This Week at the The Infants’ Home 21 October to 25 October

Fizzy painting and colour mixing

This week the educators in Johnson House toddlers followed up on children’s emerging learning and interests from a previous experience colour mixing experience, using colourful vinegar and baking soda to create ‘fizzy paintings’. The children mixed different colours together to create new colours, and they also observed the ‘fizz’ reaction. The children showed great enthusiasm in this experience, using their fingers to touch the fizz and to mix the colours. Through this activity the children were developing their sensory motor skills and exploring interesting colour facts.

At Robinson House the children are exploring feelings, emotions and relationships through art, sensory experiences, storytelling, and drama. The children have been working with coloured stones to sort “mixed up” feelings into different jars, and intentionally using colours to represent and discuss feelings and emotions through drawing and painting. Most recently the children have been exploring emotions with their bodies and voices during drama group. We have been playing a few games that provide opportunities for the children to revisit situations while adopting different moods or orientations. One such game is singing the rhyme ‘Boom Chicka Boom’, where the children choose different voices to chant with. Suggestions have included happy, excited, jealous, calm, windy, sad, and angry. Another game is ‘Banana Custard’, where the children perform a short script over and over in different styles.

Social and emotional regulation and literacy are some of the most significant skills children are developing during the early years. Dramatic play allows children to try on all kinds of big and scary emotions and feelings in a safe, structured and playful space.

Recently at Rae’s Family Day Care service at Allambie, the children were exploring rolling, and what better way to get their fine motor skills working than by making biscuits for afternoon tea!

After a quick measure, pour and mix the biscuit dough was ready to go, and the children enjoyed rolling the biscuit dough into balls, and then flattening them with a fork. In no time at all the biscuits were cooked and ready to go and were eaten for afternoon tea.

This quick and easy learning experience was a great way to engage the children with scientific concepts such as at how heat changes the soft dough into biscuits in the cooking process, as well as being a great way to get those little fingers moving and manipulating different textures.

This week the children and families at the Red Bug Playgroup in Ashfield Park enjoyed a visit from Kindifarm in celebration of Children’s Week (19–27 October). The children and families had a great time meeting, petting and feeding the friendly farm animals.