Over the week of the 21st of August, our centres celebrated book week through the power of dress up, imagination and creativity as our Educators and Teachers developed learning experiences inspired by the books the children read every day.
Papilio Early Learning Baulkham Hills brought the books they read to life with a range of activities drawn directly from some of the children's favourite books.
In the Toddler Room, the Educators ran experiences such as:
Room On The Broom – Potion-making
Making potions allowed the children to experience cause and effect as they tried different liquids to create the biggest eruption by mixing vinegar, water and bicarb.
Hungry Bear - tray with ice being melted with warm water
The Toddlers enjoyed the range of sensory play-based activities, with their favourites being potion-making and ice melting, which promote fine motor as they tipped and poured the warm water on the ice, using the eye droppers to move the warm water and create holes in the ice.
Tiger That Came to Tea Story – tea sensory tray
We read them the story and then allowed the children to try and recall it as they played; this promotes memory recall and dramatic play as they role-played using the materials.
Amanda Brown, Centre Manager at Papilio Baulkham Hills, shared, "I love seeing the children take materials and create something new; during the Tiger that came to tea, the children were playing, and one took the tea bag and started to say "dip dip dip" he concentrated and you could see him remove it and pour the water in the cup "it's hot" he told me as he passed it over "you have to blow on it tea is hot."
Milestones Early Learning Caboolture provided a variety of sensory experiences and themed dress-up days like Superhero Day and Dress like a Pirate Day.
Rhyanne Moy, Centre Manager at Milestones Caboolture, shared, "The children's favourite activity was definitely dressing up as superheroes and hanging from the forte pretending to be Spiderman, our most popular character of the day!
"These activities developed communication, developing a sense of belonging while furthering their own sense of personal identity."
The centre decided to combine both Book Week and Talk Like a Pirate Day, which is usually acknowledged on the 19th of September. Combining a Week of fun and dress up with a day that raises awareness and donations for a wonderful cause, Catherine Morse, Lead Educator in the Senior Studio, shared, "It was an opportunity for children to celebrate a day where we raise awareness for childhood cancer support in a fun way as well as celebrating book week."
Kids Academy Glenmore Parks, Assistant Centre Manager Tracey Inglis shared, "We celebrated book week at Kids Academy Preschool, where we focused on stories in our program, which meant that our school activities were based on one of the children's favourite books, Little Red Riding Hood.
Firstly, Miss Julie read the story to the children, and they then were asked to place Little Red Riding Hood pictures in order of the story.
Once we completed our story, the children went into small groups where they had fun completing some cut-and-paste activities. They had to cut out the characters from the story and place them on the scene. The other children cut out the wolves and stuck them according to size order."
All our centres provide a variety of reading practices for the children in our care and ensure that this invaluable skill is developed during a child's Early Childhood Education Journey.