We have had very low numbers the last couple of weeks, with so many children away sick. We hope everyone is feeling better and we get to see all the children this week.
Dress up day was so much fun!! Thank you to all the parents for helping their child think of something to dress up as that started with the same letter as their name. The children were also able to help Jess bake yummy letter cookies!
We have been busy learning more about Letter D and E the last couple of weeks-
The children learnt how to draw a dog during letter D week. A fun drawing activity that you can do at home with your children. I will copy link below.
Another word that starts with D is ‘Dot’, the children were encouraged to make a black ‘dot’ that was glued on a piece of paper into something and WOW the imagination and creativity that the children used was amazing. We were all so impressed with the children’s work and the children were very happy with what they achieved. The children’s drawings are displaying on the wall in the kinder room.
And last week was the letter ‘E’ week, the children were able to engage in a collage activity where they pasted all different coloured paper squares on Elmer the Elephant. We listened to the book on the big screen which encouraged the children to engage in the activity. A great activity to build the children’s colour knowledge and fine motor skills.
Our chickens have been laying eggs for a couple of weeks now, so on Friday we cooked boiled eggs. Very fitting when our letter of the week was E.
Board games- the board games at kinder are a big interest, the children are enjoying learning new board games or teaching their friends how to play a board game that they may play at home. Board games are a great activity to build the children’s concentration and attention span, following rules and instructions, building their cognitive thinking, taking in turns, persisting at a task, counting and number knowledge, build social and language skills.
Risky play
The children were showing interest in jumping from some higher points on the play equipment outside. To make it a safe place to jump we provided mats and a staff member to monitor every child’s jump to make sure the children were safe. It was explained the importance of jumping safely and making sure the space is free from other people. There were a lot of confident jumpers and the children who were not sure were definitely confident by the end of the day. It is important to provide opportunities in the children’s play to engage in safe risk taking play, it provides the opportunity to build resilience and persistence skills, motor development skills and awareness of the capabilities and limits of their own bodies.
Other areas of interest inside and outside
Picnic area inside- a little corner with a tea set, picnic food, babies, blankets, pillows and lights has been set up for the children to use their imagination skills.
Kinetic sand with Ooshies and molds was available in the black tray. The children really enjoyed building with the kinetic sand. This week we will be adding farm animals to the sand.
The children have enjoyed pretending to cook yummy cakes and cupcakes with the play dough. We added the kitchen furniture to the play dough area and some decorative pieces to add to their imagination.
Numeracy activities- the children have had the opportunity to engage in some numeracy activities in the room. The experiences the children have been engaging in are- Lock and Key number match, number roll dice game and exploring with weights.
Dentist visit- We had the dentist visit last week to talk to the children about how to keep our teeth nice and healthy. The dentist showed the children how to brush their teeth properly and touched a little bit on healthy and sometimes foods and drinks.
Week 5 photo link- https://photos.app.goo.gl/EmhaXkQ89MtD5hAH8
Week 6 photo link- https://photos.app.goo.gl/PgkYberumdWVoEfj6
What is being added to the program this week?
- Book week celebrations- We will be acting out some of our favourite dreamtime stories this week. (Please bring in your favourite book to share with the group)
- We will be reading the story ‘How the birds got their colours’ an Aboriginal Story told by Mary Albert. The children will be able to make their own birds using modelling clay.
- Walk around kinder on Thursday
- The letter of the week is F, we will be reading ‘Tiddalick the frog who caused a flood.’ by Robert Roennfeldt.
- The children will be finishing off their special gifts for their dads.
- Kinetic sand with farm animals
- We will be doing the science experiments that we couldn’t do last week this week.
- We will start our farm discussions- What happens at a farm? What animals live at a farm?