Children donned their favourite costumes as part of Book Week celebrations across Gowrie services.

At Clare Court, children were supported in being authors of their own unique stories. With a studio set up, they participated in numerous experiences including reading books aloud with a writing-focus where children and educators were encouraged to notice and discuss the choices made by the author and illustrator. There were also writing workshops where the children could explore their own interests through writing and illustrating their own books.

The idea was to celebrate children as authors and illustrators. “We’ll be creating a special display that celebrates their work and invites our learning community to read and appreciate their creations,” says Educational Leader Sarah. “Books are meant to be read and re-read, and by sharing their writing with multiple audiences our children will experience the joy and pride of being published authors.”

Bookmaking is a fun way for children to start learning about reading and writing. The benefits include:

Seeing themselves as writers
Thinking deeply about their ideas and how to write and draw them
Developing critical and creative thinking skills
Building their speaking and listening skills
Being empowered to create texts that communicate their ideas
Developing a love for reading and writing
Learning and applying reading strategies
Understanding how books work

At The Harbour, the children in Ngargee had been exploring food as an area of interest in the program for some time now. The interest came about through children’s noticing’s during mealtimes and parent feedback about challenges in encouraging their children to eat a diverse range of foods. As such, the children explored books such as The Very Hungry Caterpillar which showcases foods. The children continued this exploration throughout Book Week and made some delicious strawberry ice-blocks to have with their afternoon tea.

At Broadmeadows Valley, the children learnt what characters are through reading sessions. “When we read stories to the children, we used the word ‘character’ when asking the children questions about the story,” says Early Childhood Teacher, Natasha. “For example, how is the character feeling? Or what is the character doing? We explained how characters are people in the books who help tell the stories.”

Of course, the children also got to dress up in costumes for the week. “When children would arrive for the day, their peers would come up to them and point out who they were dressed up as and then look at their own costumes and say if they had the same outfits or were a different character,” says Natasha. It wasn’t just the children though, even the educators had fun being involved in the dress ups.

The children were invited to attend and participate in the Broadmeadows Valley Primary School Book Week parade where they got to see lots of other children and teachers dressed up and then had the opportunity to go on stage and do their own parade for everyone.

Overall, Book Week across Gowrie was a lot of fun but also an educational experience for the children and educators. Children learnt to explore their creativity through writing and illustrating, learning about diverse foods, and understanding what a character is and how it fits into a story.