This week we have finally been given a break from the cold!!! With beautiful mild nights the majority of children have abandoned the Wii,
computer and indoors and chosen instead to play outdoors.
This week the D&D players have all collaborated together
and designed a map of the world that their players are adventuring through.
This project asked the children to imagine different environments, collaborate
and work together, they developed keys to indicate different features of the
map and design cities that certain races (elves, humans, orcs, etc) live in and
decide how their environment influences those races. Fabulous games have been initiated by our young people this week. Outside, forty-forty has been popular when it gets dark and the wall game (which is a soccer related game) has come around again. It seems that it gets remembered about twice a year and has been an Eden Hills game that has been going for many years.Dianne has bought some beautiful fabrics and craft gear this week to fuel more craft and art projects. The sewing has progressed from simple square pillows to more intricate shapes like moustaches, love hearts and stars. We have plans to remake some of the pillows in the Long Room with the designs of the students. We believe that the students should help us in creating and developing their own environment as this will build a stronger sense of belonging and responsibility. This is another reason that we encourage the children to join in when we make milos, plant new vegetables and herbs and display artwork around OSHC.
Sarah has spent time playing cricket and teaching some of the very young children to kick a footy. It is very pleasing to see that more and more girls are joining cricket and football games and trying it out!
Rayman review by B.H.S.
I like Rayman because it has lots of various levels and
areas. You can choose characters and you can fight each other to test your guy.
This game is for four players. It is a game that I like because it has lots of
my favourite things!
The Importance of
Play
Play is an important aspect of children’s time at OSHC. Play
is an essential component of children’s development. It can help develop social
skills as children negotiate, practise and interact with different roles. Often
we observe groups of children role playing classrooms with one child being the
teacher and others being well behaved or mischievous students, this can be seen
as the students examining different roles and making sense of them. Play is
also regularly an active process and thus allows children to develop gross and
fine motor skills. For more information about the importance of play visit
Scholastic.
KidsMatter
If you haven’t already heard about KidsMatter, let us introduce
you to it. KidsMatter is a mental health and well-being initiative for primary
schools in Australia. But it is also a wonderful resource for both educators
and families alike. The website provides articles, videos, stories and links to
services available in Australia to help develop and support the mental health
and well-being of children. But if you are a Facebook user check out their Family Page to keep up to date with their wonderful resources.
