Good afternoon families, what a beautiful day we have shared with your cherubs, lots of giggles, fun and learning was had! We hope your day has been just as fab!
This morning as our friends Zelia, Grayson, Shayaan, Oliver and Bentley arrived to kindy they were welcomed by Miss Shae and Miss Crystal in our babies’ room, greeting us with warm cuddles and a lot of smiles as we 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 enjoyed spontaneous play, allowing us to self-select what we wanted to play with. Shayaan enjoyed playing with the sensory wall, on it there is some small bags containing bells, pom poms, sequins, and feathers in a range of bright colours. He would pull himself up into a standing position so he could reach each of the bags and play with them. Zelia, Grayson and Bentley had found the puzzles that had been put with our books, they enjoyed exploring these puzzles and trying to fit them. Oliver was happily crawling around and when he found our yellow sensory tray, he was pulling out the items, studying them and moving them around on the floor and in his hands. 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 and Miss Crystal said our acknowledgement to country. While she did the movements to the acknowledgement to country, our friends would watch and copy. We really are enjoying learning new ways to move our bodies and again 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 say hello to our friends through the fence in the toddler yard. Outside we had a range of play spaces set up to engage in play with and self-select from. Grayson enjoyed finding the plastic balls and practising his throwing and hand-eye coordination skills with Miss Crystal throwing them back and forth together. Zelia had found the coloured pasta sensory table and made her way over, holding onto it and pulling herself in to a standing position. She would pick up a handful of pasta, squeeze it in her hands and watch it come out between her fingers. Being cooked pasta, it was safe for Zelia to explore the texture of it through taste. She enjoyed exploring it, developing her fine motor and sensory skills as well as strengthening her legs, which is gross motor development ready for walking. Bentley and Shayaan enjoyed playing with the push toys, pulling themselves up and gaining balance and control of it. Once they had they began to take steps while pushing. Push toys are great for strengthening their gross motor development through standing and balancing, it is providing them with the opportunity to strengthen and become confident with the fundamentals of walking. Oliver had found himself with some plastic balls and enjoyed picking them up in his hand and moving them around on the ground. The balls are beginning to introduce Oliver to colours as well as developing skills for moving items around from one position to another which will then help when he wants to move around and crawl and take toys with him. It is also developing his fine motor skills and grip. Continuing with our focus of Early Learning Matters Week, todays focus was POSITIONING, so encouraging the children to line up and group items. We had an activity which was age and developmentally appropriate for our friends. Using a cupcake pan and the small plastic balls, our friends were encouraged to lift the balls out of the tub that they were in and position them in the cupcake holders. Everyone did a great job at moving the balls around the pan and persisting when they found it challenging, once they had placed a row, we cheered and acknowledged their achievements.
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.
Our delicious meals were:
Morning Tea: Organic Fruit Toast, Banana and Triple Berry Coconut Jelly
Lunch: Sticky Thai Balls with Sesame Noodle Salad and fresh Salad Bar
Afternoon Tea: Bumbleberry Crumble Bars and Fresh Fruit
Have a lovely afternoon
love Miss Crystal and Miss Shae
