Irresistible Ideas for play based learning

For many years now our pre-kinder children have enjoyed a delightful puppet show by Puppeteer Jeanette Drummond of Dove Puppets.

Jeanette is a wonderful story teller who captures the children’s imaginations the moment she ventures behind her screen and raises the curtain to begin the show.

A very popular show we look forward to enjoying with the children at this time of year is Jeanette’s Christmas story  …

… which celebrates Santa Claus  …

…as well as the story of the birth of Jesus.

Jeanette’s enthusiasm and amazing ability to entertain along with her beautiful puppets, theatre, and props, keeps the children’s attention and interest throughout the entire show.

Wisely, Jeanette has a short break during the show where she connects with the children in a hands on session which includes inviting the children to feed her cow…

… and reindeer puppets …

… with miniature hand stitched fruits and vegetables.

She also sings familiar action songs with the children …

… and gets them up for a boogie, in order to get the wriggles out before the second part of the show commences.

With Christmas and the end of the kinder year so close we find that Jeanette’s Christmas story a wonderful way to introduce the children to the Christmas season.

Following our Wild Action incursion, we enlarged some photos of the animals we saw.

We then laminated them and put a velcro dot on the back so we could use them on a felt board.

By adding Australian bush props, the children could make up their own scenarios.

The children then made their own animals …

… popped the dots on the back and used mini felt boards which we had obtained from Reverse Art.

We also used these animals for a “Who am I?” game.

One at a time the children would choose an animal and pop it on the felt board out of sight of the others. They then described the creatures features, such as, “I am cold blooded, I have scoot scales on my tail, I have 66 teeth etc … Who am I?”

The children were so great at this game. They clearly took in a lot of information during our Wild Action visit!

When our Pre-kinder children arrived …

… they replaced the Aussie animals with a bucketload of felt characters and farm animals …

… and had a great time creating their own stories and play scenarios.

One of the activities the children love to do on Grandparents’ Day is to draw, then paint their special visitors’ portraits.

They had a practice doing it with their friends the session before. The subjects sat across from the artists and held an empty frame up in front of their faces.

The artist drew what they could see inside the frame (or their interpretation of inside the frame) in permanent black felt tip pen.

Then they painted it in water colours …

… and they were absolutely beautiful!

Next session it was our  grandparents’ and special visitors’ turn to be artistically represented.

As the water paints dry so quickly, they were able to proudly bear their priceless gifts home when they left.

Some children barely looked at their subject … but just drew away and included their subjects’ whole body.

While other artists carefully studied everything about their subject and included such details as the picture frame, maybe a pair of glasses, even earrings or a freckle …

… even accounting for the details on their clothing.

It is so interesting to see what diverse stages the children are at!

Most years as a follow up to our Wild Action incursion, we take the children to the Healesville Sanctuary on an excursion. It is a wonderful place to see and learn about our unique Australian animals.

One year we bought a set of Aussie animals from the Sanctuary shop and we pop them into all sorts of imaginary play areas, sometimes by themselves and sometimes with other creatures. Here we have used sand as a basis. The sand is great as it can be dry as we have it here, or wet so that the children can sculpt it however they like. Add a few logs, plants and rocks and there you have it!

In keeping with our current interest in Australian animals we taught the children a new version (one we made up ourselves) of an old favorite song.

The original is:

Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree,

merry, merry king of the bush is he.

Laugh kookaburra laugh kookaburra,

Gay your life must be!

Our new version sung to the same tune is:

Crocodile sits in the muddy swamp,

Eating all the children – chomp, chomp, chomp.

Snap crocodile snap crocodile,

Chomp, chomp, chomp, chomp, chomp!

When we were watching a snake from Wild Action crawl back into its bag, the children noticed how it curled itself around and around. After a bit of discussion they decided he had made a spiral shape. As a large group we held hands in a line and made a spiral with our bodies. As we had had a think about where we find spirals in nature, the children were aware that snails have a spiral shell, so we sang this little song as we went around -

“Snail, snail, snail, snail, goes around and round and round.”

We gave the children the opportunity to create their own spirals as a precursor to a science activity we will be doing soon.

It is a lot of cutting which needs to be fairly exact and we were excited at how well they did.

They were very pleased with the end results.

We brought in a big basket of apples and the apple peeler/slicer which most schools seem to have in their classrooms, or are available for about $25 in shops like “House”.

The machine peels off the skin …

… slices the apple into a spiral and decores it.

Besides the obvious gross motor activity, what a lot of maths language we heard – put the apple on, wind it forwards/backwards, it’s cutting around, is it finished, look at the spiral peel/apple …

A wonderful by product of this discovery of spirals is that the children start seeing them all around them …

… eg; a shell which is at the play dough table …

… having fun with magnetic play …

… in the finger paint …

… and how you can make beautiful spirals in slime!

We have had a great incursion to our kindergarten called “Wild Action – the zoo comes to you“. A very animated presenter shows and talks about a selection of Australian animals, reptiles in particular, with a lot of hands on action by the children.

It is a great starting off point for many aspects of the curriculum. There is the obvious discussion about Australian animals and comparison of the different species – mammals, reptiles, birds, amphibians  – and what sets them apart from each other. Our first follow up was putting together a book about the show, the animals we saw and what we were told about them. Reading and discussing it together was a fabulous large group activity, and then the children referred to it individually.

Following that the children drew a picture of their favourite animal (not always the one they held) and labelled it themselves. In most instances the children copied the names, but some are at the stage they can write words by themselves or with a little prompting. School children would probably be able to write more extensively and descriptively.

We added their photos of when they held the animals, then everyone came to the front of the group and read out their own stories.

The children really enjoy story writing and being able to read their stories aloud to their friends.

We have lovely families who are most accomodating at our kindergarten. We have found that if they are in a profession and can offer their services to us, they always do.

This week we were lucky enough to have one of our mums, who is in the police force and stationed at the Ringwood Police Station, give the children a talk about what the job of the police is and on stranger danger.

She was able to bring the police car which she borrowed from our friends at the Croydon Police Station, right into our yard so the children could see the lights and hear the siren.

They all popped into it and had a look, with some lucky children firing up the siren themselves!

The big OOO on the side reinforced the emergency number to ring.

This provides a starting off point for other talks about our helpers in the community.

day one

Living eggs is a wonderful program and opportunity we have been providing for our children at kinder over the past ten years. We order ten fertile eggs from Living Eggs who also provide us with an incubator, brooding box, and feed.

Gerry from Living Eggs arrived on Monday morning and the children watched with much interest as the incubator was carefully set up on a low table where everyone would be able to see what was going on, and the eggs were gently laid inside.

The eggs arrive at nineteen days gestation and are due to hatch at twenty-one days.

cluck, cluck mother hen….

day two

There was great excitement today when several of the eggs began pipping around lunchtime.

Unfortunately, as often happens, babies take a long time to be born so the hatching process moved along rather slowly and had not progressed very far by the time the children left for the day.  But tomorrow promises to be a good day!

seven little chicks go cheep, cheep, cheep …

day three

And what a day! This morning we arrived to find seven little chicks had arrived during the night.  Several freshly hatched, were still covered in dander while others were very nicely dried and fluffed.

Although disappointed not to have seen the chickens hatch, the children thought they must have liked the peace and quite of the night. We think they might be right.

Over the next couple of hours we were kept posted with a running commentary by the children on the progress of the three remaining eggs, two of which the children discovered had begun pipping during the morning.

This generated lots of discussion amongst the children, from how long it would take the chickens to hatch, how tired the chicks would be when they did hatch and interest in looking for the chickens egg-tooth as they pecked away at the shell, to what colour the emerging chicks might be.

By ten o’clock two more chicks had hatched to the delight of everyone. It was such a wonderful experience for the children and a large crowd gathered around to witness the event.

The colour count was now three yellow and six brown with ‘Lucky Last’ egg still to make his arrival.

A few hours later we popped our nine little chicks into the brooder box and waited for ‘Lucky Last’ to hatch.

nine little chicks go peck, peck, peck …

day four

‘Lucky Last’ is still laying in the incubator. We want to giving him one last chance to hatch, so we’ll wait, just in case.

Meanwhile the other chicks are doing well. Their survival instinct is quick to kick in which mean they are already drinking water, scratching and pecking at their food, and staying close to the warmth of the brooder box light.

unlucky last…

day five

Okay …

…  so ‘Lucky Last’ wasn’t so lucky after all. But nine chicks from ten eggs is a great result.

nine little chicks go flap, flap, flap ….

day eight

After spending the weekend with one of our lovely pre-kinder families the chickens arrived back at kinder bigger and cuter than ever.  Their wing feathers have grown… .

…  and they are developing the most adorable little tail feathers too.

The pre-kinder children were very excited to be able to pat and hold the little chicks today. They marveled at the softness of their down and squealed with delight as the chicks perched on their hands. They were so gentle, it was lovely to watch.

nine little chicks go flap, flap, flap …

day nine

The chickens had lots of pats and cuddles again today, this time from our kinder children. They are flapping their wings and perching on the children’s arms.

It is delightful to watch how kind and gentle the children continue to be with the chickens and we heard some great language as they shared them with each other.

One child came up with the idea they should take turns in holding the chicks by counting to ten, then passing it on to another child. The other’s agreed it was a good idea and everyone was very patient waiting for their turn.

Don’t you just love it when the children come up with the best ideas!

nine little chicks go scratch, scratch, scratch …

day ten

Due to the current burst of Melbourne spring weather the chickens have been enjoying some time in the glorious sunshine and fresh air in the playground.

We placed them inside a large tyre in the playground and it gives them the opportunity to scratch around, stretch their wings and legs and peck in the dirt.

They have become a lot stronger and their wing feathers have grown so quickly.  They are flapping around and are able to fly up and off the rim of the tyre, to the children’s delight.

nine little chicks fall fast asleep …

day eleven

It is another amazing day in Melbourne.

This great spring weather means the chickens were back outside for some exercise and attention in the tyre.

Growing so quickly and still being confined to the brooder box means there isn’t a lot of room to flap around so they are thriving on being outside …

… and are so calm and relaxed around the children.

By the time they are returned to their box half an hour or so later, they are exhausted and ready to sleep.

When one decides to lie down, they all flop down together.  It is just too cute!

nine little chicks go home to roost …

day twelve

Today we said goodbye to our nine adorable little chickens.  Two families took some home – four little hens to one family and two hens to another who had a very broody hen waiting for them at home.

Our three remaining chickens went back to Living Eggs with Gerry.

We love it when families are able to take the chickens home as we look forward to seeing photos of them as they grow and getting updates on their progress. We especially like to hear when they start laying their delicious free range eggs…YUM!

A visit to Tinternwood Farm at Tintern Girls Grammar School was a highlight for our pre-kindergarten children recently.

Tinternwood is a lovely farm nestled on twenty two acres, not too far from our kinder.  Its location is really convenient for our families so we were able to meet the parents and children in the car park at an arranged time, and stroll down to the farm together to meet up with Farmer Gavin.

We are very fortunate to have wonderful families who always support our program and make themselves available to accompany their children on our excursions, as we wouldn’t be able to do it without them.

The children and parents all came well prepared for the cold with coats and gumboots but as the weather was absolutely perfect, umbrellas were left in the car…woohoo!

We had discussed with the children the kinds of things we would see and experience at the farm, such as sheep … mud and poop.  Cows … mud and poop. Chickens … mud and poop …  and of course … mud and poop! So, although the ground was relatively free of mud those gumboots definitely came in handy!

The children were so exited as this was the first time many of them had experienced farm life.  The farm is really hands-on and the children were all encouraged by Farmer Gavin, with the help of the Tintern students to get up close and pat the animals and ask lots of questions.

We patted and cuddled day old lambs …

… rubbed the belly of a friendly brown cow …

… handled freshly laid eggs and stroked the silkiest feathers of some of the most unusual chicken we have ever seen.

Spring was certainly in the air on the farm and we were very lucky to witness a ewe giving birth to a set of twins while we were strolling through the paddocks.

It was wonderful and amazing and definitely a highlight for the parents and children…. that and seeking out fresh sheep poop to squish beneath little people’s feet …well naturally… I mean, why else would you wear gumboots to the farm… after all there wasn’t a rain cloud in sight!

The hour and a half we spent at the farm was the perfect length of time for the children to explore the animals, have a bit of a run around and enjoy morning/afternoon tea with Mum or Dad.

We have been visiting Tinterwood Farm for a number of years and as always Farmer Gavin and the students were very patient and attentive with the children, which ensured we all had a wonderful day.

Our visit to ‘Tinternwood Farm’ at Tintern Girls Grammar School has lead to a lot of discussion recently about…

cows and milk …

… chickens and eggs …

… sheep and wool…

… and of course farm machines!

So naturally the children’s interests have revolved around the farm and the animals we encounted.

We’ve read the books Little pink pig, by Pat Hutchins, Old Macdonald had a farm, illustrated by Pam Adams and The chicken book, by Garth Williams.

We’ve sung Old Macdonald had a farm, Five little duck’s, Baa baa black sheep, and I went to visit a farm one day.

We’ve danced to the Scarecrow song and The farmer in the dell as well as stamp, paint, draw, paste, play and puzzle our way through a variety of great farm activities.

Our bush box is currently home to our large farm animals, with plenty of natural materials like tanbark, grasses, logs, rocks, branches and wooden blocks provided for the children to use as props.

The children love the bush box as it is a very social area and they can climb right inside it and become totally involved in their play. If you don’t have a bush box like ours a child’s clam shell style pool would be ideal for this kind of play.

It’s great to be able to bring the outside in, on a hot or rainy day.