This year all the children throughout the centre were involved in organising our special Mother’s day afternoon tea. The event took thoughtful planning and decision-making by our Preschoolers who brainstormed ideas of what food they could supply and activities we could do. As EYLF suggests ‘relationships are strengthened as educators and children learn together and share decisions, respect and trust. Responsiveness enables educators to respectfully enter children’s play and ongoing projects, stimulate their thinking and enrich their learning’. This was clearly seen throughout the whole process of our Mother’s day afternoon tea, from the beginning to the end of the day and a sense of belonging could clearly be seen.
Before the day we also discussed why we loved our Mums and this was represented through drawings. Zara stated ‘I love my Mummy, she gives me hugs’, while Joshua thought and then informed us ‘I love my mummy because she lets me play lego in my room’. These beautiful pictures were then displayed in the foyer area along with a sign written by the Preschoolers saying, Happy Mothers day!
Our Toddlers became chefs and throughout the day, they busily cooked cakes and biscuits. They even made yummy love heart shaped fairy bread. Their excitement in the various cooking activities could be seen clearly by their huge smiles. It was also lovely to see the children taking turns and gaining so much knowledge about measuring, pouring and baking. They showed so much pride in their creations and were pointing out the particular food they had prepared.
Finally the afternoon tea arrived; Grandparents and parents were introduced to friends and shown around rooms and the centre. EYLF recognizes a holistic approach to learning and the importance of partnerships with families it states ‘Learning outcomes are most likely achieved when early childhood educators work in partnership with families’
Our Babies had a lovely time participating in love heart stamp painting with their Mums as well as play dough and lots of dancing. Our Toddlers enjoyed lots of collage as well as involving our Mums in games in our outdoor area. The Preschoolers enjoyed creating collages on special Mother’s day pages using various collage materials. The also enjoyed creating beautiful Mother’s day cards.
All of the delicious food was shared around to our families and friends and we were all extremely impressed by our chefs’ cooking abilities.
Overall all of us at Acre Woods had a very busy and extremely fun day.
We hope our Mums had a fantastic Mother’s Day!
How this experience links to EYLF outcomes: Outcome 1: Children have a strong sense of identity Children develop knowledgeable and confident self identities
Children feel safe, secure and supported
Outcome 4: Children are confident and involved learners
Children develop dispositions for learning such as curiosity, cooperation, confidence, creativity, commitment, enthusiasm, persistence, imagination
Children develop a range of skills and processes such as problem solving, inquiry, experimentation, hypothesizing, researching and investigating
Outcome 5: Children are effective communicators
Children express ideas and make meaning using a range of media
Children interact verbally and non-verbally with others for a range of purposes.
