Johnson House
Waratah Room
Story by Centre Director Amy
Over the past few weeks, the children in Johnson House Waratah room have been very busy practicing their Olympics sports in the lead up to an event we held this week.
Practice definitely paid off as the children showed great skills in participating in a range of sports including javelin, egg and spoon races, shot put, long jump, relay races and a tug o’ war! The children and educators cheered everyone on throughout the events with chants, flags and streamers which created a fun atmosphere.
At the end of all the events, the children were presented with a medal to reward them for their great efforts.
This experience not only supported the children to practice fundamental movement skills and enhance their physical development, but it also provided a great way for the children to celebrate their skills and capabilities through persistence and determination, and most of all, to come together to be an active part of our Johnson House community.
Lots of fun was had by all!
Murray House
Wattle Room
Story by Educator Tripti
The children in Murray House Wattle room are preparing for transitions to Murray House Jacaranda room which will happen at the beginning of next year. The children have so much fun when they explore the Murray House Jacaranda space.
A group of children were recently invited to spend the morning in the Jacaranda space and were involved in so many fun experiences. We began by exploring the sensory experiences offered at the mud and sand pit, using pots and pans to cook up a storm. The diggers were also popular in the sandpit and were used to create giant holes! We also worked on our gross motor skills, challenging our bodies as we climbed over the big obstacle course. It was important that we used our upper and lower body strength to move over the tricky A Frame and make it to the climbing ladder. It’s also always nice to sit together with our friends and explore the blocks and building area. We worked on joining the colourful blocks together, making some cool cars!
These visits in the new space are a fantastic opportunity for the transitioning children to explore the space and become familiar with different educators. The children are supported by educators from their own room and are encouraged to engage in a range of different activities offered in the space.
Family Day Care Sydney Wide
Story by Educator Support Officer Alix
Over the past several weeks the children at Suzanne’s FDC in Elanora Heights have been exploring their ideas around the different types of weather that we have been experiencing. So far, they have investigated wind, snow and sunshine.
Today the weather forecast predicted periods of rain, and Suzanne thought this would be a good opportunity for the children to continue their STEAM (science, technology, engineering, the arts, and math) investigations by re-creating their own rain clouds through art.
Outside the clouds looked heavy and dark. The children looked up in the sky and predicted that the rain would be “coming soon”. The children used pipettes filled with red, blue, and yellow food colour to create a line of droplets at the top of their paper. Suzanne explained to them that clouds are made up of made of many very small drops of water, just like they had created on their paper.
Their paintings were then held upright, and the children were asked to spray their paper as much as they wanted and to watch what happened. The children watched as the sprayed dye ran down the page in differing formations, patterns and speeds. Suzanne asked the children, “What can you see happening?” One child looked closely at his moving picture and said “Look! Here’s lightning!”, pointing at a jagged line zig zagging down the page.
Science is the foundation of children’s learning about their world and is also a way of thinking. Encouraging children to ask questions and to observe, predict, and explain their ideas supports the development of scientific inquiry. The skills and processes of inquiry, observation, and exploration are the foundational skills for all sciences, and they help children to develop their curiosity and investigative skills when it comes to exploring new ideas and real-life situations.
Community Playgroups
Story by Playgroup Coordinator Rebecca
As the weather warms up, we will be introducing a lot more water play in our activities at our Community Playgroups. Many children love to play with water, and for many it is a calming activity that helps them to self-regulate when they are feeling anxious, distressed or upset.
Water play is both fun and educational. While pouring and scooping water your child is learning about weight and volume. How many scoops will it take to fill this bucket? Science concepts are explored as children observe items sinking and floating. Social and emotional development occurs when children navigate sharing toys, taking turns and working together—water play is always a popular activity, so there are usually a few children involved at the same time!
The children tend to spend a large part of their playgroup time at any water activities we set up. This complete immersion in one activity, and the long periods of time spent exploring and playing, encourages children to focus. This contributes to increasing their attention span and ability to concentrate.
Sometimes we add ice, food colouring, soap or slime to water play activities. This gives children the opportunity to explore and experience different sensory sensations as they develop their fine motor skills through squeezing and pouring.
