Good morning everyone! Yet another wet day today, but all our friends still had lots of indoor fun! We began our morning by making a cubbyhouse/tunnel with a high table, a lower table and a large multi-coloured parachute. We all had lots of fun climbing into the cubby and crawling through the tunnel to get out the other side. Harvey initiated a game of being a big, scary dinosaur, trying to chase and eat Chi, Ellie, Kaylee, Maia, Marlie and Indi around and through the tunnel. Zander and Asher chose to slither like snakes to make their way out the tunnel.
After morning tea, we packed away our cubbyhouse and enjoyed some fun parachute games, including “popping popcorn” (balls of cotton wool in the middle), playing “Ring a Rosy” and pretending to be a washing machine on different cycles. Everyone LOVED playing with the parachute! Ivy and Zander could not stop giggling! Some benefits of parachute play include:
- Encourages cooperation – Strengthens upper torso
- Non-competitive – Differing abilities are a non-issue
- Refines perceptual skills – Reinforces turn-taking/ sharing
- Develops a sense of rhythm – Requires following directions
- Promotes social interaction – Enhances language development…PLEASE CLICK on the blue link next to the last image of the parachute photos to watch a short parachute “Popcorn” video!
Other fun, play-based activities and intentional teaching/group experiences we engaged with today were:
- Completing a large group drawing, followed by drawing outlines of our bodies on large paper
- Hand painting in black, yellow and red colours to create our Aboriginal awareness wall
- Refining our fine-motor/hand-eye coordinating skills by hammering small wooden shaped to cork boards with wooden hammers
CHILDREN’S SPECIFIC CHOICES today were:
- Cars, trucks and tractors on the road map tiles. Thank you Jaxon for bringing in lots of cars from your home. You are a wonderful sharer!
- Creating a puppet theatre and putting on a “show” for friends with assorted hand puppets (Lily, Ellie, Kaylee, Maia, Indi and Marlie really enjoyed this interactive play)
- Kitchen corner play (Chi, Kaylee and Indi’s choice)
We hope you all have a lovely evening. Stay safe and dry!! Love Miss Donna and Miss Livia XX
