Johnson House
Banksia Room
Story by Educator Cathy
The children in Johnson House Banksia room have been actively involved in dramatic play experiences recently. One of these has been the creation of an ice cream shop, where they have also been pretending to cook pancakes to buy with their ice creams.
The children had the opportunity to transfer their learning from the pretend play to cooking and eating real pancakes. They recalled their prior knowledge of cooking pancakes, remembering pancake ingredients—milk, sugar, and flour.
The children demonstrated their capable fine motor skills as they poured the ingredients into the bowl and mixed them together to make the pancake batter. They were delighted to pour the mixture into the hot frying pan, listening to the sizzling sound as the pancakes cooked and then to eat them at the conclusion of the experience.
The children discussed how delicious the pancakes were. They suggested that next time ice cream and pancakes could be eaten together, “like in the ice cream shop”.
As the children engaged in the cooking experience, they had the opportunity to build on their knowledge and interest in food and cooking. They were also facilitating their fine motor skills as they poured the ingredients into the bowl and frying pan and holding the spoon to stir the pancake mixture.
Cooking experiences are valuable for children to participate in as they observe the process of turning raw ingredients into a different food through the cooking process. They also help children learn to follow instructions as they follow a recipe.
Murray House
Jacaranda Room
Story by Educator Deepa
Over the past few weeks, the Murray House Jacaranda room children have shown an interest in making pancakes and cakes in the sand pit and mud kitchen.
We decided to bring this imaginative play to life and to make pancakes for an afternoon snack! The children gathered around and took turns to mix the pancake batter. We sat together and discussed how we make pancake batter. “We need flour” one child said, and another added “We need milk”. We also used bananas in the mixture, and everyone had a turn to mash the banana. All of us had a turn to scoop flour, add milk, and add smashed banana together. We beat the ingredients smoothly, until there were no bubbles.
It was then time to cook our pancakes. The children first listened to the safety instructions. Everyone had a turn to make their own pancake, scooping the batter into the frying pan and (with some help), flipped their pancake. We all enjoyed our pancake as a yummy afternoon treat.
The children practiced a range of skills through this experience, including building on their social skills as they negotiated turns and helped one another to make the pancakes.
Family Day Care Sydney Wide
Story by Educator Support Officer Alix
Family Day Care Sydney Wide has recently had reason to celebrate the achievements of two of our wonderful educators.
Firstly, after 15 years of service, Ashfield Educator Linglan Hsieh, is going on extended leave to spend time with family overseas. Linglan and her Family Day Care service were active members of the community, embarking on several routine excursions each week, which included destinations such as the Five Dock Library, Wangal Park, Blair Park, Hammond Park and Centenary Park, Linglan and the children also came to many play sessions here at The Infants’ Home. In this time, Linglan has left a lasting impression on many children’s and families lives, which we are so very grateful for. We wish Linglan all the very best!
Secondly, Randwick Educator Gabriela Gasinska has been named as the 2024 CBD, Inner West, Eastern Suburbs Regional Educator Award Winner in the 2024 Excellence in Family Day Care Awards. In its’ thirteenth year, the Excellence in Family Day Care Awards highlight the unique benefits of Family Day Care, which Gabriela has now won for an amazing third time!
Gabriela is now in the running to be named as a National Finalist for the 2024 Educator of the Year Award. We congratulate Gabi on this outstanding achievement and wish her best of luck making it into the finals.
Community Playgroups
Story by Playgroup Coordinator Rebecca
Recently our playgroups joined in sharing International Talk like a Pirate Day. This day began as a joke between two friends and now lends itself to a celebration of fun that everyone can enjoy!
In light of this playful idea, the playgroup team thought that it would be fun to dress up as pirates for the day, and they and invited playgroup children and families to dress up too.
To celebrate the day, we made pirate hats and eye patches, searched for treasure in the sand dough and even walked the plank! There were plenty of “Ahoy me hearties” and “Shiver me timbers” shouted aloud during playgroup as everyone got into the spirit of the day.
We ended our pirate adventures by reading a book about pirates. The book was called ‘Don’t Disturb the Pirates’, by Rhiannon Findlay and Sian Roberts, and it was the perfect way to round off our pirating experiences.
Ahoy me hearties!
