Day 4

Morning started with construction zone based on the STEM idea, foam blocks, measuring tapes and toy hard hats. Some of the children made a collaborative project of constructing a tall tower. I asked, “And how do we get it up without it falling?” — to stimulate decision-making and hypothesis (Fleer, 2018).

Yet another collect of children took the sandpit to be a construction site, with the children excavating imaginary roads and foundations. These actions were reflected upon EYLF Outcome 4: Children are confident and involved learners and in linking with NQS QA1: Educational Program and Practice through meaningful teaching.

I associated the play with the safety awareness, providing the information about the reflective vests and describing the way real builders take care of safety. This was concerned with the debate of professionalism and the health and safety requirements of the children according to NQS QA2 (ACECQA, 2020).

The session was finished with the use of Iggy Peck, Architect and requesting children to identify similarities between their towers and blocks and those of the story. This connected literacy to STEM and promoted creativity in the delivery of curriculum.

Professional Reflection:

I could observe today that spatial reasoning, collaboration, and persistence are built through open-ended construction play. The key responsibilities of my being a facilitator were to give the appropriate prompts without becoming intrusive, which corresponds with the professional teaching standards of AITSL (2017).