Journal Week 10 909 | Early Childhood Educ

Journal and Reflection: Week 10

(15April– 19April 2024)

Big Floor Puzzles

Link to:

National Quality Standards Q 1 Educational program and practice
Australian Teaching Standards 1.1 Physical, social and intellectual development characteristics of the students
Australian Teaching Standards 4.1 Support student participation
Australian Teaching Standards 4.2 Manage classroom activities
Australian Curriculum. Visual and Media Arts
EYLF Learning Outcome 4. Children are confident and involved learners
EYLF Learning Outcome 5. Children are effective communicators
Play pedagogy: Guided play, free play, Purposefully-framed play
Teaching strategies: Intentional, Sustained shared thinking, Facilitating

In our latest activity week, children embarked on an exciting voyage of cognitive discovery and teamwork as they solved large floor puzzles featuring their most favourite dinosaurs. This activity allowed children to involve themselves in a fascinating and enjoyable work, and matched significant educational requirements and learning objectives.

This exercise, which aligns with the National Quality Standards and Australian Teaching Standards, was created to assist children' physical, social, and cognitive development while encouraging their engagement. We attempted to establish an encouraging environment for children to pursue themselves intellectually while also developing collaboration and communication skills through supervised and strategically framed play.

The children's joy was evident as they dived into the realm of dinosaurs with the puzzle pieces. With each component they assembled, they began on a journey of exploration, sharing tales and knowledge about their favourite dinosaurs, for example triceratops and dinosaur bones. This cooperative narrative not only improved the solving challenges experience, but it also encouraged good communication among the children.

Throughout the session, children displayed enthusiasm as well as engagement as they collaborated to solve the challenges. Educators helped children overcome barriers and develop a sense of accomplishment by using intentional methods of instruction such as persistent collaborative thinking and support.

This exercise also corresponded to the Australian Curriculum's Visual and Arts in Media line, since children connected with visual images of dinosaurs and utilised their imagination to find solutions and assemble the puzzles. As educator, I understand the value in offering the possibilities for children to get involved in intentional and meaningful learning activities that support either cognitive and emotional growth. By integrating structured and purposefully-framed play, we strive to encourage children to become comfortable and engaged learners who are excellent communicators and cooperative teammates.

Dinosaur Shadow Drawing

Link to:

National Quality Standards Q 1 Educational program and practice
Australian Teaching Standards 1.1 Physical, social and intellectual development characteristics of the students
Australian Teaching Standards 4.1 Support student participation
Australian Teaching Standards 4.2 Manage classroom activities
Australian Curriculum. Visual and Media Arts
EYLF Learning Outcome 4. Children are confident and involved learners
EYLF Learning Outcome 5. Children are effective communicators
Play pedagogy: Guided play, free play, Purposefully-framed play
Teaching strategies: Intentional, Sustained shared thinking, Facilitating

The children's creative path of exploration with dinosaur shadow drawing gave our outdoor learning activity a fascinating twist. Taking advantage of the environment's sunlight, children participated in an imaginative endeavour that definitely stimulated their curiosity and promoted their cognitive and creative growth.

This activity, which is in line with the Australian Teaching Standards and the National Quality Standards, was created to encourage students' active engagement while fostering their intellectual, social, and physical growth. Our goal was to create a stimulating environment where children could explore and learn through carefully planned play and supervised exploration.

Setting their dinosaur objects on a piece of paper, children concentrated with excitement as the bright sunlight projected shadows surrounding their toys to the paper. Equipped with pencils, they sketched the contours of these shadows, carefully retaining the fine details and forms of the dinosaurs. The procedure not only improved the quality of their fine motor abilities, but also supported them to pay attention to elements of nature such as light and shadow.

As the children investigated the shadows from various perspectives, they participated in experienced discussion, sharing their findings and predictions about the shapes that resulted from the sunlight. Through the process of intentional instruction, educators allowed children to make discoveries with positioning the toys for adjusting the shadows, developing greater comprehension of light and perspective.

Children's visual representation and study of artistic skills made this exercise also connected with the Visual and Media Arts stream of the Australian Curriculum.

As educators, we were thrilled by the children's passion and ingenuity as they engaged in this particular outdoor educational adventure. We hope that by providing opportunities for deliberate and meaningful investigation, we may help children become confident and engaged learners who are good communicators and thoughtful individuals. This project demonstrated the ability of outdoor learning to inspire curiosity, creativity, and a strong connection to the natural world.

Dinosaur Craft

Link to:

National Quality Standards Q 1 Educational program and practice
Australian Teaching Standards 1.1 Physical, social and intellectual development characteristics of the students
Australian Teaching Standards 4.1 Support student participation
Australian Teaching Standards 4.2 Manage classroom activities
Australian Curriculum. Visual and Media Arts
EYLF Learning Outcome 4. Children are confident and involved learners
EYLF Learning Outcome 5. Children are effective communicators
Play pedagogy: Guided play, free play, Purposefully-framed play
Teaching strategies: Intentional, Sustained shared thinking, Facilitating

In our dinosaur craft exploration, children transformed ordinary materials into spectacular dinosaurs, fostering creativity and developing fine-motor abilities. This hands-on strategy allowed for creative self-expression while also meeting critical educational objectives and learning outcomes.

This exercise was carefully created to assist the children' physical, social, and cognitive growth while also encouraging involvement and engagement. We intended to create a loving atmosphere for children to develop their creativity and improve their fine motor abilities by using carefully structured play and focused teaching methodologies.

Children excitedly jumped into the craft project, armed with tissue roll cardboard, paints, paper, and templates for the dinosaur bodies. They used scissors to carefully cut out the templates and tissue roll cardboard to build the dinosaur components. This method not only improved their fine motor abilities, but it also taught them to follow directions and solve problems on their own.

While kids put together their dinosaurs, they were chatting away with their friends, exchanging thoughts and working together to decide on the layout and colour scheme. Through prolonged shared thought and facilitation, educators enabled children to demonstrate their artistic talents while also developing excellent communication and cooperation abilities.

Children put finishing touch to their dinosaurs by applying paint to them, allowing them to show their creativity and imaginative vision in a new way. They expressed confidence and an interest in their learning journey by proudly displaying their crafts and eagerly sharing their achievements with others. This project provided a rich learning experience that encouraged imagination, fine motor abilities, and efficient communication.

I am motivated by the children's passion and ingenuity, and we are dedicated to giving them with additional opportunity to participate in intentional and meaningful learning activities. By embracing supervised and purposefully-framed play, we can help children become comfortable and engaged learners who are good communicators and creative thinkers.