Day 6

It was a veterinary clinic in the dramatic play this year. Such activities included plush toys, role play toys such as medical equipment, clipboards and bandages to promote role play. The children happily got down to business quickly and designated themselves as vet, pet owner and helper. I started as a receptionist and role-modelled polite greetings and assisted children in signing in with help showing how they could use the sign-in sheet, early literacy and numeracy (EYLF Outcome 5).

A girl handed me a stuffed pup saying it was the “hurt” animal. I got down to their level and said how did it hurt and got them to hear its heartbeat through the toy stethoscope. This facilitated emotional literacy whereby, the child was guided to think about how the animal felt which is also an important component of social-emotional learning (Denham et al., 2012) and EYLF Outcome 1: Children have a strong sense of identity.

The theme continued on the outside with an animal obstacle course. Hopping, with kangaroo-like qualities, was used by the children as well as the crawling as cats and the balancing as flamingos on the wooden beam. This whole-body movement activity promoted EYLF Outcome 3 Children are strong in their sense of wellbeing, and the activity developed coordination and balance (NQS QA2).

In small groups, I will read a story of The Tale of the Injured Bird, which will be, in fact, saving and healing a local bird. This introduced an argument regarding the care of real animals and their habitats which encapsulated sustainability education (NQS QA3) and appreciation of the natural environment, as well as the Aboriginal views on how to live in harmony with nature (ECA, 2016).

I as well used this chance to do notes in form of observations, such as one child who showed some maturing capabilities to problem solving, as he/she was seen to be diagnosing the disease of the animal. This piece of information will be utilised to design subsequent dramatic play set-ups that will further elaborate on empathy, role play as well as cooperative learning (NQS QA1: Educational Program and Practice).