Settling In!

Our afternoon sessions have  been absolutely delightful this term and the most significant happenings is allowing time for our children to settle in.   The children sometimes arrive not sure they want to stay or not and for particular child when he saw the sandpit and a friend in there was no looking back and the smile was there all afternoon.

Chase likes to begin his day at the building frame and he always has an idea in mind. Today he  wanted to climb up so he attached a ladder to help him climb.  

Once he was up he then had a fantastic idea to jump down on the stones and this brought others into the game. "I can do a trick one!" he exclaims leading the way!   Kia kaha ki tāu mahi  - Keep it up!

Chase loved taking the lead by creating challenging jumps and then later he returned to play on his own with the ropes which aroused our curiosity.

He  tied them around the bars of the jungle gym and we commented,  "Chase, you hae tied the rope to the bar!" He didn't reply but he knew we were looking at what he was doing. Sandra said  that Chase was using the ropes previously at Kindergarten and he was doing a lot of tying then too.   So we  will make sure that the ropes and other open ended  equipment is available for the children in the afternoon session.

Using Chase's play as an example shows us that children enjoy beginning their play in their safe place but then they gain the confidence to alter the play.  They even choose to play with and alongside others or on their own but whatever path they take they are continually exploring and discovering things.