Magic moment: Bruce Ridge Early Childhood Centre
Launching children’s minds into outer space
Almost every child has a period when they are amazed by all things outer space, and this makes for a great learning opportunity within our early childhood centres.
In the Kurrajong room at our Bruce Ridge Early Childhood Centre (BRECC), Educators recently observed preschoolers turning the pages of a book called ‘Give Me Some Space!’. They were asking incredible questions, like:
• Why is it so dark in space?
• How big are the planets?
• Why is the Sun hot?
• What do you think is the colour of Earth? (To which Arthur responded, ‘It’s a blue; I saw it in a picture.’)
Taking advantage of the children’s interest, the Educators talked about the planets during group time, discussing their different sizes, shapes, and textures. The Educators taught the children about the moon and stars, as well as how planets rotate around the sun and why we have day and night.
After group time, the Educators and children decided to make planets from coloured paper and tape. It was wonderful to watch as the children used a range of colours and strategies to create their planets.
A few children worked as a team to cover a ball with their chosen paper. This was a beautiful display of togetherness, with some children helping others use their scissors properly and teaching each other how to cover and stick the paper. This experience gave the children the chance to communicate with each other and work towards a common goal, thus developing confidence in their abilities.
And through it all, there was lots of laughter and giggles.
The enthusiasm for outer space did not end there. Later in the day, the children asked to paint planets. Educators obliged and provided photos of planets for the children to use as reference images. The children were really engaged and challenged their skills as they tried different methods to make their creations look like those in the photos.
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Patsy is a lifelong storyteller and a creative spirit. For nearly 20 years, she was a storyteller at early childhood education centres, captivating children with her tales – sometimes using handmade props to bring them to life, other times sharing stories she wrote herself. Creativity has always been second nature to her, and when she’s caught up in a project, time flies by often leading to late nights. Though she recently stepped away from storytelling, she continues her creative pursuits, including a quilt project through Involve (stay tuned!).