Cartrena – mum to Caden from the preschool room – came for a special visit. She dressed in her white Navy uniform. The children liked how “pretty” she looked. They listened very attentively when Cartrena explained that the Navy protects us. One of the children responded that means “keeping us safe”. Cadence asked, “How do you do that?” Cartrena explained that the Navy has very special ships on the water that they sail and look out for pirates and to make sure no-one is doing the wrong thing.
The children were very glad to hear that the pirates couldn’t hurt us or anyone in Australia.
Cartrena also brought in activities for the preschoolers to participate in.
The younger group practised writing their names as naval officers - “Navy Bella” and colouring in a pirate ship. The children enjoyed using lots of different colours to make their own pirate ships.
The older group made navy ships from cutouts. It was very tricky putting all the pieces together. We had to use lots of listening skills to know what piece went next.
We also discussed how it would look in real life and came up with lots of scenarios for our ships to be in.
The children enjoyed using their ships for dramatic play. “Oh no I’m in trouble, the pirates are coming!” “It’s ok, I’ll protect you!”
The children enjoyed talking to Cartrena afterwards and asked lots of interesting questions that they were curious about. “Why is your uniform white?” “What are your ships like?”
The children were also given a special gift from the Navy of a pencil case with highlighters, a pen, and a squishy naval ship. It was wonderful to see so many children sharing these items with each other and their parents.
The Navy visit then led to a discussion amongst the children about what job their parents have.
How this learning experience links to EYLF outcomes: Outcome 1.4 – Children learn to interact with others with care empathy and respect
Outcome 2.1 – Children develop a sense of belonging to groups and communities and an understanding of the reciprocal rights and responsibilities necessary for active community participation
Outcome 2.2 – Children respond to diversity with respect
Outcome 4.1 – Children develop dispositions for learning such as curiosity, cooperation, confidence, creativity, commitment, enthusiasm, persistence, imagination and reflexivity
Outcome 4.2 – Children develop a range of skills and processes such as problem solving, inquiry experimentation, hypothesizing, researching and investigating
Outcome 4.4 – children resource their own learning through connecting with people, place, technologies and natural and processed materials
