assignment 2 - My experiences

The activities i used to connect children to their outdoor world were: leaf rubbings, tree rubbings, natural collages and my natual sensory board that i made for the babies (this was bringing their outdoor world inside).

During my activities with the kindy children i got them outside to collect materials for their natural collage as well as the leaf rubbings. I had also prepared for the acitivities myself before hand by collecting some leaves, gumnuts and bark from a park. I talked to the children about the importance of looking after our world (without using scare tactics) i focused on the beauty of our yard and trees. I also used the tree rubbing experience as a completely outdoors experience and the children built on it themselves by moving on to other rubbings such as pathways and trikes.

I used natural and recycled materials in the following activities: Leaf rubbings, natural collage, natural sensory board, wooden toys, recycled shakers (one had natural materials inside) and glitter bottles.

I was very pleased with all of my experiences and intent to continue to incorporate them into my every day experiences. When i am a team leader and am creating programs i will incorporate the natural world. I enjoyed these experiences - at first i thought it would be a real challenge and 'too hard' to do with the under two's but once i thought about it i was able to brian storm some creative ideas. I will make another larger natural sensory board because my team leader really loved the small one i made. It is withstanding lots of curious little fingers very well.