Half-pint playhouse: A training tool for WIC paraprofessionals

Abstract

WIC nutrition educators are frequently asked how to handle preschoolers' eating problems. So as a public health nutritionist supervising a county WIC program, I wanted to develop an interesting and memorable training session on that topic. Inspired by Shakespeare's well-known metaphor All the world is a and Joan Rivers' comment .. . and mothers are the stagehands, I developed the Half-Pint Playhouse. This easy-to-replicate resource consists of a stage (made from a cardboard box) and cardboardbacked paper dolls (taped to wires). The stage (see Figure A) can be constructed from a large cardboard box (26 X 16 X 9) in the following manner: First, open the bottom flaps of the box, cut off the smaller side flaps, fold the top flap up (this becomes the marquee above the stage), and anchor it with small wires. Then fold the bottom flap out so it becomes an extension of the stage floor. (The stage may be completely closed for travel.) Next, cut a longitudinal slit (12 X 21h) in the long side ofthe top of the box (which has become the roof of the stage) . This slit is used to lower the dolls onto the stage. Spray-paint the inside and outside of the box brown, and wire a small rod to the inside ofthe box to serve as a curtain rod. The curtains open manually from the center. To make the paper dolls more durable, glue them to cardboard backing, and then tape each one to a strong wire slightly longer than the distance between the roof and the floor of the stage. At the top of the wire, tape a rectangular piece