We have been very fortunate in Kindy Gold to have received some tadpoles from one of our families. The children have demonstrated wonder, awe and curiosity, whilst exploring and learning about these little mysterious creatures. We have recently seen one of our tadpoles change into a frog! On our Apple TV we listened to and learnt a song called “The Tadpole Blues” by Peter Combe. Here is the link if you would like to hear this song:
Tadpole Blues
We have been observing and examining our hyacinth bulb for a couple of months now and we have been rewarded for our patience, as it is finally blooming! It smells divine! It started its life with us as a single bulb, then we observed its growth with small roots spurting under the bulb. The roots slowly grew and entwined themselves around the bottom of the jar, creating an amazing underwater scene. Our anticipation of the next stage made us regular spectators of the jar. Then we observed the growth of a tiny green shoot. The shoot grew taller and taller and finally….the beautiful flowers blossomed. Through this simple experiment, the children learned about the root system of plants, parts of a plant, caring for living things and that living things including plants, require time and most importantly love to grow!
In maths we measured the length of our footprints and that of our mystery visitor’s footprint too! We discussed and compared whose print was longer and shorter. A number of children took the opportunity to explore colour patterns. We did some sorting, grouping, tallying and counting as we conducted a survey of the types and colours of hair of children in Kindy Gold. It was an interesting exercise as we physically moved around the room and grouped ourselves according to hair colour.
Did you know that we have a ‘lost Teddy’ in our classroom? The children decided to create a poster to see if others in our community could help to identify the Teddy bear’s owner. Together, we discussed and decided on what information would be best to include in the poster. With basic shapes as a guide, the children set about drawing the ‘lost teddy’ as accurately as they could, following the traits that were carefully described by the class. Some of the posters are up on our windows.
Do you know who this bear belongs to?
“Where Does It Come From?” Our conversations continue into where our food comes from and how it is grown and produced. This interactive game on our whiteboard, provides children with the opportunity to consolidate their learning by matching the corresponding food items to their original provider. For example, the producer may be a cow and the children have to determine which produce originates from this animal.
Last Friday afternoon, following our library session, we seized the moment and wandered across to the Pre-Primary bush area to enjoy the beauty and nature of the gorgeous yellow wattle tree. There was also another purpose for our visit. Amongst the wattle tree were some amazing and intricate little creatures, buzzing about busily. Yes, there were bees! We have begun our topic on bees and honey! The children soaked up the sunshine whilst observing the bees in action. We watched from a safe distance as the busy bees worked hard to collect their nectar and pollen. It was a good first hand experience that will provide a foundation for further learning on this topic throughout the term.
Check out our latest group project: Our ‘papier mache’ surprise object. It was so much messy fun as we began to layer it with newspaper and thick, squishy glue. What a great sensory activity! Can you guess what it is we are constructing?
