop. It is the same with children; they were in their mother’s belly, hiding and well sheltered, patiently, during months and months, until they could come out.

And he will finish: “Therefore, from now on let’s try to have patience when we have to wait for something.”

CRITERIAL ASSESSMENT
Observed conduct	YES	NO	Comments
The children have manifested they have understood the message of the story.
They needed help to understand the message of the story.
They manifested positive feelings during the activity.
They showed some patient behavior in their daily life in the day care.

ACTIVITY No 2
"KNOWING HOW TO WAIT"

Summary of the activity: It is a game of movements. Through it, the children learn to wait for their turn and whoever does not wait for it will be out of the game.

Objectives: That the children learn to wait for their turn to follow the motions of the game.

Procedures:
• Play activities
• Conversation

Material Resources: The game is called “Who arrives first to the pennant”.

Development of the activity:
Organization: The children will be divided into teams (each team can have up to 10 children). The teams will form queues, and will stand behind a line on the floor used as starting point. In front of each line and 6 meters away, there will be a few pennants.

Development: Following the teacher’s command, the first child of each queue will walk, with wide and quick steps, without running, trying to reach the pennant first; whoever reaches it first will get the pennant and will return walking the same way. Then the child will touch his friend to let him start, and will put the pennant in a base with the team’s colour. Finally, he will go to the end of the queue to wait for his turn again.

Rules of the game: Each child can go for the pennant as many times as possible within a 10 minute period, without running and waiting for his/her turn (when his friend touches him to let him start).
The team that collects more pennants wins.
If a child runs, he will be out of the game and his team will have one player less.
If the child starts walking without being touched by his friend, he will be out of the game.

CRITERIAL ASSESSMENT
Observed conduct	YES	NO	Comments
They followed the rules of the game.
They needed help to follow the rules of the game.
There were times when they got excited and could not wait for their turn.
They expressed, in some comments, the need for waiting and being patient.

ACTIVITY No 3
"THE PATIENT SMALL ANIMALS"

Summary of the activity: It is a conversation, using flashcards as audiovisual material. The teacher will talk to the children about some animals whose form of life and work require patience. Later, he will ask questions about what was explained.

Objectives: To demonstrate, with examples, the need for being patient.

Procedures:
• Explanation
• Conversation
• Observation

Material Resources: Flashcards.

Development of the activity:
1st Part
The teacher will explain to the children that there are small animals that work in a patient and hardworking way. He will illustrate this with examples: the spider, the ants.

• The spider weaves its net with great patience because she uses it as a trap to hunt insects that are used as food and if she didn’t have a patient attitude, she would simply die of starvation. (He will show the picture of the spider weaving).

• The ants, so small and hardworking, drag small pieces of bread or leaves on long paths to the anthill and patiently do that for many hours; they come and go with their load. If the ants didn’t have a patient attitude, they would die (He will show the flashcard of the ants carrying food)

• The snails, when they sense danger, hide their bodies in their shells closing them. The snails also stay in the shell if there is no humidity, and they stay there until the conditions change. This way, they can survive during long periods of drought. If the snails didn’t have patience, another animal would come and eat them, or they would die in times of drought.

Then the teacher will add: “Have you seen how important is to be patient? The same happens to you, because if you don’t have patience to cross the streets; if the parents do not wait for the green light in the traffic light, the cars would collide and they could get hurt or even die.”

Have you heard the advice that is given to drivers? “It is better to lose a minute of life, that life in a minute”. What does this phrase mean?

The teacher will let the children express themselves freely and later he will explain what the phrase means.

2nd Part
There will be a group discussion. The educator will ask some of the following questions:
What would happen to the spider if she had no patience to weave her net?
What would happen to the ant if he had no patience to carry out his work?
What would happen to the snails if they had no patience to be enclosed in their shells for long periods of time?

CRITERIAL ASSESSMENT
Observed conduct	YES	NO	Comments
They understood the need for being patient.
They needed help to understand the need for being patient.
They identified the elements of patience in the three examples.
They showed a patient attitude during the activity.
It took a big effort to stay still and wait to answer.

ACTIVITY No 4
"NATURE IS WISE AND PATIENT"

Summary of the activity: This is a game; first, the teacher will explain to the children some natural processes that require patience in order for man to be able to enjoy the results. Later, the children will select cards with representations of natural animals and products; each child must identify them and say why nature is wise and patient.

Objectives:
• Developing elements of patience in children.
• To carry out actions that involve a dose of patience

Procedures:
• Conversation
• Questions and answers
• Play activities

Material Resources: The puppet Solomon, cards for the game and pictures.

Development of the activity:
1st Part
Using questions, the teacher will help the children remember what was said about the patient small animals.

Who remembers some patient small animals?
Why do we say that those small animals are patient?
What would happen to them if they did not carry out their activity with patience?
Do you remember the seed waiting patiently to germinate so the daisy could come out in the beautiful garden?

2nd Part
After the first part, he tells the children:
“Now I will explain to you why we say that nature is wise and patient.”
“Have you ever seen a pearl?”
“Do you know how the pearls in the beautiful necklaces we see in the shop windows are formed?”

The teacher will let the children express themselves freely and then he will tell them:
“I think that we should call Solomon, the puppet, the wisest of the wise people, to explain this to us.”

Solomon appears, handled by the teacher and he salutes the children: “Good morning my friends! I have already found out what you wanted to know about how pearls are made”.

“Well, the pearls are made by the oysters, but not any oysters, but special oysters called mother of pearls”. (He shows a picture of a mother-of-pearl oyster).

“This oyster, patiently, secretes a substance that with time converts into a beautiful pearl, just as the hen in its nest, in a patient way, waits 21 days in order to have its eggs hatched, the oyster waits patiently for a long time until the pearl is formed.”

“It seems incredible, my friends, but the pearl is formed when the oyster feels threatened, it patiently secretes a substance that when accumulated forms the pearl.”

“Isn’t a beautiful story? Now I will tell you another one as beautiful as this one”. Have you ever seen a diamond?” “Well, this beautiful and valuable diamond was first a piece of charcoal that after waiting for many years, nature has converted into a beautiful diamond.”

“Do you know, now, why nature is patient and wise? There are many other examples of things that nature offers to mankind to be enjoyed, to decorate our life and that are natural products that were wisely and patiently produced.”

“Nature also made many of the small animals we know to be patient.”

3rd Part
The children will play a game that consists in selecting a card. The cards will have the following illustrations:
• An oyster with its pearl.
• A diamond.
• A hen in its nest.
• An ant carrying leaves to the anthill.
• A spider weaving its net.
• A seed in the process of germination.

Rules of the game:
1- The children will say everything they know about the animals and things represented in the cards.
2- When describing their card they cannot miss the key words: nature, wise and patient.
3. The children that explain the highest number of cards correctly win.

After the game, there will be an assembly to discuss the correct answers and the mistakes, and why they are examples of patient behavior.

CRITERIAL ASSESSMENT
Observed conduct	YES	NO	Comments
They described the cards well.
They needed help describing the cards.
They knew how to use the game’s key words with sense.
They needed help using the key words with sense.
They were able to define the elements of what patience is.

ACTIVITY No 5
CRITICAL EXPERIENCE FOR THE EVALUATION OF THE BLOCK
"THE WAITING ROOM"

Summary of the activity: This is a role play. The arguments will be, “The train station” and “The airport”. Before the game the teacher will talk to the children to give them information on the roles and actions they can do in these places. Then, they will play the game and finally, there will be a conversation to evaluate what happened in the game.

Objectives: To develop personal experiences about patient and impatient behaviour in children.

Procedures:
• Game
• Conversation

Material Resources: Toy furniture and materials to set the stage for the game: an airport’s waiting room and a train station. It will include objects such as a telephone, pencil holders, paper to be used as tickets, cards to be used as money, newspapers, books and magazines, a small suitcase, etc.

Development of the activity:
1st Part
The teacher will talk to the children to give information to the children about waiting rooms and what happens in them.

The teacher will show, for example, pictures of a hospital’s or medical office’s waiting room, of a subway station, of a bus station, of an airport. The teacher will ask the children:
Have you been in any room like these?
Which, when, what did you do?

The teacher will let the children express themselves freely and then, he will explain to them, that in these waiting rooms there are patient people, they read newspapers or magazines, books, etc., until their train or airplane departs; but there are the ones who walk from one side of the room to the other, they smoke harming their health, they take a walk, they look out the windows, they constantly look at the clock, these are the impatient people.

2nd Part
The teacher invites the children to play. They will have separated settings: one will be the waiting room of the airport and the other the waiting room of the train station.

Several roles could be selected: for example, the lady waiting with her child, the gentleman who waits, the child who waits, the employee that sells tickets, the employee of the cafeteria, the airplane’s crew, the train conductor, the stewardess and the employee of the train, etc. After selecting their roles the children will go to a set table with materials to help them play their roles, for example, telephone, pencil holders, papers to be used as tickets, cards to be used as money, newspaper, books and magazines, a small suitcase, etc.

3rd Part
While the children play, the teacher will indirectly participate making suggestions that enrich the game actions and keep the argument alive.

Later on, there will be a final talk to analyze how they played. It is important that the role of people waiting is evaluated, to analyze who has patiently behaved and who didn’t and to describe the behaviour of these characters.

The teacher will summarize this conversation by asking the children:
Who can tell me what the impatient people do?
Will being impatient make the train or the airplane depart before the scheduled time?
What benefits do we get for being patient?
Do you consider yourself patient? Why?

In a final overview the teacher will make them understand that nobody gets anything with impatience, and because of that we must be patient.

CRITERIAL ASSESSMENT
Observed conduct	YES	NO	Comments
They played well the given role.
They needed help to play the given role.
They showed interest in the argument.
They knew how to differentiate in the game between patient and impatient behaviour.
They showed that they have established the elements of what it is patience and impatience.
They verbally manifested the conviction that it is good to be patient.