Teaching social skills

In a play-based environment, teaching social skills forms a large part of my day. One way to do this was to have a group discussion with the children about "hard" and "soft" words. What words hurt our feelings and make us feel sad? What words make us happy? I used sharp pieces of bark and soft cotton wool as a tangible way to teach hard and soft language.

It's Space Week!

Space themed sensory trough

Pretending to be astronauts! Rocketship role-play area

How do craters form on the moon?

Smash the asteroids!

Numeracy: Counting alien eyes

Finger Gym: threading pipe cleaners through the asteroid

Literacy: forming space words

Space exploration table

Space exploration table

Space exploration table

Space exploration table

Loose parts play: create a constellation

Star themed playdough

Finger Gym: Can you pick out all the stars?

 Space Week is always a very exciting week in the Kinder Room. A week long (usually more!) of rich learning experiences. In 2022, Space Week included many opportunities for play such as role play, literacy, numeracy, Finger Gym and sensory play. In addition to all the above activities, my colleagues and I also set up an obstacle course for "astronaut training", an asteroid hunt in the outdoor yard space, listening to the planet song and painting planets. It was such a fun, project-based learning experience for all of us!

Ocean themed sensory space

 As an extension of the story "The Rainbow Fish", my Kinder children were very interested in sea animals and so my colleague and I set up these lovely ocean-themed sensory troughs. These play spaces are great for children to explore and interpret at their own pace. I love how there is no right or wrong answer in how to use these play set-ups!

Finger Gym

Placing corks in an egg carton using tri-grip tongs

 As a result of the aftermath of Covid-19 lockdowns in Melbourne, when children returned back to Kindergarten, I noticed that many of them lacked the fine motor skills that they would have otherwise developed. Therefore, in response, I implemented a program called "Finger Gym" that focused on fine motor development, hand-eye coordination, scissor skills and concentration. Finger Gym was also a valuable pathway towards developing finger muscles and pre-writing skills.

I love using tongs and recycled materials for finger gym!

Threading straws through pipe cleaners

Threading wool through straws

Using tongs to place bobbins into a recycled tray

What's magnetic?

 A great way to incorporate science into the Kindergarten classroom is to set up experimental activities. This table invites children to pick up a stick magnet and figure out which items are magnetic and which ones are not. Children began to sort magnetic items on one side and non-magnetic items on the other.

Easter fun

 It's that time of the year again when the Easter Bunny comes to visit. Here is a table activity for children to decorate an easter egg using loose parts such as colourful sticks, bottle caps and pebbles. Patterning galore!

Another Easter activity I implemented was to re-create colourful patterns using pom poms and triangular tongs in an egg carton.

My Group Time Area

A small peek into my group time area in my Kindergarten classroom. I do most of my intentional teaching on this carpet. On my wall I have:

- a visual schedule. This facilitates the children's understandings of how their day unfolds at Kinder and gives them a routine to follow and predictability each day.

- a picture of 'Suzie'. Suzie is a cartoon character on the wall who models whole body listening for the children. Eyes on the teacher, legs crossed, hands in your lap, lips together. 

- a daily calendar. This develops early concepts of time such as the days of the week, months and seasons.

- a list of teacher's helpers. This is a rotating list so that everyone gets a turn at taking responsibility.

Pedagogy behind group time - group time is a space for children to collaborate, share ideas and learn as a group. Therefore, ideally I have always wanted to convert group times into 'circle time' as I feel that the children should not be looking towards the teacher as the only source of information. I believe we are all equal as we learn together and so a circle format facilities equality and sharing of information with each other. This was really hard to do in my Kindergarten classroom simply due to logistics. I had 33 children and no clear space for such a big circle!