Slovenska Mama

Every year we invite individual parents into our group – parents of an interesting profession that are able to present a fraction of their work to the children.

A restorer's Visit - Painting on dry plaster

We got to know color pigments, we used them to paint on dry plaster and we used stamps to create golden colored prints. Each child received an already prepared angular piece of dry plaster on styrofoam. Every child decided on their own how they wanted to paint the empty space. Together we assembled the parts to create a whole, and that is how we created a group mural.

(The stamps made out of potatoes. Golden color was used for the prints)

How do we celebrate birthdays in our group?

In addition to dancing and listening to music that the children pick for their birthday celebration, we can also discover and learn many interesting things.

It was agreed with the parents that they would create a motoric, didactic or board game for their child's birthday. They would make it using packaging waste, fabric…

A few examples: A boy's mom crocheted colorful balls and filled them with rice. A boy's dad prepared a stand, and his mom sewed a canvas and cut out circles, which she then outlined using different color ribbons. The children then had to find a hole that was the same color as the ball and try to throw a ball into it. The smaller the hole, more points they would get for scoring.

Another mom prepared a jigsaw puzzle of a photo of our group that we took while we were on a farm and we visited the birthplace of a Slovenian children's book author.

This girl's mom prepared dominoes featuring all of the participating countries' flags we got to know during the parents' visits to the kindergarten, and the symbols representing our group, kindergarten, town.

Saša and Maja from the neighboring group prepared Bingo – bird species in Slovenia, where we learned about different birds and took a look at the photos.

During the fairytale that was told to us by a girl that didn't wear glasses, we realized why some of us wear glasses.

A boy that was interested in science and his mom told the children about how volcanoes work. We watched a video of volcano and geyser eruptions on YouTube and talked about natural disasters.

How do we communicate with different nations?

During the first project that took place six years ago, where we were cooperating with Portuguese teachers and educators, we were gifted with an interesting motoric game on the big screen that comes in handy for the future generations as well.

The children learn English vocabulary the playful way. They roll a dice and then have to jump and count in English, depending on a number of dots on the dice.

We can make up new rules of the game or play by the given ones. The children jump on the canvas or walk barefoot.

The game is played by four children. They are wearing hats of the participating countries on their heads. One child rolls the dice. The first one to start is determined using counting-out rhymes. When everyone is lined up, they jump at the same time and simultaneously look at what is pictured beneath them, and then try to say that word in English.

The children can also only work on their balance and tiptoe to the finish line as fast as they can.

• If you jump on the picture with an object in it, you have to say that word in English. You count aloud how many times you need to jump, determined by the number of dots on the dice.

• The game can be played by two people – one of them is rolling the dice and the other one is counting and jumping on the spirally shaped playing surface. Then they switch places.