Good afternoon families,
This morning we welcomed our friends Zelia, Grayson, Oliver, Larsson, Charles and Jordan to kindy, they were greeted lots of snuggles and smiles from Miss Shae and Miss Crystal, excited to begin our fun filled day with loads of laughter and love. We couldn’t wait to start our day and have fun with all the toys. In our room we we are enjoying spontaneous play, allowing us to self-select toys and play spaces that are of interest to us. Larsson and Oliver had found the sensory colour wall, this learning space has been a favourite by our friends, it has many benefits to their learning and development as it is introducing them to colours, different sensory items and building their balance and leg muscles ready for when they are confident to take steps. Larsson would pull himself into a standing position while Oliver would get into a crawling position on his knees to allow him to have better reach, together they were playing with the sensory wall. Zelia, Grayson and Charles enjoyed sitting on our green mat playing with our toy cars. Using their fine motor muscles, they would grip them firmly into their hands and move them back and forth mimicking the driving motion. Soon enough after all the busy playing we got stuck into our bedtime routines and morning tea.
We did group time before lunch today; we were on the mat outside together as all our friends were awake at the same time. Miss Crystal said our acknowledgement to country while she did the movements, our friends would watch and copy. We really enjoy moving our bodies and today we all loved “reaching up to the sky for the Yugambeh people”. After our acknowledgement to country we sang ‘Bee Bee Bumble Bee’. We listened very carefully for our names and when we had heard them and recognised them, we moved onto washing our hands and sitting at the table for lunch.
After lunch today we ventured outdoors to play and explore a range of play spaces set up to engage in play with and self-select from. Grayson and Larsson had taken an interest to the pool noodle, holding it in their hands and waving it around and giggling as they watched it flop. Miss Crystal sat with them and encouraged them to ‘tah’ to each other, teaching our friends sharing skills and communication. Charles enjoyed sitting with Miss Crystal having a laugh and they ended up in a fit of laughter as they each laughed at each other. Charles also showed Miss Crystal how confident he is becoming with pulling himself up to his feet using her as support then balancing there. Meanwhile Zelia had found the crate of toys, she quickly crawled over to it, pulled herself into a standing position and looking through to find something she wanted to play with. After some searching she came across the dolls and one by one she pulled them out, looking at them and carefully putting them on the ground. Jordan and Oliver enjoyed crawling over to the fence where our toddler friends were and laughing with them as they engaged in conversation. Continuing with our focus of Early Learning Matters Week, todays focus was TRAJECTORY, so encouraging the children to watch as items dropped from up high. We had an activity which was age and developmentally appropriate for our friends. Using a container, we placed water and some dish liquid into it, we encouraged the children to swish the water and watch as bubbles formed. We watched Miss Crystal pick some of the bubbles up in her hand and blow it from up high, we were intrigued as small bubbles would slowly fall and land on our faces, we also would reach out and touch them. We then tried to blow bubbles ourselves before all wanting to splash and play with the water and get messy! So many giggles and smiles were had as we enjoyed this learning activity outside. To extend on this we had a tube of bubbles, Miss Crystal would blow the bubbles and again we would watch them fall from up high. Not only was this providing opportunity to learn about the schema of trajectory in a fun engaging way but it was also furthering our knowledge and exploration of sensory play, feeling the water and the bubbles and what they did when they would pop.
Our friends all followed their own individual sleep routines as best as they could! We endeavour to follow each child’s home routine in whatever way we can. As the afternoon sets in, we will enjoy some indoor/outdoor play, having opportunity to play with what we choose before all coming inside when the weather becomes cool. Our friends today enjoyed self-selecting their own toys to engage in play with. They also responded well and enjoyed participating in the activities we did based on their interests it allowed for high engagement.
Todays meals were;
Morning Tea: Creamy Pear Quinoa Porridge and Banana
Lunch: Roast Vegie, Avocado and Pesto Grills with a fresh Salad Bar
Afternoon Tea: Golden Chocolate Beetroot Brownies and Fresh Fruit
Have a lovely afternoon all,
Miss Crystal and Miss Shae xx
