Playball

This term the Possum and Koala group have commenced their weekly Playball sessions. Each week Russell and Sam come to Elonera and spend an hour with the children in small groups supporting and providing them with new skills.  Playball is a specialized and progressive sports coaching program for children. The main aims of the program are to encourage and develop leadership, good sportsmanship, persistence, concentration, focus and goal setting. In a fun and challenging environment it provides the children with the opportunity to have a happy and positive introduction to the world of sport, a healthy start to life.

Throughout each of the sessions the children’s physical skills, spatial awareness, balance and coordination are all practiced. As a new skill is introduced each child has the opportunity to practice it, whilst having the support from the Playball staff and their peers. Throughout the Playball program the children are able to practice many differing skills such as throwing and catching, eye-hand coordination, kicking, balancing, running and jumping and many more. Playball also integrates other areas of learning such as social skills as children are encouraged to take turns and support their peers. It is known that within Early Childhood that effective practices are those that use integrated teaching approaches and Playball incorporates varying learning areas within it’s program. Playball also supports children to be able to develop a strong sense of wellbeing, one of the five outcomes in the Victorian Early Years Learning and Development Framework.

At Elonera we continually provide opportunities within the learning environments to support children’s physical wellbeing. It is not only through structured experiences like Playball that children are developing their skills, however regularly throughout the day and experiences offered within the kinder program.

The Elonera Teaching Staff