2024 - Term 3 - Week 10
- Saturday 14th September - Thanksgiving Mass - Confirmation Cake and Certificate - 5.30pm
- Sunday 15th September - Thanksgiving Mass - Confirmation Cake and Certificate - 10.30am
- Monday 16th September - Young Engineers Club 3.30pm
- Tuesday 17th September - Write a Book in a Day (some students)
- Thursday 19th September - Year 6 Science Incursion - Telethon Kids
- Friday 20th September - Senior Assembly 2.30pm
- Monday 7th October - Pupil Free Day
- Tuesday 8th October - Term 4 resumes
- Tuesday 8th October - Year 6 Spelling Bee
- Wednesday 9th October - Year 5 Spelling Bee
- Thursday 10th October - Year 4 Spelling Bee
- Thursday 10th October - Year 3 Sacrament of Reconciliation Rehearsal 5.30pm
- Friday 11 October - Grandparents Concert and Morning Tea 9.30am
School Age Play - why it's important
Children develop a lot at 6-9 years. And to grow and thrive in these early school years, children need plenty of time to play. Play helps children develop in many ways.
For example, play and games with simple rules can help your child get used to the more formal learning structures that she’s experiencing at school. This kind of play also teaches your child about taking turns, which is important for making and keeping friends.
At this age, your child might develop new hobbies and interests through play. For example, your child might start to read more and really enjoy books and magazines about things that interest him – motorbikes, horses, bugs and more. These kinds of activities encourage your child to keep following his own interests and learn for himself.
Children also enjoy challenge and risk in play. This might be climbing trees or going fast on bikes or scooters. When children take these types of risks, they’re building physical and problem-solving skills. They’re also learning about their physical and emotional limits.
By nine years, playing with others might have helped your child to form some special friendships, probably with children of the same gender. School-age friendships are important for your child’s development, but your child also needs to know she’s still important to you. Playing with your child – like kicking a footy in the backyard or cooking together – can help to keep you close and strengthen your relationship.
Even though your child will probably enjoy the new adventure of school, he’ll still need your guidance and support to deal with any worries or concerns that come up. Playing with your child will help to keep the lines of communication open.
Why is play so important for child development? Play gives children different sensory, physical and cognitive experiences. Experiences build connections in the brain, which helps children develop physically, cognitively, socially and emotionally. That’s why children’s play is like ‘fireworks’ going off in the brain.
Structured play and self-directed play
Your child’s day is now more structured to fit around school. Sometimes parents worry that their child isn’t doing enough structured activities after school like sport or music lessons.
In fact, self-directed, unstructured play – where children decide for themselves what they want to do and how to do it – is really valuable. That’s because it gives children time to:
- let their thoughts and imaginations roam
- explore ideas and think creatively
- choose activities that match moods – for example, if your child is feeling full of energy, she might want and need to be physically active.
Play ideas and games for school children
Your school-age child might enjoy some of these unstructured play activities:
- Outdoor play: your child can ride bikes (with trainer wheels, if needed, and a helmet) and other wheeled toys, run around at the local park, or go for a walk with you and some friends.
- Art and craft: simple or natural materials can let your school-age child express his creativity. Try materials like feathers, leaves, bark, sticks, coloured papers, crayons, scraps of fabric, glue, paints, beads and so on. Your child could make a puppet, do a collage or just draw and paint.
- Dress-up games: these are great for pretend play. They let your child explore emotions and try out different roles like being a pilot or doctor. All your child needs are some old clothes and simple props like old hats or handbags.
- Sound and music play: activities like jumping and dancing to music, or making and playing simple homemade instruments, are good for expressing emotions and imagination.
One or two structured after-school activities are usually enough to keep your child busy. But if you’re thinking of getting your child involved in some more structured play, it can be good to choose activities that you can share with your child. Your child might enjoy:
- playing outdoor games like football, soccer, netball or backyard cricket
- doing puzzles and jigsaws or playing simple card games, board games or memory games
- doing craft kits.
Play and screen time
Screen use and digital technology is likely to be part of your child’s play experience. That’s fine – it’s all about helping your child achieve a healthy approach to screen time. This means balancing screen use with other activities that are good for development, like outdoor play, pretend play, reading and social play.
It’s also good to know that digital technology can spark your child’s play and imagination. And when your child does use digital technology for play, here are a few things you can do to help your child get the most out of it:
- choose age-appropriate apps, games and other media
- use screens with your child
- encourage your child to have healthy screen posture
- help your child manage screen time.
Kind regards
Kath Warburton
Social Worker
Available Tuesday - Thursday
