On This Page

• Circle/Mat Time
• Home corner
• Morning/Afternoon tea
• Gross Motor Activities
• Arts & Craft Activities
• Music, Dance & Movement
• Sensory Experiences

Program Activities:

The Program Director and Assistant prepare a daily work program that has a variety of general activities for the children to access. Each activity provides the children with a range of skills to be experienced or practiced.

Specific skills may be requested to be practiced at home or at other centres, and assist in the development of that skill.

Some examples of activities are:

• At Circle/Mat Time the children sit on the mat, or in chairs, in a circle with staff and parents. We sing and sign "Good Morning" to each child. We then read a story which usually relates to our theme.
  The aims of circle time include identifying and responding to own name, getting to know other children's names, turn taking, visual tracking and stimulation eg. candles and bubbles, photo recognition, etc. We encourage eye contact, listening and participation.

 

• Home corner is also an ideal place for the children to play, pretending to cook, cutting up fruit and vegetables, making drinks, etc. There is a great deal of language and learning in this creative play, which we encourage.

 

• At morning/afternoon tea the children all sit down and share fruit and have a drink. This is a wonderful opportunity to practice language, social skills, choice making, pouring drinks, tasting new foods, etc.

 

• Gross Motor Activities: stimulate the larger muscles in the body. These activities include jumping, climbing, running, riding a bike, rolling, etc The equipment we use includes an in-ground trampoline, slide, tunnel, stairs, rocker, barrel, ball play, bikes and climbing frames; children can experiment with a variety of equipment in a safe environment, to improve their physical skills and body awareness. At times we direct the children to specific activities to meet their goals, but again this learning and therapy should be fun.

 

• Arts & Craft Activities: Art is about discovery and exploration; we try to encourage free experimentation, using a variety of spaces including tables, floor, walls or easels. Activities include finger-painting, playdough, patterns, collage, pencils and painting. Again this is about discovery, exploration and skill building. It helps to talk about colours and textures in the environment and reinforce the children’s learning and language.

 

• Music, Dance & Movement: During some sessions, a separate dance and movement may be planned where we join in a variety of songs, signing, language and movement. Most children enjoy music and respond in a positive way. Again we aim at developing body awareness, identifying body parts, participating, listening and turn taking. We also offer a variety of instruments for the children to play.

 

• Sensory Experiences: Involve touching, seeing, hearing, smelling and tasting. For children in the LEAP program, sensory stimulation activities provide enjoyable experiences while they are learning. Vestibular and proprioception experiences are also provided to develop body awareness, balance and tolerance of movement skills and assist with gross motor play..