Hello Pre-Kindy families! Amongst our friends here today on T-Riffic Tuesday, we have taken part in a whole range of fun-filled activities; some spontaneous, some child-initiated, and some planned for (driven by the children’s interests and voices). Continuing with extending the current interest in bugs/insects, today the children were able to construct their own beetles, manipulating and turning (through trial and error) hard plastic body parts, legs, antennae and eyes into the correct fixed positions. Such play is beneficial for the refinement of fine motor skills and coordination, as well as problem-solving and persistence. Indi, Harvey, Arlo, Asher and Zander were particularly taken with this activity.
Picking up pom poms of various sizes (with tongs) and placing them into large egg cartons was another popular manipulative activity today. Harley, William, Marlie, Ivy and Ollie really enjoyed using their tongs to squeeze/grip onto the pom poms before dropping them into the egg cartons. They did this repeatedly until the egg cartons were full – great concentration friends!
Today we also continued to paint our Poinciana seed pods, except that unlike the ones that were painted last week (which were complete), today the pods were only halves. This was a great way for us to see the patterned outline inside a pod, and where the small seeds are normally held – almost like an X-Ray! Lily, Ellie, Zahra and Ivy used very fine paintbrushes to carefully apply a range of different colours to their pods and seemed very proud of their efforts.
Working with puzzles was a popular choice for Chi today. She was able to complete 2 x 1- piece puzzles completely by herself. Puzzle play provides children with a great opportunity to extend on thinking skills such as remembering, matching and sorting.
Harley and Ella had lots of fun playing together in the kitchen corner today. Harley really gave the potato masher a workout as he mashed his “potatoes” in the saucepan, whilst Ella prepared some carrots next to him. Dramatic play such as this provides children with opportunities to be imaginative and creative and is a way for children to make sense of their world.
Maia and Marlie enjoyed creating lovely pictures on the mini whiteboards with their whiteboard markers. Maia drew a very big purple rainbow, whilst Marlie drew her family and her house. Drawing provides a wonderful opportunity for children to express their feelings, emotions and creativity. In addition, drawing aligns with Learning Outcome 4 of the Early Years Learning Framework, whereby “children are confident and involved learners”. This learning activity can also be linked to Gardner’s theories. He saw the arts and creativity as playing major roles in children’s learning. Children are also able to explore many cognitive concepts (size, shapes etc.) through their play and creative explorations.
After our Acknowledgement of Country (with hand actions), Miss Donna introduced the children to a Torres Strait Islander and a Moroccan song – both with accompanying body actions. The first song/lullaby, entitled “Inanay Gupu Wanna” is a song in Yorta Yorta, the language of one of the Torres Strait Islander tribes of Victoria. It is believed to be about a pesky goanna. The Moroccan song, entitled “A Ram Sam Sam” is about friends. The children really enjoyed carrying out the actions and also made great attempts to sing along. They continued singing “Inanany” among themselves over and over again after rest time too! Copies of the song lyrics are available on our parent information table inside the Pre-Kindy room. Your children would love you to sing along with them! 🙂
Until tomorrow, please enjoy your evening with your family! Love Miss Donna and Miss Livia xxxx
