There has been some excitement at the preschool – The Easter Bunny has been visiting and hiding chocolate eggs in our playground! The teachers’ phones pinged and they found messages from the bunny informing them that the bunny had hidden an egg for each child. The playground was thoroughly searched and delicious eggs found and eaten. The searches continued for days – just in case any eggs had been overlooked!
Easter is celebrated at preschool as it is a significant cultural event for many of our families. Easter is presented to the children as a celebration of new life.
Easter craft has been an extra motivation for the children to develop their fine motor skills – that is, using materials which develop the strength and dexterity of their finger muscles.
Scissors have been introduced into the craft space and the children are working out how to co-ordinate their fingers, hands and eyes to snip paper with this tool.
Cotton buds dipped in paint have been used to decorate Easter Eggs. The children hold the buds with their fingertips while making beautiful marks on the paper.
A range of pencils, textas, paint and crayons are used at preschool every day for creating beautiful artworks. While using these art materials the children develop ideas, stories and finger control as they play.
All educational planning at the preschool is based on a curriculum – The Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) Belonging, Being, Becoming.
The curriculum framework outcomes that relate to our preschool news this month are:
Outcome 2: Children are connected with and contribute to their world. They become aware of their own and other children’s linguistic and cultural events.
Outcome 3: Children have a strong sense of wellbeing. They manipulate equipment and manage tools with increasing competence and skill.
Outcome 5: Children are effective communicators. They use materials to create artworks to express ideas and make meaning.
