The children enjoyed kneading playdoh and using all the interesting utensils on offer. The utensils provide children with an opportunity to extend their creative flair and develop their fine motor skills as they manoeuvre, manipulate and use the utensils whether its rolling out the playdoh with a rolling pin or cutting out shapes using the various templates. You can see the children develop their hypothesising skills as they determine what force to use to press out the shapes. Our objective is to help the children relaise the force required to press out the shapes is determined by the thickness of the playdoh, so to make it easier they should try to rollout the playdoh into thinner parcels.
The magnetic shapes allow children to experiment by combining a variety of shapes to create different outcomes. The added creative complexity comes when the children begin to visualise and construct in 3 dimensional from 2 dimensional. To extend on their learning the children begin to understand magnets are attracted to metal, but NOT all metals. We witness children taking their creative flair from mats to vertical creations on a fence.....possibilities are endless!!
The children have an appreciation for technology and an understanding for appropriate use whether making phone calls on telephones and mobiles, or getting "work" done on their laptops and iPads. It is important to educate the children on the correct and appropriate uses of the various technology platforms.....and technology platforms aren't just for playing games. The children engage with colleagues further developing their communications skills and extend their awareness of our community. The doll house activity helps also with illustrating how the home community functions and provides the children with an opportunity to expand their understanding by learning from their peers what happens in their homes through play.
During outdoor play, the children continue to look for ways challenge their capabilities and abilities finding ways to test their limits whether its learning how to hang upside down on the monkey bars or finding ways to explore how to hang off the rails of the wobbly bridge or using the barrels to climb and balance on.
The children enjoyed playing catch with Mr Alf. Whether it's catching the high or low ball as they continue to develop their gross motor skills and hand eye coordination. To further extend on these skills the children using our barrel as a basketball hoop. A few of our adventures children decided to shoot hoops as they slid down the slippery dip. Our creative children decided to turn the stepping stones upside down and to throw our handheld bean bags into them as basketball hoops. It is so inspiring to see the children stretch and challenge themselves as they continue to grow and develop.
Gymnastics is making a comeback with children taking to demonstrating their athleticism via performing cartwheels, the splits or simply using the pallet to hop and jump from plank to plank avoiding the gaps.
A themed reptile park was constructed. The children where taught to the dangers of snakes and where they may be hiding. We were learning why it is important not to place our hands and feet in areas we cant not see as there may be snakes hiding there.
.....and yes, our daily group times comprised of reading a story or two followed by discussing and recalling the characters and messages of the stories. Children have an opportunity during group time to develop their concentration skills and ability to focus for longer durations by participating in group discussions after the story is read.
Group story - concentration, attentive and focus for a specific duration.
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