This September we welcomed several new families, friends, and faces to the toddler room at RisingOaks Early Learning | St Luke. Over the course of the first couple of weeks we have spent time getting to know one another by finding out about our various interests, likes and dislikes, personalities, silly individual quirks, and more. We have had so much fun learning and already growing together!
During the first few days we played with so many new and exciting toys. We introduced the children to fun activities and materials to test where our interests were. So far some of our favourite toys outside have been the bikes, water play, risky play, and, of course, BUBBLES. While each child is unique and decides what they would like to do best, we have noticed parallel play and hints of social interests forming. On the very first day we observed Parker adding scraps of artificial grass to a sink in the kitchen area; he offered a piece to a friend standing near and invited them to join him. They continued their play by washing off the grass and placing it into the pretend drying machine set beside them.
Indoors, we have used our space to continue to focus on extending our interests such as art experiences. Each day we have attempted to find a new way to use paint to create pictures. The children seem to love expressing themselves and enjoy the sensory stimulation it provides. We have learned so much through our hands-on interactions. The children are familiarizing themselves with routines and transitions such as clean up time, hand washing, the transition between lunch and nap time, etc. Lauren and Lana, for example, have began taking initiative to clean up their toys as they hear our famous tidy up song.
We are coming together as a team by learning from one another. The children have greatly adapted to their new surroundings and it shows through the connections being made and the fun experiences we take away from each and every day. We are going to continue to grow together and create experience’s that elaborate on our interests. Stayed tuned for what’s next!
