Cooking at kinder
On Friday the children had the opportunity to help Jess cook Dinosaur Pasta, they were able to help cut up bacon and celery which was picked from our garden. We have child safe knives at kinder which allows us to provide a program that allows children to be involved in the cooking experience and be little master chefs themselves. The children love the responsibility of cutting up the ingredients which also seems to encourage them to try the meal that they helped make.
We were very impressed with all the children having a taste of the dinosaur pasta and some of the children even had seconds. It was YUMMY!
The benefits of cooking with children
- It helps build social interactions
- promotes turn taking and problem solving skills
- build’s fine motor skills
- Allows children to explore with new food
- Helps children explore with their senses
- It provides opportunities for children to learn mathematical, scientific and literacy concepts
EYLF- Community, Wellbeing, Learning, Communication
Dinosaur Clay
Each child had the opportunity to make a dinosaur using clay. The children were encouraged to choose a dinosaur they would like to make, once they selected the dinosaur it was discussed with the child about the shape of the dinosaur, how many legs and arms it had, if it was a walking or flying dinosaur, how many eyes the dinosaur had, did it have any special features; like a long neck, long legs, horns, or a spine. Then using the clay tools, their hands and materials the children were able to create the dinosaur. Crystal helped the children learn how to manipulate the clay in their hands to make certain shapes and sizes. The children were also able to use a photo of the dinosaur as inspiration.
We were so impressed with all the children’s dinosaurs, they did so well and were all very creative.
EYLF- Community, wellbeing, communication
Others areas of interest inside
- Kitchen equipment and utensils with play dough- The children have enjoyed pretending to cook bakery goods in this area and we have had many birthday parties in this area as well. (community, wellbeing, communication)
- Home corner is a cafe at the moment. The children have enjoyed role playing the waiter or the customer. They have been answering phones, writing down orders, sitting at the table chatting with their friends and waiting for their food to be cooked and dressing up. (Identity, community, communication)
- Trucks in the sand- This area has been a great opportunity for the children to use their problem solving and turn taking skills. (community, communication)
- Sun flower painting- The children had the opportunity to engage in a ‘still life’ painting experience. Claire (Banksia teacher) visited a sun flower farm a couple of weekends ago and shared the sun flowers she brought with Wattle Group. Using black texta and water coloured dyes the children were encouraged to have a go at drawing the sun flowers. (community, wellbeing, communication)
- Roller painting on the easel (wellbeing, communication)
- Potion making in the trough- using coloured dye and herbs from our garden the children were able to make potions and explore with colours and their senses. (wellbeing, learning, communication)
Areas of Interest Outside
- Building with the large wooden blocks- The children have enjoyed using the tools to pretend to build horse stables, a bus and houses outside. We have had small groups of children working collaboratively together to achieve their desired outcome. (community, wellbeing, communication)
- Tools- The children have really enjoyed having the tools available for their play outside. We have had children move around the yard pretending to fix the car, the boat, the play equipment and the cubby house. It’s great to see their imagination and role playing, turn taking and negotiating skills being used in their play. (identity, community, communication)
- Pedal rollers- Some of the children have been trying to master the pedal rollers and with practice and determination the children have been able to do it. (identity, wellbeing)
- Swings-The swings are very popular. We have some children who can swing themselves on the swing and we have others who are practicing every session to master it. With a great big push from the teachers, the children are learning to use their legs and body to push themselves on the swing. A skill that takes a lot of practice. (identity, wellbeing)
- Imaginative play- There are a few imaginative areas set up outside. The farm trucks with corn and lentils, A pirate and sea life area and barbies. (identity, community, wellbeing, communication)
- Construction sets- Train set and the children have really enjoyed building with the magnetic construction set (metal balls and plastic rods) (wellbeing, learning, communication)
Mat time
You may be asking what is Mat time? Well Mat time is an opportunity during the session for the group to come together and engage in large group experiences.
Experiences could be
- music and movement experiences
- a learning experience where the teachers want to extend on a topic through discussions, books or videos
- Science experiments
- Yoga
- Academic experiences/games- for example; colour sorting, shape games or numeracy games
- Show n tell
All mat time experiences are planned to extend the children’s interests, learning and developmental needs. At the start of the year mat time is very active and only goes for a short period of time and as the year goes on, mat time gets longer and builds on the children’s attention span by listening on the mat and engaging in a experience for a longer period of time.
What mat times experience have we engaged in the couple of weeks-
Show n tell
As you may be aware, we have started show n tell. At the end of the session we have been handing out 4 show n tell bags for the children to take home and fill with their favourite items from home to share with their kinder friends the next day. If your child hasn’t had a turn yet they will get a turn this week. We have enjoyed listening and learning more about our kinder friends interests, favourite toys and books and family.
Benefits of show n tell at kinder
- Increases the child’s confidence to stand and speak in front of a group
- Promotes language and speech development
- Promotes emotional development
- Children learn how to ask inquiry based questions
- Builds listening skills
- Promotes self esteem and a sense of belonging
- build social skills
Other mat time experiences
- dinosaur colour sorting game
- Virtual dinosaur walk at the Melbourne Museum
- We made volcanoes in the sand pit
- ‘Doggy Doggy whose got the bone’- Name recognition game
- Bean bag song- the children were to follow the actions
- Stretchy lycra
- Learning about composting and how beneficial the worm juice is for our vegetable garden
- I read a book about what chicken’s like to eat that Wattle Group 2021 created last year. The children enjoyed listening to what chickens liked to eat and it was great to see some of the children bringing in some of their scraps from home on Friday.
- On Friday we did Cosmic Kids Yoga- Coco the butterfly
EYLF- Identity, Community, wellbeing, learning, communication
Happy Birthday Dali and Chet
Last weeks Photo link- https://photos.app.goo.gl/spGDPysPWvy8iTvp6
What’s happening this week
- We are going to extend our colour knowledge by engaging in some fun art experiences. The children will be able to explore with colours.
- A zoo imaginative area has been set up which was requested by Isla
- The children enjoyed listening to the story the very hungry caterpillar. We will be setting up an area with the story and the felt pieces for the children to engage in some story telling.
- Using ‘The very hungry caterpillar’ book we will be discussing healthy and sometimes foods and putting the foods that the caterpillar ate in categories.
- Light projector has been added into the block corner for the children to explore with colour and light
- Sunflower hessian collage- the children will have the opportunity to add different yellow material/object pieces to the sunflower outline.
- The experiences that were available outside last week will be out again this week- for example tools, construction dress ups and pirate imaginative area.
- Mat time-
- We will be learning a new song called the ‘Colour Song’
- Acknowledgement to country
- Show n tell
- We will be engaging in a new name recognition game- Bug under the rug
- Friday Yoga