Our large backyard and play area has appropriate equipment for all our age groups. Children go outdoors at least twice a day come rain or shine. During the colder wet weather parents provide a raincoat and gumboots, but the center does keep spare Gumboots for spontaneous jumping and splashing in puddles. The centre has Towels, Hairdryer and spare clothing for such exciting events!
In warmer weather our children could spend the whole day outdoors even for meal times and snacks. Activities including painting, play dough, books for story time, puzzles,all which improve fine motor skills are always set up outdoors for the children to experience.
There are climbing frames for exercising your child’s gross motors skills. A large sandpit for sensory play and Water play is encouraged in all types of weather. There are a large variety of bikes, trikes, scooters and cars for your children to exercise their larger muscles through enjoyment.
At our preschool we provide as many natural materials and experiences as possible: a digging patch, a tree to climb,veggie patch, worm farm.Children have access to a large variety of natural materials such as Wooden logs, bark, pine cones, gum nuts and large trees which help us with shade in the back Yard.
The Educators cultivate a small vegetable patch with the children where they have grown snow peas and radishes. This season the children have little seedlings for Broccoli, Lettuce, and Cauliflower. We planted two fruit trees which provide some lovely sweet peaches The children get to taste all of our produce from their Garden. Children plant seedlings of flowers to encourage the birds to visit. The centre has a compost Bin for all our food scraps which makes wonderful organic fertilizer for our fruit trees.
“We don’t have a barefoot policy; it’s just embedded into our philosophy . . . We believe being barefoot is natural, comfortable and provides a whole sensory experience for the children.
When you’re in the sandpit or the digging patch, the best part is feeling the sand or water flowing under your feet or the mud squishing between your toes. It’s a sensory experience and children learn through experiencing, doing and feeling.