Building Together #7: A Visit from Constable Steve Hanuse

The children were extremely excited with Constable Steve Hanuse's visit to Creative Minds. They had tons of questions and stories to share with the Constable but first he told us a little about himself.

Constable Steve Hanuse has been serving at the Vancouver Police Department for the past 23 years and his job responsibilities included: general patrol, making sure everyone is safe;  answered phone calls at the 911 call centre and for 7 and a half years worked as a police dog handler. He is currently a liaison officer on the Musqueam reserve.

Below are some of the children's questions and comments:
Roy: Hey, where is your badge?
Maddi: My uncle is a police officer.
Sofia: Do you have a police cat?
Allye: Do you put people in jail?
Trystan: What do you do?
Deb: Did you always want to be a police officer?

Showing his badge

Grace: Someone stole my dad's bike!
Paxton: Why do you need a gun?
Constable Steve: That's an interesting question, Paxton. It is part of my uniform and it's there just in case anything happens. During the 23 years I have been a police officer, I have never had to use my gun. My most useful tool is my mouth. I'm able to tell other people what to do with my words. 

The children showed their appreciation and respect by giving Constable Steve a round of applause before he left!

Building Together #6 - It Takes a Community!

Firefighter puppet

Police officers

After our visit to the ice cream shop, Alfie had some concerns for the safety of the ice cream shop and it caused the other children to start pondering too. Below are their questions:

What happens if the ice cream machine is broken?
What if the wires of the ice cream machine catch fire?
What if a robber come and takes the machine?
What happens when the ice cream store runs out of the ingredients to make the ice cream?

We looked at each question and the children thought of solutions.
Alfie: A repair man can come fix the broken machines.
Molly: Firefighters can put out the fire.
Theo: Police will catch the bad guys who took the machines.
Allye: We can just go to the grocery store to buy more ingredients to make ice cream!

Fire safety

In the end, the children realized that it takes a community to help run and maintain an ice cream store!

Building Together #5 - Gardening

Sponge dabbing the foliage

Blowing through a straw to create
 tree trunks and branches

Adding the bushes

The children examined the Water community and noticed that it was missing trees and flowers. I asked the children who plants trees and flowers in the community? "A Gardener!" they all answered.

We read Mrs. Spitzer's Garden by Edith Pattou and learned that gardeners are responsible for growing and maintaing all types of plants. They also need to give the plants lots of love and care.

Making a garden

The children turned into gardeners by adding plants to our Water community. They added blackberry, raspberry and blueberry bushes. Using the blow paint technique, the children created grand, old trees. Some of them even made a garden for their house.