Now that the children are fully settled back into Kindy and feeling comfortable and secure in their familiar surroundings, we are seeing their thinking and learning really take off. The play has become more complex, and therefore their learning has become more complex, because their social skills have improved, they are able to communicate their ideas with each other more effectively, they know where and how to get to the resources they need for their play, they are able to regulate their emotions more affectively so they are getting along better, and their physical skills have improved so they are able to construct, create, and move their bodies in more complicated ways.

It is, unfortunately, a common trap for adults to think of children’s play as “just play” and to dismiss children’s thinking and behaviour as unimportant and immature. But from our perspective as professionals whose business it is to understand how young people learn, it is truly fascinating and gratifying to observe these very young people developing and expressing their thinking and understandings. It is amazing, for example, to hear someone for the first time reflecting on their learning – “I tried it that way but it didn’t work, so now I’m trying it this way”, or to acknowledge their social responsibility by organising their friends and themselves to take turns. These are not little things, they and the thousands of other developmental and learning milestones that we scaffold and witness every day complex behaviours that are fundamental to life as an active citizen.

Bush Kindy

Even though we haven’t been able to visit our Bush Kindy by the creek site this term, we have been able to enjoy some wonderful outdoor learning experiences with Tracy. Tuesdays and Thursdays have become times to really look forward to for the children - fun mornings when Tracy brings real tools, so we can learn new things and make stuff that is super cool – like ladders, a zip line, and spiderwebs that are strong enough to hold our weight. Through these wonderful outdoor experiences children are learning to stick at a task. Control their bodies in new and complex ways, plan and carryout a project, work together, share and take turns, assessing risk and build a strong sense of confidence and an attitude of “I can do it”. We are really looking forward to being able to walk down to Bush Kindy by the Creek next term, to really be in the bush, and to be self-reliant in that each child needs to carry everything that they need in their backpack. Tracy has some beautiful experiences planned for when we are there.

Arts project

We have been given the opportunity to participate in an exciting project run by Barbara Piscitelli a.m. Barbara has been collecting children’s art work since the 1990s and has an extensive collection in the Queensland State library. In this arts project, Barbara hopes to collect the perspectives of children in the COVID-19 pandemic through their paintings and drawings. Over the last few weeks, we have been having some interesting discussions with the children about coronavirus including what we think it looks like, how people can catch it, and how we can get rid of it. Their responses have been enthusiastic and extremely imaginative – Barbara has had a look at some of the work our children have done so far, and is very interested in their thinking. Children absorb so much from conversations, the news and what is happening around them. They can have very complex ideas about how/what/why things happen. Listening to and valuing children’s perspectives and understandings supports children to become confident, active citizens as they share, adapt and develop their view of the world.

Play from big book

In other play....

- Responding to some examples of aboriginal art during national reconciliation week

- playing doctors and vets – Kev giving an medical rituals combined with imaginative role-play.

- We have learned 30 Yuggerabul words so far. It is a time of day that many children look forward to and will keenly peek behind the board to see what words will be learning that day. We have been using a Yuggerabul words throughout the day – for example, on a really windy day a couple of weeks ago we referred to that cheeky “buran” that kept sending our paint pots, glue and all the collage swirling and wailing around the kindy, and making a bit of a mess! This led to a discussion about the wind and how we can tell where it’s coming from. “We could make a wind flag”. Where does the cold air come from? “New South Wales”, thought one friend, or maybe Antarctica.

- This week we introduced the fire pit at Bush kindy time. Tracy discussed with the group the topic of “what’s good and useful about fire?” “It can heat you up”, “it’s good to cook things on”, “you can roast marshmallows”. Together we talked about how to stay safe around the fire – stay 1.2 m away Tracy showed them with a tape measure and they sat in a circle the safe distance. When you want to move away from the fire, walk away from the fire not towards it! What can we cook on our fire? Some children had some yummy and interesting suggestions – chicken, strawberries, sausages, popcorn copper apples with cinnamon, cow, cabbage leaves and Hulu me.

- Taking a trip – bus and train play. Chairs were collected and carried to make a long bus which soon became a train. Tickets were sold, money was paid and you could even buy a coffee. Passengers happily got on and off, or simply stayed on to enjoy Relaxing journey with lots and lots of stops.

- We’ve been having fun with our shadows in the winter sun, noticing how we can control them with our bodies movement. Humorous, fascinating and science.

- Exploring police and working together in small groups with loose parts to make fabulous constructions such as wooden tents.