Child-led learning is a term used to describe educational activities in which children are responsible for deciding what they want to learn. The children at Dragonfly’s Early Learning at Coolum Beach decided upon a dress up day last week which included face painting. It was a great day for the children, as they were surrounded by bright colours and loved being able to play dress-up and have their faces painted. Face painting can have many learning benefits for children. Child

Cooking is one of the things that children love to do. Just the mention of the word catches their attention and they come running. I am sure that the thought of something interesting to eat probably has something to do with it! Cooking with children can encourage an interest in food and healthy eating which are skills required throughout life. Cooking is now considered a fantastic way to help shape their development in early childhood. Cooking encourages children's thinking,

The imagination of a child can be an amazing concept and the Educators at Dragonfly's Early Learning at Coolum Beach take every opportunity to introduce imaginative play to their little ones to foster the development of very active imaginations. The Kindergarten Educators introduced these tyres to their play space last week. The children have loved exploring with them. Tyres take a long time to break down in landfill so repurposing and reusing tyres in an outdoor play space h

The Pre-Kindergarten Group at Dragonfly's Early Learning at Coolum Beach decided that they wanted to have a very special "dress-up day" children just love the idea of "Make Believe" Miss Louise, their educator, and the children together, planned their day. They wanted to pack as much fun as they could into their special day. They organised dress-ups, cooking, and special makeup to add to the excitement of the day. Children spend a great deal of their day in the land of make-b

As you can see from the smile on this little face, children love their days spent at Dragonfly's Early Learning at Coolum Beach. This is a face of happiness and freedom! The team of Early Learning Educators who are passionate advocates of Early Childhood Education are experienced and capable of providing happy educational days full of fun for the children. Their professional philosophy is based on respectful care, and education for all children with the strong foundation of “

Cosmic yoga is a fun experience for kids from age 3 and upwards. At Dragonfly's Early Learning at Coolum Beach, the educators have introduced Cosmic Yoga to the children using their new smartboard, creating stories, and role-plays and introducing stillness and mindfulness. Mindfulness plays a prominent role in early childhood development and offers psychological support through both physical and mental health. . Cosmic yoga has been found to be a great way to get children to

Last week, the children explored the outdoor construction area. Playing with loose parts for construction uses lots of useful qualities Our little construction engineer makes her choices. After looking through the blocks, she begins by choosing a long block. She carefully begins her construction by stacking cylinder-shaped blocks with long blocks on top of each other while singing...." I'm making a ramp: I'm making a ramp" While completing her construction, she is developing

By understanding more about the ocean and its creatures and how we interact with it as humans, children will learn to care for and protect the ocean and its creatures so that it will be a better place not only for the sea creatures but for them also. All children have an innate curiosity about the world around them and the ocean is one large part of it, in fact, taking up more than 70% of the earth's surface. Children are avid learners so it is important to introduce the oc

I thought that this was an interesting article from The Biting Truth. thebitingtruthkids Does it feel like your kids can plow through 20000000 crackers without getting full? Add a little protein to help make their snacks more satisfying Protein (and fat) add satiety or a feeling of fullness/satisfaction, to foods because they help better regulate our blood sugar. You may notice this if you have porridge and fruit for breakfast-great options full of nutrients and fibre, but yo

Sensory Play is a type of play that activates and stimulates a child's senses. Sensory play with ice and jelly focuses on stimulating touch, sight, and hearing. Sensory play gives the children the opportunity to explore, problem-solve, be creative and to stimulate curiosity. Eyes are very important organs of sense. Up to 80% of all impressions are perceived by means of sight. To include colour in sensory play is an advantage a the children are able to recognise that both ice

The children at Dragonfly's Early Learning at Coolum Beach know that a garbage truck is a specially designed truck for collecting community waste. Some children may simply love the giant robot-like tool that the rubbish trucks have to remotely pick up the rubbish bins and tip them into the huge truck. These trucks come in bright colours, have huge wheels, buttons and levers and are very noisy. They are manned by people in bright uniforms who have very loud voices. For little

This is a great slice to let the children make. There are just 3 ingredients to add to a Donna Hay Pancake Mix in a jar. Then add the fruit and chocolate topping. So easy!!! Raspberry Chocolate Slice Ingredients 1 jar Donna Hay Pancake Mix 25gms melted butter 1 egg 1 cup milk 1 x punnet of raspberries or blueberries or 1 peeled sliced pear/apple 1 bar Cadbury's Caramilk chocolate Method Preheat oven to 200C Prepare a small slice pan measuring 275 x170cm (or the old 11 x 7 inc

Dragonfly's Early Learning at Coolum Beach has new trucks to play with. Wow...They are so smart. At the end of the day, each play activity undertaken at Dragonfly's Early Learning at Coolum Beach has a learning outcome. What do children learn from playing with trucks and cars you may ask? Playtime with cars, trucks, planes and other vehicles provides the perfect opportunity for practicing social interactions with others, taking turns, collaborating, and making compromises whe

A toddler Balance Board or Wobble Board is a wooden board that has a curved shape and can be used for play or exercise activities in the Early Learning Space. A wobble board has more uses than you would think at first glance. Wobble Boards are versatile and can help with developing balance, improving posture and strengthening core muscles. Using their very strong imaginations, children will very quickly work out their own slant on their best use of a wobble board. Its use is

At Dragonfly's Early Learning at Coolum Beach, we understand that science is really an extension of our everyday world Introducing Science to children encourages and teaches them how to discover and wonder about everything in the world around them and awakens a child's natural curiosity. It activates a desire to learn, understand, explore and investigate what is around them, how it works and to question why. Give the children cups, funnels, spoons, and scoops and it will spar

Imaginative and pretend play is so much fun for little ones. Children have the most amazing imaginations. At Dragonfly's Early Learning at Coolum Beach, we know that all that you have to do is to present them with the loose parts and allow them to let their imaginations run free. They love to do this! Miss Annemarie offered dark purple play dough and loose parts. Within minutes, the children decided that they were going to make playdough monsters Imagination aids in the devel

Ingredients 3 cups SR flour 1 dessertsp icing sugar 1 teasp salt ½ cup cream 1-1¼ cups lemonade Method Preheat oven to 220 - 230C Sift all dry ingredients into a bowl Combine cream and lemonade in a jug Cut cream and lemonade into the dry ingredients with a knife Using floured hands, work quickly into a dough on a floured board Flatten to about 3 cms thick. Cut into rounds with a scone cutter Place close together on a greased and floured scone tray Brush over with milk Place

Just take a look at this happy little girl. Isnt she beautiful? How happy is she to be on that swing outdoors and in the sunshine? It's obvious that she loves Dragonfly's Early Learning at Coolum Beach One can’t deny that Preschool and Pre-Kindy programmes come with many inherent benefits. Those who argue that all children should attend preschool point to the following benefits for preschool-age children who attend programs Prepares Children Academically for Kindergarten. Pre

The Educators at Dragonfly's Early learning at Coolum Beach make every effort to have your little one feeling safe and loved From the first days of attendance, we like to create a Circle of Security for the children in which an educator provides the children with feelings of security in their new family environment. We try to make sure that one educator is always down on the floor with the children, giving them a base and a safe place to rotate back to when they feel the need

A Day in the life of a little Dragonfly from Dragonfly's Early Learning at Coolum Beach is often a very busy one. This week, the children had a really fun day starting with dancing. Children love to dance. Not only does it engage all aspects of a child's physical development but it awakens the inner creativity in all children allowing them to hear a piece of music and decide how their body can best respond to it. They then moved on to building with blocks. This is challenging