Irresistible Ideas for play based learning

Here we are at the beginning of the year again, with our eager students coming from three year old kinder into “big kinder”! It is lovely to see them again, and they seem so to have shot up over the Christmas break. We start them off in half groups for the first few sessions so they can reorientate themselves back into kinder mode and the new children to our center can get to know their new surroundings, friends and teachers in a relaxed manner.

We have set up lots of imaginary play areas …

and irresistible activities …

that are great for small groups of children.

When you have a hunt in your storeroom, it is surprising how many games you may have tucked away that you haven’t used for a long time for various reasons.

We found one when we were tidying up before Christmas which we hadn’t used in a while and thought it would be good adapted for one player, whereas in the past we have had it set up for more.

This time we put it on a small table and added a variety of different coloured pieces – the original discs, along with little owls from one bingo game and clowns from another.

They added a new element to the activity as the children could now mix and match the different items of corresponding colours.

We kept the dice from the original game, with colours on each face, so the children could use it to select the colours if they wanted to …

while others simply preferred the freedom to make their own choices.

Simple, quiet and engrossing, play based learning!

As we’ve mentioned before Reverse Art in Ringwood  is a wonderful recycling depot you can visit and pick up the most incredibly useful stuff.

Small off cuts of dressed pine is always something we seek out …

… as the children love to use the big hammers and nails.

Some of the children have very specific ideas about the things they want to make but mostly it’s just about the nails, the wood and the banging!

It’s great for the children’s hand eye co-ordination and although occasionally they do miss the nail and bang their fingers … it’s important for them to learn limitations. They very quickly learn how hard to hit the nails for them to penetrate the timber and to watch what they are doing at all times or … ooooouch!

The children like to jazz up their creations with different bits and pieces they collect from the invention table.

A group of children asked if they could hammer things onto a small log they found in the garden. They often go back to the log and add more decorations to it. We love to see the children working co-operatively together on projects.

We decided a number of years ago that it would be nice to have the children create group projects we could display for everybody to enjoy.

Once, after we had read the delightful story of elmer by David McKee the children began creating beautiful patchwork pictures by cutting up squares of brightly coloured paper and pasting them to pictures they had drawn themselves.  This gave us the idea of having the children create a group mosaic picture for display, so we introduce them to the basics of mosaic art.

We have lots of bits and pieces in tubs we have collected over the years so the children set out to gather up objects to use for our project. Sorting through everything was great for their fine motor skills as they found items like corks, bottle tops, tiles and glass stones as well as some very tiny beads, buttons and sequins.

We had two pieces of ‘mdf’ given to us by one of our crafty mums which was perfect for the project. We used PVA glue to stick the decorations onto the timber as it is strong and dries colourless.  Some children preferred to use a small brush or cotton bud for the glue while others enjoyed the sensation of using their fingers, and what fun they had in peeling the dried glue off their hands and fingers afterwards.

We explained to the children the idea was to position the objects close to each other, covering as much of the board as they could and boy they did a fantastic job!

Every body got involved and the result was absolutely beautiful. The children really enjoyed being part of a team and took great pride in what they had achieved together as a group. The mosaics are now on permanent display in our room.

Following the success of our mosaic project we invited to children to create a series of mosaic pavers.

You can see how we used the pavers in our ‘make it irresistible – with a hush garden‘ post on January 11th.

Our invention table is one of our most popular play areas, where the children are free to create whatever their hearts desire!

We keep it well stocked with recycled bits and pieces we’ve collect over time like cardboard, boxes, assorted papers, various types of containers, timber, ribbons and wool etc… as well as things our wonderful families and friends collect and send along for us to use. One man’s junk is another man’s treasure and all that jazz….so true, so true!

The area has a large table at which the children can create and they are encouraged to explore the invention table whenever they need supplies to add to any of our other activities throughout the day.

We have found through experience that by keeping the supplies in easily accessible tubs, in a locker we designed, the children are able to choose the tubs they need, use their contents and return them to the shelves when finished … Okay! well, that is what we encourage them to do anyway!

We are constantly adding to and changing the items in the tubs …

… depending on what we have available.

The children are encouraged to ask an adult for help when they need us to use things like the guillotine, stanley knife or large scissors but they always have access to tools and supplies like the following:

And of course if what they want or need isn’t there, all they have to do is ask and we will endeavour to get it for them or come up with a suitable replacement.

We all know how important fine motor construction is for childrens fine motor skills, but we find it is also great for their social skills.

We keep all of our construction materials in a set of lockers, where the children can access them at any time.

They are clearly marked with photos, so the children can identify the contents and know which tub to return the construction to when they have finished playing.

The children like nothing better than to bring boxes of construction down onto the mat to play with their friends.

We have learned through experience that if things aren’t in view of the children, chances are they won’t think about it…like they say “you can’t miss what you haven’t got”.  So if you’ve got it, let them know by making it available for them to choose when ever they please.

Children can’t have enough of this type of play… it’s physical, cognitive, social, fun, play based learning!

We love music – listening, moving and dancing to it, singing along with it, relaxing by it, playing instruments to accompany it, and in particular we love to make our own music.

An instrument we made with the children last year has been in constant use in our music corner and the children never tire of playing with it.

It began as a science experiment when we were talking to the children about the way sound travels through air.  We filled four identical bottle with different levels of water.

The result being, the more water the bottle contained, the less air it held and the deeper the sound it resonated, less water in the bottle means more air, resulting in a higher pitch being produced. We use a wooden drumstick to tap out the different sounds.

The children commented on how similar the sounds of the musical bottles are to the sounds made by our very popular  marimba, a wonderful instrument Sherry’s Uncle Bill made for his grandchildren some years ago and has (fortunately) made its way to us at kinder!

Some children found it quite difficult to determine which bottles created the higher and deeper pitches but older children might be better able to distinguish the difference and line them up from deepest pitch to highest.

Due to its constant use we have had to replace the liquid in the bottles over time and using different coloured water simply adds a new dimension to a favourite instrument.

We like to provide the children with a selection of bottles, glasses or jars, a tub of water and a funnel, and allow them to make their own music by filling the containers with as much or as little water as they want. The more containers they have the greater the variety of pitch they can create.

Simple science is music to the ears!

The children really enjoy hitting a ball with a bat, it’s a great gross motor exercise as well as being good for their hand-eye co-ordination, but as a hitting partner is not always available, we came up with a partner who just loves hanging around!

As we find that the balls tend to end up over the fence fairly often, we decided that a ball that couldn’t go anywhere would be a really good idea.

We found an old sock and tied it to some strong cord then hung it from a tree where it is always ready for play.

The children can either play by themselves or with a friend.

This pink ball is a actually a swing but only when we attach it to our swing frame.

When it hangs above the decking from the tree the children understand it is not to be sat on but is for pushing and catching. Again it is great to play with on your own or with a group of friends.

Sometimes we hang up a large leather ball which they can kick or punch instead!

Over the years we’ve set our room up in many different and interesting ways.

Big changes are made before the children start the year however despite this, we try not to change the look so much that the children returning from last year don’t recognise the place.

The children’s lockers are kept in the same place each year and although the activities may be in a slightly different space we always have our core play stations such as the invention table, writing area, puzzles, library, snack table, block play, sensory play, creative activities and lots and lots of dramatic and imaginary play areas.  Changes made throughout the year are more of an extension to the play space than a total change.

By adding things like umbrellas and hanging curtains …

or netting …

we can enhance the look of the area …

and create lovely little play spaces …

where one …

or a group of children can play.

Children love private, cosy places to play so positioning trolleys on angles is great for creating little cubby effects …

and quiet out of the way spots.

Low partitions are also a great idea .

Don’t forget to use the top of the block trolley as a play surface.

It’s the ideas size and height for imaginary play!

Including plenty of natural materials to the play area is really important…

and positioning the play on low surfaces …

including the floor is ideal.

By simply brightening up a wall with seasonal and interesting pictures we are able to create some really irresistible visual areas …

while large posters …

and murals …

are wonderful enhancements!

::: make it irresistible

One thing we don’t do is create clutter!!!!  The kindergarten room is already full of stimulation with adults and children forever creating noise and being constantly on the move, so something you’ll notice about our room is that we don’t clutter it up with lots and lots of unnecessary stuff hanging from windows walls and ceilings.

While striving to create an exciting, irresistible space which reflects a friendly and inviting atmosphere we believe it is very important to leave areas free from distraction … places where the children can rest their eyes, and their minds!!!

How many times have you successfully asked your children to sit or stand in a circle on your square mat?  Chances are it often creates confusion and muddle … right?

For years we struggled with making circles on a square mat and then one day it occurred to us … either we should sit and stand in a square or … get a round mat.  So! we got a round mat!

We had it made it two halves, in different colours to add a bit of interest, which means we can split it in half if we so choose and we are able to instruct the children to sit or stand in one half when the need arises. The line down the middle has also come in handy at different times during action songs, mat play, games etc.,

The colours are great, the shape is great and it’s ever so practical … we love it!

Here’s a project you might like to do in the holidays.

These miniature wooden houses are made from scraps of pine timber which we picked up from Reverse Art in Ringwood.

We painted them with craft paint, each side a different colour, and using a small brush dabbed roof tiles on the sloped top.  We painted a variety of shapes for the windows and doors with the black detail being added later with permanent markers.

The children enjoy these little houses everywhere at kinder …

in all kinds of imaginative play spaces  …

… where ever their imaginations take them.

We also use them to jazz up other areas around the room.

They make terrific little props!

Ask builder parents for ‘dressed pine timber’ off cuts then sand the rough edges to avoid splinters!