Jingeri!
Today we welcomed Harper, Bonnie, Macy, Ryan, Riley, Christopher, Taran and Ella to Kindy 2.
We continued on with the clay shape creation activity today with the children exploring octagons, rectangles and squares. They extended their comparative knowledge and vocabulary as they made connections and distinctions between the shapes. Examples of this language included, ‘this shape is longer side than this one’, and ‘this one has more sides’. This activity also strengthened the muscles in the hands as they rolled and flattened the clay into the shapes on their mat.
The children were out in the yard when Mr Tim from ARAKAN arrived today. They cheered his name, told him how much they missed him last week and how excited they were that he was back today. They played many games today, some of which tested the children’s speed and agility, while other games tested their patience and self-control. They also practiced their shielding skills in protecting their face and head and how to correctly use their hands to throw an open-handed strike into the glove.
In the sandpit the children explored their touch sense as they buried their feet deep into the sand and had their peers pour water onto the sand to compact the sand even tighter. They discussed in which sand they could and couldn’t wiggle their toes and how they were going to free their feet without using their hands – they determined a big big jump! They then decided to spend some time playing together in the stream of water flowing from their peers at the water pump. They first dipped their toes into the cool flowing water as it passed over the rocks, before soon becoming more engaged as they used the water in their play.
Creative play seems to be a magnet for the children today. Throughout the course of the day, they had each dug into the recyclables box and transformed it into their own creation, using the paints, collage items and cutting pieces apart before gluing them back together. By mid-morning the outside table was concealed by colourful paintings and creations waiting to dry.
The children demonstrated their knowledge of the world around them as they engaged in lots of imaginative, dramatic play. The treehouse was alive with a roar of animals playing together in the treetops and swinging on the swings. The felt boards told stories of ours and other worlds and the Lego boards, became their own small cities and communities.
The children are becoming more confident in their counting skills and self-regulation. They requested to play the hop and pop game today. They independently set up the boards and took turns to complete their turns, pop the dice, counting the dots and then moving that many spaces around the board. They played the game on repeat for quite some time, only asking for assistance when someone tried to be tricky and skipped spaces. The children are becoming assertive and respectful in assisting each other when having difficulties and explaining themselves rather than rising straight to frustration.
Thank you, Miss Shannan 😊