What’s been happening the Kookaburra room
We have been busy in the Kookaburras classroom the last few weeks! The children’s interests are evolving and we are slowly moving away from Fire-Fighter and Bird inspired play. However, the children are still being immersed in a number of different experiences as we talk about and practice using our self-help skills, think about emotions, kindness and further develop our empathy, as well as develop a sense of belonging to the class. Along with this, the children are continuing to develop their communication skills. We are noticing as the children become more and more competent with this, the stronger their problem solving skills and their ability to negotiate with one another is becoming.
Since packing away the Styles Street Fire Station, the ‘home corner’ in the Kookaburras classroom has evolved into a camping site. The children have been using toy barbeques, tents and sleeping bags to become engaged in this new imaginative play.
A few weeks ago, the children also noticed snails in the back playground. Since then, the children have been interested in exploring snails and are asking questions and hypothesising answers about them. This type of research based enquiry is a strong indicator of the children’s enthusiasm to learn and think deeply about the things they are interested in. As the children and educators work together to explore snails, we hope the children will be able to discover answers to their questions and practice using a number of different skills to further develop their sense of responsibility towards other creatures.
Another topic which the Kookaburra’s children have been deeply engaged in over the past month is making healthy food choices. The educators have been encouraging the children to engage in conversations regarding healthy foods and strong bodies. Along with this, a number of food related experiences have been set up for the children to engage in, these have included – making fruit kebabs, orange juice, still life painting and fruit drawing. We hope that by doing this, the children will be more willing to try a variety of foods and find that they really enjoy eating healthy options. If you would like to continue this learning at home or share any experiences with us, please let us know!