Term 4 is a very busy term, and some planned activities still continue during outdoor week. Today included a dance session with Heidi from Dancify.  It was the perfect morning to be outside learning a new dance, and Heidi never fails to have the children totally captivated and engaged for the entire session.

The yard was busy all day with small groups of children breaking away to plan their own activities and create their own play.  Some took time to explore alone…

Kites were made….

The rope climbing again proved a major draw card with those children looking to challenge themselves. Our group have truly mastered most of the challenges that our outdoor kindy environment can provide.  They find scaling the poles of the swing frame a breeze…

Today we added an extra ‘monkey pole’.  Like the tree at last weeks bush kindy, it provided so much more than just the physical challenge itself. It was a great time for practicing all those skills that will be such an asset in later life – the social skills to negotiate turn taking and being patient.

The ability to take risks, persevere, resilience, and that wonderful feeling if you were one of the few that actually managed to reach the top,

and accepting that maybe you were one of those that wouldn’t master the challenge today!

The woodwork table gave children the opportunity to explore the use of real tools and the experiment with the techniques that worked….

and those that needed a little more thought….

One group of children spent the morning creating an elaborate flower shop, blooms cut from the kindy garden sat proudly in bunches as scarves billowed in the wind (as the fairies flew past) and created a magical atmosphere.

Even the flowers floating in the pink cherry scented water trough created the most magical shadows that danced enticingly under the water.

A trough of water filled with a stunning assortment of shells to explore saw children pouring, comparing size, colour pattern and shape, counting, sorting, and even listening to the sounds of the ocean as they enjoyed the cool water.

Muddy puddles kitchen lived up to its name as children explored the properties of dirt, water and mud.  They cooked, and poured, and mixed and created….

They carted water and poured it to make a flood…

The willow branches that arrived yesterday were fashioned into a hoop for some old fashioned fun…

and then a few children helped me to strip the leaves from many branches and we worked all afternoon to weave our own basket…

As I sat weaving with a couple of children, one child came up and asked if she could take a photo of me.  She borrowed my camera, and took not only a photo of me,

but quite a few others as well.  Here is a selection of the world through her eyes…

The afternoon was finished with the children chopping a huge bowl of fruit they had bought in to share.  They then threaded it expertly onto skewers to be enjoyed…

And I will leave you with a few other snippets of our day …

Written by Nic