In Kindy, we connect closely with nature and the cyclical rhythm of the year. Our stories, songs and actions encourage reverence for Mother Earth as we observe the seasonal changes.
 
In autumn time, the children painted flower pots in autumn colours reflecting the golden leaves falling, bright autumn rainbows, rosy red apples and orange pumpkins.

In winter, the children planted their bulb babies in their pots, tucking them into Mother Earth’s warm blanket.

Last term, the children watered their bulb babies diligently as they eagerly waited for them to grow.

This term, the children were greeted with green shoots growing tall towards the sun, a sign to show that spring was on its way.

Now that the children are learning from home, their pot plants have travelled home with them, just in time for their Dafodilly Dancers to blossom and dance in the springtime breezes.
 
Yellow, yellow daffodils
You’re dancing in the sun.
Yellow, yellow daffodils
You tell me spring has come.
 
At Shearwater, we celebrate the seasonal festivals that are connected to cosmic events such as the autumn and spring equinox and the winter and summer solstices. When the children participate in the festivals, they are able to experience the deeper mysteries of life, through simply observing and connecting with the rhythms of nature.

The spring equinox  on September 23 is a time to celebrate the energies of rebirth, and renewal.  It is a season of wonder as new life begins; baby animals are born and flowers bloom. There is much to celebrate, even in these uncertain times!
 
At Kindy we would normally be celebrating our Spring Festival in our last week of Term 3 before the holidays start. Here are some ideas for creating your own family festival at home. It is important to note that with young children, the preparation for the celebration is as important as the celebration itself.

• Find a good spot to make a seasonal table with your children, and keep adding new treasures found in the garden or during daily walks in nature. Your child may like to add special springtime drawings or paintings to their nature display too.
• Let your children help prepare a special meal with fruits and vegetables that are in season, like these Fruit Floaty Boats.
• Decorate the family dining table with a special cloth, candle, flowers in season.
• Light a candle and say a verse or sing a song before sharing your special family meal.
• Share seasonal stories, sing, dance, make music or play some games together as a family.
• Go on a springtime treasure hunt and make a family mandala out of the collection, or spend the afternoon getting creative and making things out of your treasures e.g. make flower crowns for the whole family out of jasmine vine and colourful flowers, create ‘wonder sticks’ out of nature finds, bright wool and beads.
• Go for a walk and look for signs of spring, then recreate them out of colourful beeswax, play dough or clay.

 
The Kindy children have been busy bees in their own homes, creating their own nature tables, nature weavings, wonder sticks, springtime beeswax crafts, practicing their Mother Bird and blanket stitch, making flower crowns, and much more! It has been heart-warming to see so many photos of the children doing their Kindy work, and hearing stories of the wonderful family activities that are taking place. Perhaps there are some craft ideas here that your child may like to do at home too?
 
Kara Mallory
Hummingbee Kindergarten Teacher
​

Here at Preschool, we have been enjoying the amazing weather - lapping up as many sun forces as we can. We have been out and about on the Farm, meeting our beloved farmers, who often feature in our stories at Preschool - our new friend Farmer Spike; our trusted old friend Farmer Andrew; and don't forget our much-loved gardener Renate, who the children flock to like bees to honey, wanting to help with any busy jobs she may have. 

Also in our stories is Nic Nac Gnome who lives in the very big trunk of Grandfather Fig Tree. He uses a special curly key to unlock his door. So, when we went past the grapevines on the Farm, each child found their very own curly key before we headed over to Grandfather Fig, where the the children searched and searched, all over Grandfather Fig's big roots; in tight little corners; and way up high into those ever-reaching arms, until they finally called out "we found the door!". 

After all of our adventures under the sun, we sat underneath the shady branches of Grandfather Fig and enjoyed a delicious picnic while we watched the High School children practice their high jumps.

How blessed we are to be part of such a special school, with so much to do and see.

We are looking forward to seeing what the farmers are doing next week! 

Susan Denney
Preschool Group Leader

​In Birdsong Kindy, we have started the term celebrating many six-year-old birthdays! Each child has a birthday celebration throughout the year. Parents send stories honouring each year in the birthday child's life, to be told with the lighting of the candles. We sing our Kindy birthday song and the child is gifted with a birthday crown. Each crown is hand-dyed and stitched and imbued with love. The children receive this gift proudly, knowing it was made especially for them. One birthday child even wore theirs to bed this week! Each child in the class draws a picture to be bound into the birthday book, and messages are added, thanking the child for all the gifts they bring to our kindy. To finish our celebration, we enjoy fruit sticks made by the birthday child's family.

The six-year-old birthday is an important one to honour. The Kindy year can bring many changes, physically, socially and emotionally. We support the children in Kindy by viewing them with kind eyes, knowing they are all experiencing a transition and are striving to find balance and harmony within themselves.  We set out our days and weeks with a strong routine and rhythm, helping them gain confidence in the familiar while they grow and change. We also hold consistent, firm and loving boundaries for the Kindergarten child, knowing that children look to adults for guidance, acknowledging them as individuals while supporting them to participate safely and harmoniously within the class setting and the broader community. 

Outside we continue to enjoy the glorious winter sun. The children run, jump, climb, balance, build, carry, push, monkey bar and expand their bodies, working on muscle development as well as gross motor skills. We balance this "breathing out" with our "breathing in" times; story, drawing, craft, baking and painting, building on concentration and fine motor skills.

Kat Barwick
Kindergarten Teacher

It is buzzing with activity here at Playgroup. We are in the process of finishing our clay work - a different modality to explore with our senses. Some children needed some time to get used to the sticky, soft wetness and others went straight to work exploring. A great big thank you to Ben for putting all our little pieces into the kiln to be fired. We are all full of anticipation to see the end product after the glazing.

Some parents have started knitting slipper socks to keep little feet warm. It is a wonderful activity to do, particularly together with some friends, drinking tea and sharing life’s experiences.

We have been painting and printing some treasures from our garden onto wet paper; autumn leaves, grasses, flowers… all different kinds and shapes, to be made into winter lanterns to light the long nights ahead. 

We welcomed a new baby at Playgroup this term. Her first day out was with us at Rosewood Cottage, sharing so much joy and love.

Our guinea pigs are well loved, but sadly we need to find a new home for Lovely Wilder who has outgrown his cage. He will need some company, of the guinea pig or bunny kind. If you are interested please come and see me at Playgroup.
 
As winter arrived this week, we reflected on the wisdom of Rudolf Steiner who reminds us that our own consciousness is intensified in winter, when our thinking life becomes intensely active. It is especially in the activity of thinking that our ego manifests itself and, at these times, we must strive to remain conscious and free from despair and loss of hope - to remember the light in the darkness.
 
With warmth and light,
Playgroup Coordinator
Carina Halliday

We have been having lots of fun in the autumn sun (and rain) here at Birdsong Kindy. Even though it has been much wetter than usual we have still been able to notice the changes all around, helping us to feel that autumn days are here.

From our Kindy table we can see the mistlings dance on Lady Koonyum each morning as Wonder Waterfall rushes down. We have noticed the colours changing in our garden (and even seen the first gold-tipped leaves), and of course, we have seen the autumn rainbows shine bright above our Kindy when the rain dancers and sun dancers play together.

We are learning new songs, rhymes and dances ready to share with our families when they come to celebrate with us at our Autumn Festival next week. We hope they will bring their dancing shoes! Our clever hands have been busy making invitations, decorations and costumes, too.

Kat Barwick
Kindergarten Teacher

​A warm welcome to all of our new families and of course especially our ‘old’ friends. The new year and Term 1 is in full swing over here at Rosewood Cottage Playgroup. We have been very lucky to have been gifted three guinea pigs with a great little hutch. The children are holding them with the supervision of the parents in a little pouch made from a repurposed towel… this makes the guinea pigs feel more secure and it is easier for the children to cuddle them. This is a new experience for some of the children who are eager to feed them grasses they find in the garden. The older children enjoy helping me clean the hutch and making sure they have enough water.

It is wonderful to observe the children’s enthusiasm to help and imitate the adults. "I can do it, too!". Putting up all the chairs on the table takes a strong will and perseverance, and sometimes the helping hand of a friend. Not only does this activity strengthen gross motor and social skills, it is also an example of learning that is entirely self-directed.

Our parents have been sewing a little felted toy for their children; some are making bunnies, others bilbies or chick-shaped egg warmers for Easter.

Our first painting experience was with Lemon Light yellow - a summer color, which we turned into a Sunbeam Spiral. I am looking forward to observing the autumn changes in our garden and painting with the colours of Golden, Vermillion and Carmine red.

Carina Halliday
Playgroup Coordinator

​Preschool's Banksia Rose Blossom and Rose Bud children have been coming together to enjoy a cooked morning tea every morning with Rudolf Steiner's Grains of the Day in mind. Monday we have creamy rice pudding, Tuesday barley flake apple crumble, Wednesday millet pancakes with raspberry sauce. 

We set our table with flowers picked from our garden, candles and much love, respect, reverence, and gratitude. We sing a little song as we serve each child "from you I receive, to you I give, together we share, that's how we live", before enjoying our meal together. Quite often a child will call out a heartfelt thank that comes freely from their own being. Sometimes the children will ask for seconds or thirds!

At the end of morning tea, one of the children is chosen to ring a little bell to let everyone know that morning tea is finished. Then we snuff out our candle, and the children carefully wash their bowls, cups and cutlery, put away their place mats and wipe down the table before going off for inside play.

With their well-nourished tummies, the children set off for an adventure, transforming our room into a magical playground. One group of children made a boat out of tables, with chairs on top to sit on. Next, they jumped out of the boat into the water to learn how to scuba dive! While scuba diving was happening, over in our cozy corner a few children had so much work to do taking care of babies and doing busy house work.

Everything comes off our shelves during morning play. But quick as a wink, with a happy tune, all of our playthings are back on the shelf in just the right spot, ready for songs and group games with Farmer Beau, Mrs Moo and her baby calf, Mother Cluck and her three chicks Cheeper, Peeper and Feather. 

Then it's time for lunch around our table, before off we go again for some more adventurous fun, playing in our garden and enjoying the rain with our new friends. What a great start to our new year.

Susan, Jess, Margaret, and Odette 

Hummingbee Kindergarten was buzzing with excitement during our orientation last week, as the children enjoyed a lovely puppet show story and explored their inside play space, while their parents got to know each other, fluffing and puffing wool fleece and stitching their rest time pillows. 

As the days go by, friendships are forming and the children are learning to share and care for their Kindy play things while they build cubbies, castles, buses to ride on, farmlands for the animals, cafes and homes for the dollies and much more.
 
We have celebrated our first birthday, and the children’s clever hands have been drawing colourful pictures, winding wool to make art folders, painting and baking buns together.
 
Outside, the children have been busy exploring our garden. They are loving finding grasshoppers and caterpillars and watching the bees collecting pollen, as well as discovering tasty white mulberries, cherry tomatoes and mint to eat. They are challenging themselves on the monkey bars and wobble bridge, building sand castles and waterways, baking sand cakes and digging in the mud pit making “concrete” for their roads.

Everyone loves taking care of our little guinea pig sisters, Ginger and Blueberry, who are also enjoying the gentle cuddles and hand feeding.

We are all looking forward to many many more happy days together!
 
Kara Mallory
Hummingbee Kindergarten Teacher

There are many things growing and changing Here at Birdsong Kindy. 

We have been lucky enough to have had many caterpillars weave their green and gold cocoons and have seen the Monarch butterflies as they emerge and take their first flight.

Merrily Magpie's babies have been growing bigger and more confident, singing loudly in our garden and and beginning to search for their own food, while Merrily watches on.

Our Blossom Babies have been sewn with care; our turtle shells have been finger knitted and woven; and of course our turtles have grown and changed as we have fed them into plump young hatchlings ready for their own adventures in Mother Ocean.

And of course the Kindy children are growing and changing too, as we prepare them for their summer festival and ceremony and transition into Class 1.

What a wonderful year it has been. I look forward to hearing stories of the many adventures of Class 1 and beyond.

Kat Barwick
Birdsong Kindergarten Teacher

Always Was, Always Will Be was the overarching theme for NAIDOC Week 2020 – an opportunity for us to share with the children and young adults in our care that First Nations people have occupied and cared for this continent for over 65,000 years.

The Shearwater school community came together to acknowledge that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people continue to be spiritually and culturally connected to this country.

What does culture mean for us today was the question posed by our guides, Mudjai and Djuaan. Key themes emerged based on connection to the land and the seasons, our shared caring for place, and a deepening of the understanding that the very first footprints on this continent were those belonging to First Nations peoples. With these themes as a thread, the entire school embarked on a week of creativity, sharing in the realms of painting, singing, storytelling and dance.
 
A whole school gathering at the beginning of the week set a reverent and respectful tone, as a rainbow serpent of children, led by the Shearwater Kinship group, weaved through the School bringing everyone together. A fire  lit in the amphitheatre would burn for the entire week until the whole school gathered again on Friday to present their artistic offerings and dance up the energy shared over a week of creative collaboration.
 
Children from early childhood through to the young adults of Year 11 honoured the First Nations custodians of this place as misty rain added to an atmosphere of respect and hope. Finally, the rain, the seasons, the water ways, the ocean and the creatures sustained by these sacred systems unique to this place were celebrated in dance and song in a cacophony of rhythm and exuberance.
 
With respect, 
​Shearwater Mirrabooka Group

​We are all so happy to be back at Playgroup. It is wonderful for the parents to be able to come together again, sharing the challenges and joys of their parenting journeys and realising they are not alone.

Term 4 is an important term with some of the children showing readiness for Preschool - packing up the toys is done with gusto, as is setting up for juicy fruit time, and our little cottage is full of big, strong voices, singing, telling stories and sharing the events of the week. Some of the older children are creating little puppet shows themselves, retelling our much-loved Playgroup stories and bringing some of their own.

In these last weeks of the term, we are going for little walks over to the Farm and to Preschool, in order to familiarise the children who will be taking their first big steps away from home next year. It is wonderful to see these older children helping the little ones, building a train track, packing up or simply nursing one of the babies.  

We are all very busy, with some wonderful toys being created by the parents, such as this little wild Brumby (pictured above), made with hand-felted fleece. One of our fathers brought in some little pots and soil, so the children could take rosemary cuttings from our garden to grow at home and remember Playgroup by.

Our first painting activity for spring combined lemon yellow and cobalt blue to create green. The children added leaves, grasses and flowers, collected from our garden, and laid it all out on the wet paper before painting over and around the plants, to create lovely shapes and patterns. 

It is a bittersweet time as some of us will soon say goodbye. But I am always happy to have a visit or a wave over the fence. Seeing the little bright faces ever so proudly going off to Preschool is a gift in itself.

Carina Halliday
Playgroup Coordinator

Here at Preschool, our Banksia Rose children have been busy making horsie reins this term. First, we chose just the right colours and we fluffed and puffed the fleece to lay out out onto bamboo mats. Then we rolled up our mats and dipped them in warm soapy water and we rolled and rolled and rolled! We all enjoyed the slippery feeling of the soap and seeing how many bubbles we could make. When we unrolled our mats, to our surprise, the fleece had joined together in a beautiful rainbow of all our colours!

We have enjoyed our visits from Year 9 students Scarlett and Tom, who joined us for their community service: helping make the beds, washing up, cleaning the kitchen, buttering crunchy buns, wiping down the tables, sweeping the floor and caring for our guinea pigs Scuffles and Snuggles. 

Last week we went for a walk to see what adventures could be had under the shade of the Coolamon Tree. On our way, we stopped to smell the sweet scent of the native star jasmine on our fence, and the marshmallow sweetness of the bower vine (which we just want to eat!) and the delicious honeysuckle. But when we saw the gardenias, oh my! The children nearly tripped over their feet trying to get a smell, with their noses pushed deep within the petals, to breathe every bit of scent into their whole being!

Continuing on our walk, we bumped into our beloved Farmer Beau (who often appears in our Preschool stories) without his flippy floppy hat! The children called out "where's your flippy floppy hat, Farmer Beau?" Farmer Beau went to his shed to find his hat and, on the way, cut us some sugar cane to take back to Preschool. Thank you, Farmer Beau! 

On we went to see what else could we find and, when we reached the Coolamon Tree, to our surprise, we came across four fabulous forest cubbies to play in! Thank you, dear friends of Linda's Class 3. What adventures we had playing together amongst your magical creations. 

We are looking forward to another walk next week in search of more adventures.

Susan, Margaret and Karen
​Banksia Rose Room

Before the holidays, our two Kindergarten classes came together at Crystal Creek to celebrate the Spring Festival. We shared songs and dances from our stories about Queen Honey Hum’s Hive, before enjoying a play and a picnic by the creek.
 
The children lovingly sprinkled our garden with a “secret magic potion” (biodynamic preparation), to help Mother Earth nourish her soil and plants, and the sense of joy and wonder was tangible when they returned this term to a bountiful harvest of strawberries, Madagascar beans, cherry tomatoes, multitudes of mulberries and sweet nectarines.
 
Out in the garden, the children are continuing to stretch their limbs and their capabilities, trying new tricks on the monkey bars and building tricky obstacle courses and elaborate cubby houses.
 
In craft, we spent most of last term finger-knitting rainbow balls of wool, and this term the children are very enthusiastically weaving their finger-knitting “over and under, over and under, over and under 1-2-3, pull the wool so very gently”.
 
Throughout this long-term ‘will’ project, the children have discovered the pleasure and satisfaction of making something beautiful, which requires perseverance and thoroughness, as well as wondering what their creations will become.

Kara Mallory
Kindergarten Teacher

Sadly, Rosewood Cottage has had to shut its doors this term, due to COVID-19 restrictions. We were so lucky to have the first five weeks of the term to come together and deepen our connections. It was wonderful to see the children bonding and engaging more with each other in their play. I noticed parents seeking each other’s company more than ever, sharing support, warmth and laughter. We also enjoyed crafting whales, dolphins, kangaroos and brumbies out of the beautiful felt we made.

First thing in the morning, as the children arrive at Playgroup they head straight for the shelves and baskets. Here we see self-initiated play at its best, with its quality of attentiveness and the absence of premeditated purpose or set goals.

Self-initiated play is how the young child makes sense of, and processes experiences from, everyday life. It activates an inner mobility, particularly if we are using ‘open-ended’ toys such as cloth, rocks and sticks. It is deeply satisfying and empowering. Allowing children the time and space to experience the sense of wonder and deep nurturing that quality play can bring, is one of the keys to healthy childhood development, and something that is being lost amid the busyness of modern family life.

In Term 3, the children have been full of spring energy and enjoying exploring their physical strength. Gardener Renate had many helping hands with the mulching (pictured above) and the children had fun with the garden trolley, transporting their friends around the yard. When the billy cart got stuck as it was driving over the bridge, the children discussed how they were going to solve the problem and soon had it back on the road.

We hope to be able to welcome our Playgroup families back to Rosewood Cottage soon.

Carina Halliday
Playgroup Coordinator

This term, at Hummingbee Kindy, we have been immersed in stories, songs and poems about the journey of Wallow Whale and his family, from the icy lands and sea where penguins play, up the coast to Golden Bay… North to where the waters are warm, back to where Wallow Whale was born. The children were very enthusiastic in acting out a puppet show of some of Wallow’s adventures.
 
In craft, the children’s fingers have been busy finger-knitting wool in all the colours of the rainbow for a larger surprise project.
 
In the garden, our bulb babies have sprouted into dancing daffodils, much to the delight of the Kindy children. The children have been enjoying the winter sunshine; making cubbies, building large obstacle courses, engaging in games of push and pull with the big rope, making potion shops, creating elaborate pulley systems, and extending their skills on the monkey bars.
 
Our new guinea pigs, Blueberry and Ginger are settling into their cosy home, and caring for them is a focus every day, with the children picking fresh greens, filling their water bowl, and giving them LOTS of gentle cuddles.
 
On our weekly cooking days after proudly harvesting produce from our Kindy garden, the children have baked delicious sunshine pumpkin cake, spinach rolls, wattle buns and pasta pile ups on rock melon boats.

​We are all happy to be back at Birdsong Kindy. We have been enjoying the wonderful winter sun, tending to our bulb babies and having fun in our garden and sand pit. 
​
Many wonderful things are growing in our garden and this week in baking we used our sunshiny lemons to make lemon muffins with a lemon drop on top. Next week we will be making a special surprise with our bounty of silver beet and the delicious feta cheese that Tommy’s mum, Claire is kindly helping us to make. Our taste buds are tingling just thinking about it!

Warm winter wishes from all at Birdsong Kindy,

Kat Barwick
Kindergarten Teacher

​Winter is here in our Kindy garden. We’ve all been enjoying the golden winter sunshine, watching our mandarins and oranges ripen on the trees and looking for stars hidden all around… the children even surprised me by making some star mandalas in the sandpit! We flew kites in the whistling wind, made seed babies and tucked them into their seed pod beds and painted pots ready to plant the daffodil bulb babies who will sleep until the springtime sun dancers wake them up. The children love singing songs of winter, sleeping seeds, Mother Earth’s helpers, crystal caves and starlight.
 
Last week we enjoyed a teddy bears picnic at Grandfather Big Fig Tree. The children finger knitted scarves for their teddy bears to keep them warm while the cold breezes blew.
 
This upcoming winter solstice is an opportunity for us to celebrate our inner light through the quiet darkness of winter. As we start our preparations for our Kindy Winter Festival, the children have been busy making lanterns, plaited star crowns and crystal pouches.
 
Kara Mallory
Hummingbee Kindergarten Teacher

It was a wondrous sight to behold last Monday, as Sunny Sun shone down upon our Kindy with golden autumn light, and the mistlings danced upon Great Grandma Koonyum. The children came running through our kindy gate with glowing smiles and happy hearts. We are all grateful to be back together in our beautiful Kindy.
Our play spaces are busy, inside and out, with children joyful to be once again in each other's company. There is much work to be done and many willing helpers. 

We have been lucky to have Birthday Week this week, celebrating three birthdays and working together to make colourful birthday books with drawings and messages filled with our best love and care.

Our whole class is singing enthusiastically together, filling our room and our hearts with joy. If you happen to hear a happy song on the autumn breeze, it might well be the children and the birds from Birdsong Kindy!

Kat Barwick
Kindergarten Teacher

With the enormous challenge facing us from COVID–19, the Preschool team has been working hard to maintain relationships and connections with our families and their children. With an unknown end in sight, our main focus has been to support our families to establish and maintain a flexible and gentle daily rhythm at home. Predictability and consistency provide security, helping to hold the young child and create calm in a time of turmoil.
 
As a team, we had many long discussions on how we could continue delivery of our program to Preschool-aged children using an online model (a totally unheard of concept for us). We felt that each of the four Preschool groups needed to be offered a range of information and ideas, based on the activities we do with the children when they are physically present. Families have then been able to choose what works best for them at home.  
 
Packages were created and sent home, and support has been given to families via various online platforms. Some of the information and ideas we sent home included; the process of creating a story with or for their child; ideas for being out in nature with their child; art and craft ideas based on the seasonal impulse; an offering of the words of familiar songs and stories; recipes for activities such as baking 'crunchy buns'; as well as the process of following their child’s interests and developing projects and activities based on those interests.
 
The craft activities offered included making a pom-pom chicken, creating a gnome, making a necklace, painting a rolly polly pumpkin, as well as our beeswax favourites, Nibbler Mouse and Slip Slide Snail.
 
We look forward to seeing our Preschool friends soon and sharing everything that autumn has to offer.

Craig d'Arcy
Preschool Coordinator

Our Sunny Sunflowers were standing tall and bright in our Kindy garden to wave the children goodbye as they embarked on their at-home learning journey. But while our Kindy gardens are having a lovely autumn rest, the children have been busy little bees in their own homes.
 
It has been heart-warming to see so many photos of the children doing their Kindy work, and hearing stories of the wonderful family activities that are taking place.
 
Our Kindy stories have been focusing on pumpkins and harvesting the bounties of Mother Earth, noticing the changes in the colours of the leaves as they begin to fall from the trees, and the bright colours of Rainbow Glow as she shines across the sky after a dark and stormy day: Rainbow Glow shines oh so bright, she fills our hearts with love; A warm glow shines within us all when a rainbow shines above.
 
We have suggested that families create their own autumn celebration at home over the holiday weekend, and are looking forward to seeing some photos of family fun! Here are some ideas that Kindy teacher Jane Michaelis suggested in her ‘Autumn Reflections’ message that was sent to our families this week:
 
It is important to note that with young children, the preparation for the celebration is as important as the celebration itself.

• Find a good spot to make a seasonal table with your children, and keep it alive with new treasures found and added after daily walks in nature (or play in the backyard).
• Let your children help prepare a special meal with fruits and vegetables that are in season: pumpkin soup, pumpkin pie, pumpkin scones or muffins, apple crumble, apple cake, hot cross buns, corn on the cob, corn fritters, homemade bread etc.
• Decorate the family dining table with a special cloth and autumn leaves, flowers in season and seed pods.
• Light a candle and say a verse or sing a song before sharing your special family meal.
• Share seasonal stories, sing, dance, make music or play some games together as a family.
• Go on a seed pod/autumn leaf treasure hunt and make a family mandala out of the collection, or spend the afternoon getting creative and making things out of your treasures. You could sew together autumn leaves for a necklace, make seed pod boats to float, make autumn crowns for the whole family out of vines woven with leaves.
• Last but not least, don’t forget to go out before bedtime and look up at the stars. In autumn time they shine more brightly.

 
Look up, look up, look up to the stars
They shine very high
Their light with love
and if you’re very lucky
And if you’re very quiet
you might see a falling star…. a falling star tonight!
 
Kara Mallory
Hummingbee Kindy Teacher
​

​With all the welcome rain, at Playgroup this term, we have been trying to grow Salvias from cuttings - potting up some Cats' Whiskers which have developed a strong, healthy root system; placing the cuttings ever so carefully in little pots and tucking them skillfully into their cozy beds. We are growing some purple Salvias in mind of attracting some native bees, like the beautiful Teddy Bear Bee and Blue Banded Bee (pictured above). We are hoping to create some bee hotels which I am sure will bring many new stories to our Playgroup.

This term, we have had a few indoor days, leading to some interesting and creative play. The children enjoyed setting up the train track and discussing what needed to be built next in order for the train to roll on. At one stage, I think just about every toy had been taken off the shelves and used to create a new imaginative story.

Packing up our play and putting all the toys back in their rightful places often takes more time and encouragement! Our packing away song ‘The Little Dusty Gnome’ is very helpful as the children already know what is coming. With the adults modelling the careful return of all our toys to their homes, the children learn through imitation how to help put our Playgroup back in order. Shells, seeds and rocks all have their own special places. Sorting these items into the appropriate baskets is an early step towards mathematics.

During one wet outdoor play, some of the children were fascinated to find that catching raindrops in different sized pots made different sounds. What a wonderful wet-weather discovery! Steeped in wonder, these precious early years of learning will carry these children through their lives. 

Carina Halliday
Playgroup Coordinator