Happy Thursday to all our Pre-Kindy families. We were very lucky today to get outdoors this morning before it started to rain. Ellie, Ivy, Harvey, Asher and Zander took advantage of this opportunity by having fun together on the giant swing. We also climbed the big green hill and did some colourful drawings together on the verandah. We also played some fun circle games. In addition to the game “Doggy, doggy”, Miss Donna introduced the children to the game “Duck, duck goose”. Our friends quickly understood the rules, and there was lots of fun chasing and laughter in the outside classroom.
We also had one of our favourite physical activities today – Arakan Martial Art with Mr Daniel. Ollie showed fantastic ball catching skills today when Mr Daniel threw a small squishy ball and he caught it with one hand – great work Ollie! In addition, so many more of our friends are now able to distinguish between their left and right arms when carrying out self-defence moves
Once indoors, the children enjoyed the following play-based learning experiences:
- Office role play with keyboards, telephones and small notepads/pencils: Ella, Chi and Ollie had a good chat on the phones back and forth to each other, whilst Asher tapped out lots of memos on his keyboard and made lots of notes. Some reasons why role playing is important for your child –
- Encourages Creativity and Imagination – A child’s capacity for cognitive flexibility and creativity are linked to role playing. They exercise their brain and train it to practice using imagination at an early age
- Enriches language and enhances communication skills – By talking and using new words, children gain confidence with their communication. They learn to convey a message by picking their words carefully. In turn they subsequently learn to listen. The benefits of these skills are seen later when they start learning to read and write
- Develop social and emotional skills – Role playing helps your child learn conflict resolution, for example while playing with others they may argue on who will become the villain and who will become the super-hero, they will have to brainstorm for the potential solution together, and this is how they learn about teamwork. These skills are valuable even later in life
- Small wooden block construction: Zander and Chi made several complex towers that took them quite some time – lots of detail and use of many different shapes and sizes. This process involves problem solving, spatial awareness, reasoning skills and developing solutions which can later be transferred into their personal/adult life.
- Cutting out pictures of healthy food choices and pasting onto paper: Quite apart from the children enhancing their fine-motor skills by using scissors, this activity was a great way for the children to make decisions on what is healthy food, and why, and what type of food is not so healthy.
- Drawing on large sheets of paper with pastel chalk blocks – the colours of the chalk were so strong and vibrant, and a new medium for the children to experiment with. This was a very popular activity today, especially with Kaylee, Indi, Harvey, Lily, Maia, Zander and Indi – lots of fantastic pictures drawn!
Please enjoy today’s blog and photos. We hope you all have a lovely evening. Love Miss Donna and Miss Livia XX
