Play and Learning Stories
‘HOW THINGS WORK’ AT INTEGRATED CENTRE EDUCATION & CARE SERVICE
Lady Gowrie Integrated Service in the Macquarie Room has been focusing on an inquiry on ‘how things work’. Children have explored this in many ways, including harvesting spinach and carrots grown in the garden, and planting tomatoes to grow and enjoy the fresh tomatoes as they mature.
A pasta machine was also used by the children to learn how it worked and how it could be used to make pasta. It was their turn to prepare spaghetti and fettuccine strips by using flour, eggs, olive oil, and salt, and taking turns passing the dough through the pasta machine to prepare it for cutting.
Once the pasta was ready to be cooked it was taken up to the kitchen to cook ready for lunch. We served Spaghetti Bolognese for lunch, and the children enjoyed their freshly made pasta with bolognese sauce.
During lunch time there was discussion on how the pasta tasted and the texture of the pasta.
BRAVEHEARTS VISIT TO PUNCHBOWL OUTSIDE SCHOOL HOURS CARE SERVICE
Recently, our Punchbowl Outside School Hours Care Service had a visit from Ditto and the team from Bravehearts. LGT is supporting the important training Dittos Keep Safe Adventure Program offered by Bravehearts for children aged between 3 to 8 years. This program focusses on essential personal safety skills using age-appropriate language, song and dance.
During our visit from Ditto, the lion cub, the children were taught about personal safety and the importance of their bodies belonging to themselves. We all danced, sang and laughed our way through the performance as Ditto was sometimes cheeky and played funny tricks on Taylor, the Bravehearts presenter! The children also learnt about cyber safety and things they can do to keep safe on their devices and online. Personal safety is an essential part of our curriculum to help keep children safe and it also aligns with our National Quality Framework (Element 2.2.3).
Prior to this visit, the children and educators had been looking at ways that we can stay safe and exploring resources about this. After the show, Ditto left us with some personal safety activity books that helped the children to identify their ‘safety team’ and also included colouring activities, word games, puzzles and games. Many children were also excited to go home and download the Ditto mobile game onto their iPad’s. Ditto will also be visiting our Youngtown and Mowbray Outside School Hours Care Services over the next few weeks.
To learn more about this important program being offered in LGT education and care services please visit:
https://bravehearts.org.au/education/dittos-keep-safe-adventure-program/
You may also like to view the trailer of the Ditto Show that is presented to children:
Ditto’s Keep Safe Adventure Show
If you have any queries regarding this program, please speak with your Service Manager.
