Day 15 – 03 April 2025

Baby Room (Mini Investigators)
Today the Mini Investigators had an enjoyable and interesting day with a little creative play, plenty of sensory exploration, music, and growing independence helping themselves. On the other hand, each moment has been a learning experience on each of the areas of development.

Morning Free Play – Kitchen Corner
Free play in the kitchen corner commenced the day and the children became immersed in imaginative role play. The children would use spoons, pots and a pretend stove to ‘cook,’ and show imagination and symbolic thinking. Amber and Hugo spent a shared moment, sitting side by side and sharing coffee machine and toy fruits and vegetables, putting together a pretend picnic. Early communication, turn taking and cooperative skills are nurtured in this type of social pretend play which is a key factor in social and emotional development (Berk & Meyers, 2018).

Rescue the Easter Eggs Activity
Rescue the Easter Eggs gave us a great opportunity for that with fine motor development as well as problem solving. The introduction of two levels of difficulty was made by Miss Tulasha proposing to cater to different age groups.

• Hands were used to practice grasping, picking up, and transferring balls in younger children.

• Children of average and older age worked on freeing plastic eggs that were taped under masking and matching its plastic halves with colored cupcake holders using tongs or spoons.

They opened and closed eggs with great enthusiasm and practiced finger control. Carefully placing eggs into matching holders showed Alexander that he is a confident person. In addition, the activity was used to further develop language through simple prompts of vocabulary, i.e. ‘egg’ and ‘open,’ asking the children to vocalize their ideas.
Children’s voices:

• Alexander: “Open”

• Amber: “Daa daa daa”

• Mikaya: “Bunny”

These meaningful utterances reflect their growing confidence in using language during play-based experiences.

Music and Movement – Easter Songs
Miss Tingli introduced the children to musical activities and also took the children through “Going on an Easter Egg Hunt” and “Hop Little Bunnies”. The children reacted to the actions with eagerness and quite enthusiasm. Morena joined by performing some hops and feigning to be sleeping, while Joshua enjoying the performance clapped for Cali. Ronin had a glad hold on the table, experiencing the group atmosphere to the fullest.

This lively and playful worksheet helped to develop a steady beat, body consciousness, and gross motor skills, as well as auditory skills (Isbell and Raines 2007 pg340).

Self-Help Skills – Building Independence
Throughout the day, the Mini Investigators practiced self-help routines includingThrough out day the Mini Investigator engage in self-help activities such as:

• Wiping their faces after meals

• Washing their hands

• Packing away resources

These routines are important as they are enable children to develop personality and daily skills, they also help the child become more independent, and also develop organizational skills. The reader is encouraged to gain independence in small tasks so as to develop self-regulatory skills in the future through self-care trainings (Sheridan et al., 2011).

Reflections

Today’s program was focused to meet physical, cognitive, social, emotional development of the child in an appropriate and meaningful manner. One of the most successful activities was the Rescue the Easter Eggs where the kids had a fun time developing sensory and fine motor skills, as well as, language and cognitive thus making it a great activity. Both elements of the kitchen corner and the music sessions aimed for happy emotions, togetherness, and singing, dancing. Watching the children gain their abilities in performing some self-help tasks with help also reminded me of the significance of encouraging independence at an early stage. Every learning experience of the day delighted in reinforcing the active promotion of Play Based Learning and the revealed that the child is a whole being.