Cultural Activities
WEEK OF
THE SENSES
In the first years of life, the senses are the means by which children learn about the world around them. As they develop their senses, they progress in the knowledge and construction of an increasingly complete physical and social world. Hence the importance of working on sensory stimulation and development in the infant education classroom, as the senses are our body’s means of communication with the outside world and allow us to relate to the environment in a safe and independent way”. For this reason, during this week we dedicate each day to a sense as a summary of the course:
MONDAY
TOUCH
It allows the little ones to discover the world around them, so it is important to let them experiment with different textures, temperatures and shapes.
TUESDAY
SMELL
This is one of the senses that awakens the most memories and playing with smells allows the child to recognize objects. This olfactory information helps them to get to know the environment around them, helping them to develop their imagination, perception and sensitivity, where they can enjoy the different aromas and smells: rosemary, cinnamon, soap, cologne…
WEDNESDAY
SIGHT
The last sense to mature, so we must offer children a multitude of opportunities, through educational games, to help them recognize different colours, shapes, movements and the whole world around them.
THURSDAY
HEARING
Stimulating this sense is fundamental as its development is linked to the acquisition of language. In addition, children have enormous musical potential, so we must provide them with numerous experiences and opportunities to help their development, which will help them to grow up with greater creativity and sensitivity to the world around them.
FRIDAY
TASTE
From an early age, they have the ability to distinguish different types of flavours and detect them through different taste buds: sweet, salty, sour and bitter; therefore, we offer children different foods to taste different flavours and try new textures.3
SEASONAL
FESTIVALS
During the school year there are various cultural festivals and festive-social days such as: Autumn Day, Carnival, Peace Day, Andalusia Day, Cultural Week… On these days, we will celebrate a small party in which we all participate, offering the children the opportunity to establish relationships with their peers and with adults as well as relating the different events.
CHESTNUT DAY
Autumn activity; we bring a “real” chestnut seller to school with his stall, which we place in the garden and he offers us chestnuts, prepared in paper cartridges… There is also one for the parents as we put one in the children’s backpacks, so that they can explain it to mum and dad.
THEATRE: BOOK DAY
A story is prepared for our children, performed by the educational team, and the garden is adapted to become the stage for the play.
CHRISTMAS PART
Every year just before Christmas, so that all the children can take part before they start their holidays, we make our Living Nativity Scene, in which the whole school takes part: from the baby Jesus, who is represented by a baby from their class, to Saint Joseph, who is represented by a child from the Senior class. The parents come to see us and then the Three Wise Men come to “El Jardín de Añoreta” to give us lots and lots of sweets and give out presents. Once our “big party” is over, parents, children and teachers all together, have a snack and comment on the event…
CULTURAL WEEK
In the last term, during one week we work on a theme: Andalusian Capitals, Circus, Professions… we work with murals, typical dances, foods, and on the last day we complement it with an outing or an activity within the school on the theme we are looking at. It is very positive for the children in all aspects.
BROTHERHOOD EVENTS.
PROCESSION
During Holy Week, every Friday of Sorrows, we take out two thrones made by us… With a Christ and a Virgin. The whole Infant School takes part, from the babies who form the “Tribune of the Poor”, the children in the first year classes who go out as Nazarenes and the older children who carry the thrones and make up the musical band. This activity helps them to get to know our culture and promotes the relationship with their peers and their elders. Of course, the parents who can come to see us…
GRANDPARENTS' PARTY
On this day we have a special breakfast with the grandparents, who play such an important role with our children. We all enjoy the morning together, grandparents, grandchildren and teachers. In the days previous, in the different classrooms, especially in the older ones, we explain the role of grandparents and the important role they play in different families.
ROAD SAFETY EDUCATION WEEK
Activities planned on the basis of a reality familiar to children, as walking through the streets around them or travelling by car with their parents is an everyday occurrence. The project is based on one of the key interests of children at this age: cars and tricycles. Using the resource of “play”, they learn the rules for their safety in a simple way, they participate actively, they discover and learn, educating them to respect the rules of road safety education so that they become citizens. We transform the school playground into a road safety circuit where the children can ride around on tricycles, remembering the signs and rules that we have taught them during various classroom activities. This space allows us to recreate the real street space without risk. It is of great importance for children’s road safety as it will avoid and prevent possible accidents, thanks to the correct use of traffic lights, pedestrian crossings, learning how to cross, etc. The knowledge they learn in their childhood will serve them for the rest of their lives. They will know how to identify and interpret traffic signs.
VISIT
THE FARM SCHOOL
Once in the course, we take the children to the Farm School, by bus, which is equipped with special seatbelts for the children as they are very small, and of course with the prior authorization of the parents. There they learn to distinguish farm animals, their food, their behaviour, their handling… During this last week in the classrooms there are didactic units about these animals.
END OF SCHOOL PARTY
We hold two parties, always on Thursday and Friday in mid-June so as not to coincide with the schools and not to importune parents who have several children. On Thursday we celebrate the one for the youngest children, with the infant and one year old classes, they perform a performance, which is usually a dance and then we all get together, parents, children and teachers have a snack to talk about the artists. On Friday, although it is a very special day, it is also a bit sad, because our eldest pupils are leaving us. They do two performances, usually a dance and some theatre: a story, an advert… and then they graduate: we prepare them with the scholarships, coloured bags, yellow and orange, the colours of the nursery and the birettas made by us. It is a very solemn and emotional act, in which after coming out to the rhythm of the hymn we give them a diploma and a bag of sweets for champions, after which, all together, children, teachers and parents, who were previously given a brochure with the performances and the lyrics of the hymn when they entered, sing the hymn of “El Jardín de Añoreta”. Then, as on the previous day, we have a snack and talk about how sad we feel because they are leaving and how happy we are to see how they have grown and progressed since they entered as babies.