Mission Awareness Activity
What does prematurity look like?
What does prematurity look like?
Mission Awareness Activity for pre-school, elementary and middle school students to talk about the impact of premature birth
Time: 10 to 15 minutes
Objective: To visually demonstrate premature birth and why being born too soon is a problem
Mission materials: Please choose one, some or all of the following:
- Ring
- Paper clip (regular, not jumbo)
- Preemie-size diaper and newborn-size diaper (Your March of Dimes staff partner can provide a preemie diaper for you)
Activity materials (optional):
- Crayons, markers or color pencils
- World Prematurity Day Coloring Activity Sheet
Material instructions:
- Ring: Pass around or show students a ring and ask them to imagine a baby so small that the ring fits around a whole arm or leg.
- Paper clip: Pass around paper clips and ask students to imagine a baby so small that its foot is the size of the paper clip.
- Preemie-size diaper and newborn-size diaper: Show students both diapers, explaining that the newborn diaper fits on a baby who was born
Questions/explore
- Ask students to find out from their parents how much they weighed when they were born.
- Ask if anyone in the room was born prematurely (too soon) or knows someone who was — and to tell their story, if they are comfortable talking about it.
- Ask students born prematurely to bring in photos.
Additional Resources