Llenadores de cubetas en el jardín de infancia / Bucket fillers in Kindergarten

In Raji and Beverly’s kindergarten class, the students have been learning the Spanish vocabulary to describe some emotions. Kindergarten can be a time of great emotion! There are enormously joyful interactions which result in warm feelings and laughter, as well as  disagreements that result in hurt feelings and sadness. Conversations around kindness take priority. Recently, the kindergarteners were introduced to the concepts of “cubeta (bucket) fillers” and “cubeta (bucket) dippers.” To help acquaint the students with these models we read Carol McCloud’s book,   “¿Has llenado una cubeta hoy? / Have You Filled a Bucket Today?”

The story states that we all carry invisible cubetas around with us, and they hold our good sentimientos (feelings) in them. When someone is kind, our cubeta fills with good sentimientos. When someone is unkind our cubeta empties. When you are kind to others, you are a “cubeta filler”. When you are unkind to others, you are a “cubeta dipper.” Although the book states we each carry an “invisible” cubeta, we thought it’d be much fun to have one we can really see.

After reading the book and decorating our very own cubeta, we talked about the many ways we can each be a “cubeta filler”, not just to our classmates but to everyone in our community. Throughout our conversations we realized that in order for us to be cubeta fillers we first need to learn how to identify our feelings and how to appropriately express them. This notion led us to learn the Spanish vocabulary for some emotions.

feliz - happy

triste - sad

orgullos(a) – proud

cansado(a) – tired

hambriento(a) – hungry

asustado(a) – scared

enojado(a) – angry

This heartwarming book and the conversations that followed continue to encourage positive behavior as students see how rewarding it is to express daily kindness, appreciation, and love. Please ask your kindergartener how they are being “cubeta fillers” and share with them how you too fill “cubetas.”

Here’s a song we made up to the tune of Frère Jacques’, “Are You Sleeping?”

Fill a cubeta, fill a cubeta.
It's easy to do. It's easy to do.
I can fill a cubeta” I can fill a cubeta.
So can you! So can you!

Fill a cubeta, fill a cubeta.

Smile and say, "Hola," smile and say, "Hola!"

You can fill a cubeta, you can fill a cubeta.

Sonríe y saluda. Sonríe y saluda.