Early Learning

Koalas

The three year-old Koala group have had a special bee-keeping presentation this week. Theo's dad, Heath, brought in some bee-keeping paraphernalia to show the children. They could even try on a protective bee suit! Lilly was the first to feel brave enough to wear it, and then everyone wanted a turn. The children were intrigued with the wax the bees make in the frames, and scratched their fingers through the soft wax. Heath said the bees would repair it later (clever little bees!).

The children have been interested in textures this term and sharing different words to describe how objects and surfaces feel to them, so scraping the wax was very enjoyable.

We had explored hexagon shapes at Kinder, and saw how neatly the bees can form rows of hexagons to efficiently store their honey in. Everyone got to examine and taste Theo's home-grown honeycomb! Thank you, Theo and Heath for sharing your knowledge and delicious honey with us all.

The Koalas have been exploring texture in many ways at Kinder: walking on sensory mats, creating prints with different textures, and a favourite game has been passing around a mystery item in a bag to touch and describe.

This game has been helping us to wait, participate and contribute our own thoughts about textures. Sometimes we find that we can have completely different perceptions of an item or surface! The Koalas are also learning to respect others' points of view as they listen to the words their friends use to describe texture.

Sian Duggan

Early Learning Teacher