Johnson House
Waratah Room
Story by Educator Andrew
Inspired by our Halloween chats recently, the children In Johnson House Waratah room decided to transform the outdoor kitchen into a spooky apothecary laboratory.
The children gathered all sorts of “ingredients” for our pretend potions: spiders, snakes, cockroaches, rats, eyeballs, tiny skulls, and other creepy crawlies. They carefully sorted these into bowls, ready to create all sorts of elixirs and potions. There were lots of laughs as we began hanging cobwebs from trees and even added some dangling spiders.
As we mixed and stirred, the children shared what they were creating. Some potions were for invisibility, while others could turn adults into children, rats, or spiders. Some chose to make flying potions and spells that could make them grow or shrink. The bubbly mixtures and bright colours added to the Halloween magic and gave us the opportunity to explore colour mixing using syringes and spoons. We had a great time making so many ghoulish creations!
Family Day Care Sydney Wide
Story by Educator Support Officer Alix
This week I visited Santina’s Family Day Care in Haberfield.
A home visit to Santina’s service often involves accompanying her and the children on one of their many routine community outings. On Wednesday we headed to Haberfield Library for the 10.30am ‘Rhyme Time’ session with the Librarian. One of the children was lucky enough to have a surprise visit from his mother who joined us for storytelling and songs. It was lovely to observe the connections that form between parents, educators and children through singing and acting out finger play rhymes together.
Santina has been an Educator with Family Day care Sydney Wide for over 30 years. In this time her educational philosophy has evolved around the importance of community engagement in children’s learning.
As we walked the short route to Raffael’s Bakery and Cakes, which make authentic Italian breads and cakes, we were amazed to see Halloween inspired bread designs, including jack o’lanterns and large black spiders. During the visit to the bakery, Santina purchased some bread rolls and, as a nice treat, the customer service attendants gave the children their own mini dinner roll.
As they began the stroll back to Santina’s service, Santina and the children were greeted by members of the community and other families they know from their routine excursions. These outings and interactions have built such a sense of belonging within the children and are paving the way to building people who can effectively participate within their local and wider communities.
Community Playgroups
Story by Playgroup Coordinator Rebecca
At playgroup this week we have been playing with chia seed slime. Chia seed slime is amazing!
To begin with, it is ‘taste safe’, meaning that it is ok for your child to put a little in their mouths (unless of course they have allergies to the ingredients used). The slime can be used in a multitude of ways and can be an activity that evolves depending on the accessories used with it and the ages and skills of the children playing with it.
This week we used the chia seed slime in a Halloween activity. We added spiders and bugs, along with some playdough accessories. From our pictures you can see that the children are really enjoying manipulating and interacting with the slime using both their hands and resources we added.
One of our parents got in on the act, using an implement to make marks in the slime. Some of the children copied this action, a first step in learning how to write!
While we kept our slime a more natural colour this week, it is possible to colour the slime to suit your purpose (for example, green for ‘toxic turtle sludge’) or to make it your child’s favourite colour.
With this slime the only limit is your imagination! Below is our Chia Seed Slime Recipe for you to try at home.
Ingredients
> 1/4 cup of chia seeds
> 1 3/4 cup of water
> Food Colouring
> 3 to 4 cups of corn starch
Instructions
> Mix the chia seeds and water, then add the food colouring.
> Cover and refrigerate for 8-12 hours or overnight.
> Uncover the mix, then begin adding corn starch about a cup at a time. Mix and continue until you achieve the desired consistency. It should be like regular slime—slimy but easy to take off your hands.
> Store covered in the refrigerator. You will need to add a little water each time you want to re-use it to reactivate the slime.
