Little Penguins Family Day Care

Spring has definitely sprung here at Little Penguins FDC! We have an assortment of fruits and vegetables growing in our gardens and the children have been apart of every stage of the growing process.

We observed how leaves grew back on our plants, especially after a lot of rain! We also noticed flowers growing on our fruit tree and, were fascinated to see the flowers slowly turn to a fruit. We are now watching in anticipation as the fruit continues to grow and change colours. Children are understanding that plants need sun and water to grow and they absolutely love watering the plants daily!
"I can't wait to try them" said one of my little 3yr friends as she discovered all of the growing fruit.

We were also quite busy last month planting some seeds and were very excited to see some seedlings sprouting. Some were so excited, they took them home to add to their own veggie gardens 🥰

🌺🌼🌷 Exploring frozen flowers 🌷🌼🌺

- Experimentating
- Problem solving
- Working collaboratively
- Discovering ways to melt ice
- Strengthening fine motor skills
- Manipulating a variety of tools
- Sensory exploration
- Having fun!!!

So many learning opportunities with this simple Spring experience ❤️

Today I was honoured and a little shocked to receive an email from Family Daycare Australia informing me I had won the Regional Award for Blue Mountains and Central West in the ‘Excellence in Family Daycare Awards’.🌟

I cannot thank my Little Penguins community enough for all the love and support I have received in the last 4 years. Without you all, I couldn't do what I love each and every day!

Being nominated by my incredible families and reading the lovely words they wrote made me feel like a winner already. Being recognised as a regional winner is extra icing on top!

I am so proud of where I have come in my FDC journey and I am truly blessed to be surrounded by a community of supportive educators, mentors and families.

Kate 🐧❤️

🔴🩸❤️♦️‼️ Redtember ‼️♦️❤️🩸🔴

A big thankyou to everyone who has donated for Redtember! So far we have raised $168 for Ronald McDonald House Charities, helping families to stay together during such difficult times!

Donations can be made via the following link or in person ❤️

Kate Bolt I'm raising money for a cause close to my heart and would love your support.

♦️‼️ Redtember- Week of 16th Sept ‼️♦️

We are once again taking part in Redtember to help raise money and support Ronald McDonald House Charities Central West NSW.
In conjunction with Bathurst High School, this great cause can be done on any day in September, however, I have chosen to do it for the whole week so more of us can get involved!

Last year, I was blown away by the generosity and kindness from my families and especially my little friends!

Little Penguins FDC will be wearing red for Ronald MCDonald House Charities next week 16th September to 20nd September and invite all our community and friends to participate. Please upload any photos in the comments and donations can be made via the link attached.
Ronald McDonald House Charities is such a worthy cause and they help so many families in their time of need! This charity has touched us personally here at Little Penguins FDC, making us even more keen to raise as much money as possible!

Kate Bolt I'm raising money for a cause close to my heart and would love your support.

I often get asked questions about my invitations to play.
'How do you keep it looking nice?'
'How do you stop the children from destroying it?'
'How do you stop children adding different items to it?'

Here are my thoughts....
I set up invitations to play for children! It isn't for me, or social media, it is for children to explore, discover, learn and play! How they engage with the experience is entirely up to them (as long as they are being safe). I have no expectations on how this play should unfold, it is their time, their space, their learning opportunities so it is up to the children on how they interpret the experience.

I set my experiences up to look appealing for the children as this keeps them engaged for longer. I have no expectations or ideations on keeping it looking nice, in fact I prefer the exact opposite! Experiences 'messed up' are experiences thoroughly explored! When the children have finished with the experience, they often help clean it up or reset it to play with it again. Sometimes, they don't want to help and that's ok! It honestly doesn't take that long to clean up or reset.

Allowing children to add different items to the experience, allows them to extend on their own learning. Giving children the opportuny to make choices provides them with a sense of autonomy and control which enriches their learning experiences.

With the lovely warm weather we have had last week and my little friends love of sensory exploration, I set up this super simple sea and sand tray. Who would have thought some sand, water, sea creatures and shells would keep little people engaged for over 1hr on multiple days! I saw animals swimming, shells scooping, animals hiding in sand, measuring cups added to scoop and pour, sink and float experimenting, sand castles being built and so much more! Yes, changes of clothes were needed 🫣🤣

Invitations to play are just that! Opportunities for children to play and learn! They dont need to stay looking pretty! ❤️

♦️‼️ Redtember- Week of 16th Sept ‼️♦️

We are once again taking part in Redtember to help raise money and support Ronald McDonald House Charities Central West NSW.
In conjunction with Bathurst High School, this great cause can be done on any day in September, however, I have chosen to do it for the whole week so more of us can get involved!

Last year, I was blown away by the generosity and kindness from my families and especially my little friends!
Little Penguins FDC will be wearing red for Ronald MCDonald House Charities all week 16th September to 20nd September and invite all our community and friends to participate. Please upload any photos in the comments and donations can be made via the link attached.
Ronald McDonald House Charities is such a worthy cause and they help so many families in their time of need! This charity has touched us personally here at Little Penguins FDC, making us even more keen to raise as much money as possible!

https://fundraise.rmhc.org.au/fundraisers/littlepenguins

Kate Bolt I'm raising money for a cause close to my heart and would love your support.

Each month, I host a playgroup for local FDC educators. This morning we got to enjoy the glorious sunshine with some sensory exploration.

⭐️📚All ready for Book Week! 📚⭐️

Reading books is a huge part of our daily program here at Little Penguins FDC so we are super excited for Book Week!!

Here are some bookish play experiences my little friends get to explore this week. Bookish play enhances children's imagination and brings some of their most beloved stories to life. ❤️

Providing children with a variety of natural, wooden and felt open ended resources fosters children's imagination, STEM learning, literacy concepts, and creativity. By having these resources available on open shelves allows children to make their own choices in their play.

Children are such capable learners and when we sit back and watch their play unfold, we see just how incredible play can be. Look at the independent play that has unfolded recently ❤️❤️

One of the many things I love about Family Day Care is that every day is unpredictable! Some days we go on big adventures, some days we get so engaged in various activities and some days we sit and read books! Yesterday was one of those quiet days where we found a comfy spot and my little friends chose a mountain of books for me to read. By the end of the day, we read over 30 stories!!!

Responding to children's needs is my most important job as an educator so our day was adjusted and planned experiences were put on hold while we had lots of cuddles and emerged ourselves in the many stories we read.

It is OK to have quiet days. It is OK for things to not go as planned. Stop and listen to our little people as they often communicate what they need ❤️

Showcasing our range of First Nations Books to celebrate and recognise NAIDOC Week. Books are such an incredible resource to expose all children to our Indigenous Culture. A lot of these books and resources on bottom shelf were purchased from The Koori Curriculum.

What an honour it so be nominated by two of my incredible families. I absolutely love what I do and to receive this recognition from a family is the highest compliment. The lovely words that came along with my nomination brought tears to me eyes and made me feel like a winner already! ❤️❤️

❄️ Exploring Winter with shredded paper and loose parts for children to extend on their creativity and imagination! ❄️

⭐️ ANNOUNCEMENT: 2025 ENROLMENTS⭐️

I would like to thank everyone for supporting my service. I am blown away by the amount of constant enquiries I am receiving.

Unfortunately, I am unable to offer care for new families in 2025 as I continue to be at capacity.

Thanks for your continued support ❤️

Our ocean has so many wonderful creatures to explore. Add in a beautiful coral playscape (from Tara Treasures) and a gorgeous book and we have a magical set up for children to engage with 🐠🪸🐟

A cloudy day, mirrors and paint! A simple experience for so much fun and exploration!

🐧🐧🐧 3 YEARS 🐧🐧🐧

Can you believe it has been 3 years since I opened my FDC doors for the very first time?

This journey has been incredible and I feel so fortunate to be able to do what I love every single day! 3 years of love, laughter and sooo much fun with all my little friends!

Shout out to The Sweet Creative Balloons for the gorgeous balloon bouquet and chocolates for our little celebration yesterday!

Also, a huge thankyou to Little Cookie Crew for these super adorable cookies that were a huge hit!