Child Development 2 students have recently taken on the task of carrying around their “flour babies,” fake babies made out of bags of flour, nylons, and stuffing. The babies are made to simulate the challenges and responsibilities of being a parent.

For two days, students carried the babies and had to treat them as if they were real—no laying them on the floor, or throwing them around. If students are caught being disrespectful to their child, it’s an immediate zero on the project.

According to junior Teagan Hamilton, the project was meant to give students a better understanding of what being a teen parent could look like. Carrying the babies from class to class and making sure they were always taken care of showed students how difficult it can be to balance daily life while also caring for a child.

“I think it showed us what it would kind of be like to be an actual teen mom,” Hamilton said. “Having to carry it around all day was difficult sometimes, but it taught us the importance of it.”

Hamilton also explained that the babies had to be handled carefully because they could easily rip or break if students were careless with them. Along with the weight of the bag, the project was designed to feel similar to carrying around a real baby.

Even though many students found the flour babies annoying at times, most agreed that the assignment helped connect to everything they had learned throughout the semester. From empathy belly activities to robot babies, the class has spent months learning about parenting and child care through multiple hands-on projects.

Junior Josie Stenstrom said the project represented many of the lessons students learned throughout the year and gave them a better understanding of responsibility. She also said it helped students realize how much work goes into caring for a child, even in simple everyday situations like walking through the halls or going to class.

While some students struggled to remember their babies at times, others said the project was easier than expected. Hamilton explained that after taking home the electronic robot baby earlier in the semester, the flour baby felt much simpler to manage.

Although the babies were only bags of flour, the assignment gave students a small glimpse into the reality of parenting and the responsibilities that come with it.