With the earthquake that happened in Haiti last week, I wanted to talk to my children about it, I wanted them to learn what an earthquake was and to encourage empathy for those in need.  We also have been looking at atlas’ together and I wanted them to realize there are people across the globe, people who are hurting.

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For this activity, we used a train-set, building blocks and a cutting board.  To make building the trains special or more memorable we set them up on our kitchen table.  They loved leaning/laying on the table to help create the “set”.  We built a portion of the train and buildings on the cutting board.  The cutting board symbolized the crust of the earth.

• What happens if we shake the cutting board?  What happens to the buildings?

Here is a clip of different pictures from the quake.  There are very few injured people in these clips.  We discussed the damage to the buildings and the roads.  Some questions you can use to get your preschoolers thinking:

• What happens to the roads? How can the people visit each other or go to the store?
• What happened to these homes?  Can the people live in them now?  What will the people have to do?
• Do you think the people who survived the earthquake are happy or sad?  Why?
• What do you think the people need?