Johnson House
Banksia Room
Story by Educator Cathy
As the children in Johnson House Banksia room continue to settle into their new environment, they have been given the opportunity to explore their sense of identity and diversity in a range of play experiences.
Recently the children worked together to draw self-portraits, and they explored the similarities and differences amongst each other. The children used small mirrors to guide for their drawings.
Our recent celebration of Harmony Day also linked to this experience, and this was as a great opportunity to further celebrate our uniqueness as well as our respect for each other.
Family Day Care Sydney Wide
Story by Educator Support Officer Alix and Educator Nicole
Nicola’s Family Day Care in Erskineville has been meaningfully embedding cultural events such as St Patrick’s Day and Mardi Gras within the educational program over the last couple of weeks, allowing for lots of multifaceted learning.
Educator Nicola says, “I asked families if they could dress their children in green- or rainbow-coloured clothes as we had been looking at rainbows last week (Mardi Gras), and this was a good follow on. I’d already organised some green play dough with gold resources added as treasure, as well as a rainbow stepping stone game. The older children did some ‘Clover’ craft, practicing scissor skills and sticking.
We listened to some traditional Celtic music as our extension to St Patrick’s day, and the children enjoyed the sea shanties: “We are happy and it’s fun music Nicola,” Tilly commented. We also listened to ‘The Rocky Road to Dublin’ by Irish folk music group The High Kings, and to the ‘Theme to Harry’s Game’ by Clannad, which Tilly said made her dance like a “ballerina’.
We then watched a few short YouTube videos on Irish Dancing, and the older girls in the group were fascinated and gave this a go.
We can link these experiences to future investigations into other Traditional music and dance from around the world, including from our children’s heritage. Sonny is from a Uruguayan background, so maybe we can check out The Tango!”
