Early learners across all our Early Learning Centres have been exploring the meaning of Australia Day through a wide range of fun Australia Day early learning experiences.
As Oz Education Wyong, our young learners started the morning with the famous Australian indigenous song ‘Inanay’ that is sung in the Yorta Yorta language. The children sang beautifully and used clapping sticks to maintain the rhythm of the song. The use of these traditional Australian Indigenous percussive instruments enabled them to not only develop their musical skills but also work on enhancing their fine motor skills.
The fun continued through reading the book ‘Colours of Australia’ by Bronwyn Bancroft. Inspired by a deep love of country, the poetic reading of each line speaks a different voice, each image stirs a different mood, and all combine to evoke the miracle of colour with which we are surrounded.
After the story, we engaged the children in singing – ‘The Colours of Australia’ while enacting the movements. It was wonderful hearing our children’s voices as they sang with all their hearts:
“I see colours, colours everywhere!
The colours of Australia, the beauty we all share.
I see colours, colours everywhere!
So let’s hold hands and show we care.
I spy with my little eye
Peach and tan and brown.
Cheeks and noses,
Fingers and toes,
Beautiful skin is all around.”
Following our early learners played the game ‘Sleeping Bunnies’ where we incorporated different Australian animals for the children to role-play such as – jumping little kangaroos.
We then ended our morning early learning experiences with sand marking. Sand mark making is an important experience in the early years as it supports the children with various aspects of their learning and promotes many aspects of development such as:
- problem-solving
- self-expression
- imagination
- storytelling.
The educators incorporated sand marking into our Australia Day early learning program by giving the children the opportunity to explore trays of sand with paint brushes along with cards that displayed different storytelling symbols in indigenous dream time stories for the children to create in the sand.
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