Blackwater Tiny Tots Centre in Blackwater, Queensland | Childcare service

Blackwater Tiny Tots Centre

Locality: Blackwater, Queensland

Phone: +61 7 4982 5571

Address: 51 Hunter Street 4717 Blackwater, QLD, Australia

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• Childcare service
• Nursery

25.01.2022 What a beautiful day at Tots! We took the bikes out of play today and it dramatically altered the play dynamic. There was a lot more collaborative play, less arguments and more dramatic/imaginative play. We will be leaving the bikes in the shed for a while to have a play reset. Some of our Tots have been stressed about the whole ongoing virus situation, they have made a number of comments in the last few weeks that indicate to us that they are feeling stressed about it a...ll. Today we watched the QLD Health video called Birdie and the Virus, an animated story made especially to help children understand in an age appropriate way. One of the suggestions on the video was that maybe having a mask can make you feel safer. So we got out our masks that we made earlier in the year and let them choose one. This serves as something they can transfer those insecure feelings to, if I have my mask at Tots then I can feel safe. It also serves the purpose to introduce masks to them in a play situation, so that if the need arose, they would already be familiar with the concept. It also allows them to process any feelings they might be having surrounding 2020 in general through play. https://www.childrens.health.qld.gov.au/covid-19-birdie-vi/

24.01.2022 Just a reminder that all preference forms for next year are due back today. For everyone that has returned their paperwork, your 2021 enrolment packages are in your pockets or I will arrange delivery asap. Please complete the 2021 enrolment forms and return to the office by October 30th. Also anyone that has paperwork for next term, it is due in today or you risk losing the offered spot. This only applies to people who have been given paperwork from us to complete. I will not hold spots open indefinitely while waiting for people to return paperwork.

23.01.2022 We are super excited that our carrots were ready to pull out of the garden today. Our tots all got to try some, although a few didn’t like them, most of our tots did. We only had a small group today so we got to have lots of one on one time doing puzzles, dancing and making masterpieces out of play doh. It was really nice to be able to spend that time with the children.we had some water play in the sandpit, and the children decided to fill their watering cans and water the plants. It’s great to see our tots learning about sustainability and our environment. We had another go at decorating the Christmas tree, and everyone loves the Christmas dress ups. It’s been a great day.

23.01.2022 Not a lot of photos today sorry as I brought the wrong iPad home with me. Ironic as today was an iPad day. The lovely people from Thiess donated a brand new iPad to Tots, we are extremely fortunate to have such strong community partnerships and support from the large businesses in town. This new iPad is going to be used as an inclusion support device, we will be uploading the app Proloque2go on it, which is a communication aid, once we obtain funding to purchase it. This ...will give all children in our service a voice, especially those that struggle with communicating their wants and needs. Im not going to lie, I had a few tears today as this is a much needed and very gratefully received item. Our Tots were amazing when our visitors came, very polite and chatty. They even had them all making play dough cakes, the Thiess representatives said theyd much rather stay at Tots all day than go back to work.

23.01.2022 We had a Fantastic Monday lots of creativity with the play dough, seed pods, shells and natural materials. Experimenting with the coloured water, tipping pouring and bathing the animals. We enjoyed some dancing while chasing the bubbles, so much fun was had by all.

21.01.2022 This is so relevant right now.

21.01.2022 The children had a great Friday, exploring with the water play, dancing, playing hair dressers, experimenting with the ball run, drawing around each other with chalk, bathing the babies, and making lots of new friendships.

21.01.2022 Another chilled out day today at Tots, everyone was happy and relaxed. We are starting to notice how much of a jump everyones development is taking and many of our older short day Tots are moving seamlessly towards their transition to kindy next year. Our classroom behaviour management strategies are once again paying off, proving as always that a little bit of ground work each day goes a long way towards a calm and respectful environment. By setting our our few ground rules every day, by having clear guidelines and boundaries, our Tots understand what our expectations are from day one. Providing supoort for them through these processes and teaching in the positive has gone a long way towards our (mostly) super calm days.

20.01.2022 What a lovely start to the week, lots of building, collage, painting planets on the foam spheres, jumping on the mats and lots of imaginary play being mum, dads, babies and puppies. The children work so well together helping each other when needed, sharing, taking turns and listening to each other and their needs.

20.01.2022 Thank-you to those who were able to attend our General Meeting yesterday. We covered alot of topics for the remaining of 2020. - Appreciation to Thiess for thei...r generous donation of a new Ipad and case. This has allowed us to have an Ipad for our TOTS useage for which we have purchased some valuable educational apps to assist with children needing that little extra support. - As we are all well aware, COVID-19 has had a major impact on 2020, with the current restrictions still in place and the safety of our community following school holidays, we have come to the decision our annual Halloween Disco will not occur this year, however we are already eagerly planning to be back bigger and better next year. - Our traditional Christmas break-up will also be effected due to the size of the area we have but we are currently working out plans to have smaller Christmas events so please check in on our page notices for those next term once finalised. - Our Kindy graduation will occur the same as last year and be a seperate event to our Christmas Parties to allow the families of our graduating TOTS to attend without breaching numbers. - For something a little different this year, we are looking at Graduation shirts for our Kindy TOTS. These shirts will have all the children's first names on the back of the shirt along with out TOTS logo and the front of the shirt will be a design similar to the image attached to this post. These will be available to order for $20 for those who wish to purchase their child a shirt to please contact Kirsty-Anne Melvin (send a message through to our Commitee page) for an order form and payment. - Miss Gini has had a fantastic response to the return of her Metafit and yoga classes at TOTS post COVID-19 lockdown on fitness classes. We really appreciate all the work she puts into these classes and the support she receives for them. We hope everyone has a wonderful time over the holidays and we look forward to seeing all our TOTS in term 4!

20.01.2022 I am seeing an increasing trend happening at the moment. Many parents are struggling with their children's behaviour at home and some are at a loss as to what to do about it. I am sure that for every one person that has spoken to me about it, there are many more that are saying nothing. There is so much happening this year, everyone's lives have been tipped upside down and COVID is proving to be the gift that keeps on giving. This has raised everyone's anxiety and stress... levels, and children are often a good barometer of what is going on around them, in their community. While the whole COVID situation has been like a slow moving tsunami, rather than a sudden event like an earthquake or cyclone, it is still just as impacting on people's mental health. The whole stress of it has been dragging on for six months now, with no real definitive end in sight. This has an effect in a multitude of little (and big) ways to how people feel. It can feel like we are in limbo, that everyone just wants to get to that sweet point where we can go 'Yay, it is over and we can move on'. It has been a very long winter, that effectively started back at the end of term one, not in terms of temperature, but in terms of hibernation. Many parents are reporting that their children are having big meltdowns, not listening, fighting... more in the extreme than normal. If you are struggling with this, don't hesitate to come talk to us, you are not alone. We have definitely noticed a more heightened level of anxiety within the playground and a lot of separation anxiety as well, which is not that normal for Tots. Even though our little people are just that... little, they often are aware of so much more than we ever give them credit for. If you ever need to talk, we are here with a listening ear!

20.01.2022 Don't forget to hand your preference form for next year in. Spots are filling fast!

19.01.2022 We had an exciting morning this morning, one of our tots brought in their 4 week old puppies for show and tell. They were such big puppies as they are Great Danes. The children loved them and we could hear lots of "aww" "they're so cute". We continued on with the children's role play of making ice creams in the ice cream shop. We used scented playdoh as the ice cream and paper plates as the ice cream cones. The children made watermelon, chocolate and strawberry flavours, they had a ball. We had some cellmix painting, some tracing activities and long jump athletics outside in the sandpit, it's been a wonderful day.

19.01.2022 There will be a General Meeting held on WEDNESDAY 16TH SEPTEMBER at 12pm. We invite all our Tots members to attend

18.01.2022 We had so much happening today at tots. The children have been loving the outdoors with this awesome weather. They have been getting involved in their experiences by helping to make things such as play-doh, slime and painting activities. The children have been really getting into the sensory activities and some of them have been leaving them very colourful. It's been an awesome Thursday at Tots.

18.01.2022 The tots had a wonderful day dressing up, dancing, spray painting the fence, colour mixing water to use for their mud cakes, decorating the Christmas tree, and lots of role play with the cars.

17.01.2022 Fantastic Friday all wrapped up We made puppets to add to our much loved stories Thelma the Unicorn and Im a Dirty Dinosaur, built castles with giant Lego, created in the sandpit, constructed towers with the magnetic squares, cooked and created marvellous meals, sang songs and enjoyed sharing time with our friends.

16.01.2022 A musical Wednesday where we danced to the beat and sung and swung our hearts out. We have made paper Xmas trees and had a lovely day together.

16.01.2022 Wonderful Wednesday all wrapped up. A fantastic day with lots of construction play and exploring with magnets strengthening our fine motor skills. Balancing, digging and being creative in the sandpit. It was a fun day for all

16.01.2022 Sorry about missing yesterday's post, we are having issues getting our iPads to join together so we can access photos off them all.

16.01.2022 Extending on from the children's interests from the ice cream shops that we have been having in the playground, we made our own ice cream today. We all took part in helping shake the ice cream to help it set which was lots of fun. We especially enjoyed the taste testing part with sprinkles.

16.01.2022 I think I have finally managed to sort out our IPad issues! Yesterdays post, today We made some play dough pizzas, our Tots really enjoyed it so we might make some real pizzas next week. Mrs E from Bluff State School came to visit us yesterday, as part of the transition to prep process. The Tots affectionately named her Mrs Bluff . It was another chilled out day full of laughter and sunshine.

15.01.2022 Just to clarify, in case of confusion. As posted earlier in the term: there is no Christmas party this year as per advice from the Department of Education. Due to the fact that we have well in excess of 200 people in our grounds during an average years party, we would have blown the current COVID regulations for gatherings. We will be doing daily activities with the children in the last week of term, which include a slip and slide water play area and drive in movies (don't forget to bring a box for a car). Children will still receive their Christmas bag at the end with a present and their presents for you. The graduation ceremony next Thursday is completely separate and is open only to Kindy parents. This is where we say an official goodbye to our Kindy tots as they head off to prep next year.

14.01.2022 Today the children had a great time putting up our Christmas tree and decorating it. We also learnt about shapes and sang some Christmas songs using musical instruments, after that the children went outsid and created their own musical instruments and played along together. Some of the children tried a game of long jump in the sandpit, and we finished off the day with treasure box.

14.01.2022 Don't forget, the kindy graduation is next week, on Thursday at 1.30pm. Parents of graduates are welcome to attend! In lieu of our Christmas party, we will be having Christmas week in the last week of term. We will be doing water play and drive in movies with treats, so pack lots of wet play clothing and a box for a car. Even though the threat of COVID has diminished in our area, recent events in Southern Australia have shown just how easily it can make a comeback. With ...borders opening (and closing), there is always potential for outbreaks anywhere. In light of this, we are continuing with our temperature testing and COVID measures indefinitely. We have noticed that incidences of staff illness this year have been way down compared to other years, with the more stringent measures in place. There have been times in the past where we have barely managed to keep the centre operating due to mass staff illness. We will continue to send home children that are showing signs of illness, this is the standard that has always been in place under our regulations (Quality Area 2, Element 2.1.4, Element 2.3). Please don't be upset with us if your child is showing signs of illness while in service, our responsibility is to minimise the spread and protect everyone in service. On that note, please also be aware that we are in the staph/school sore time of the year with humidity and temperatures rising, as well as the mozzie boom over the last month or so. If children have sores, they must not come to service if the sores are open or weeping. They can attend if the sore has skinned over and is completely covered with a bandaid. Please keep an eye on any sores that arise from mozzie bites as your child may need antibiotics if it becomes inflamed, weepy and angry red looking. School sores are highly contagious, there will be no exceptions to these requirements.

13.01.2022 We have a new app called Chatterkids that we are trialing. It allows our Tots to put their own voices to their artworks, and create a dialogue/story to go with their work. This supports their language development, both verbally and towards written language in years to come. We will post their videos as they make them.

13.01.2022 It has been a creative day today, lots of glue, glittering and art happening. We also made some iced rice thins as a cooking activity and to aid with fine motor skills. We had a very small group today and in general, everyone was very relaxed.

12.01.2022 Lots of indoor, outdoor action today with plenty of fun had in block corner and with the magnetic tiles. The sand pit was a fossicking site with Tots looking for gems and magic stones. We practiced our life skills with a few Tots interested in folding and putting away our washing (which was super helpful), plus all the usual favourites of painting, sensory exploration and shared group times.

12.01.2022 As we move towards the end of what has been a very difficult year, please take time to look after your mental health. It is ok not to be ok. Many people in rural remote areas don't like to admit they may need a little bit of support now and then, and don't like to access help from organisations that are removed from their vicinity. If you feel that you are needing support over the holiday season, and don't want to access places like Lifeline/Parentline, there is a rural remote specific organisation that can help. Please access this if you need to, they offer many different services. https://www.unitingcareqld.com.au//outback-famil/wellbeing

12.01.2022 Plenty of water play to keep cool today, water sliding, sprinklers and swimming in the water troughs. Miss Amy brought in her pet stick bug for everyone to have a look at. We also enjoyed decorating our gingerbread men and tasting them.

11.01.2022 We had a special photographer today, she was exploring her curiosity while snapping some awesome pictures of her friends going down the water slide. She also snapped a few good pics of miss Nikki and miss Amy. The children showed some awesome hair dressing skills today, doing Miss Emma’s hair in their salon. They each took turns of being the hairdresser and the client. The girls played mums and babies down the back in the humpy huts. The boys played on the bikes connecting them all together with the zippy ties to make a long train. It’s been a hot day and our tots are exhausted, but it’s still been a great day

10.01.2022 Please note that invoices were due last Friday the 14th of August. If your account is overdue please have this tidied up as soon as possible or come make payment arrangements with us in the office. Term 4 invoices will be going out in another week or two. Thank you

10.01.2022 Our 2020 Graduating kindy shirts are available for collection

10.01.2022 What a magical day we have had today. We followed on with our joy of all things natural, making perfumes and potions from herbs and spices. Planting magic seed gardens, blow painting with straws and ink and squelching in our sensory mud. Mrs Edwards from Bluff Primary School visited us again with a story to share and a platter. A fantastic day to finish off our term of long days, full of smiles and laughter and of the much anticipated Treasure Box!!

09.01.2022 Hi everyone! As you may be aware Term 4 invoices have gone out along with any outstanding fees from this term. Please note these need to be paid in full by the 6th of October. If you can not meet this requirement please come and see us in the office for a payment plan asap. If your account remains over due at the start of the term your child will be un able to attend the service. Please keep in mind any changes you wish to make to your child's enrolment need to have 2 weeks written notice or full charges will apply. While things have been a little different over Covid everyone signs to these terms in conditions in their child's enrolment and we are now officially back to normal practice. Thanks for all the understanding in these hectic times!

08.01.2022 It was a very serene day today, our Tots were calm and happy. We are seeing so much positive interaction happening from our intensive social and emotional skills program, so much kindness and respect happening among the children. Our space interest is beginning to die off so we are moving towards investigating Stone Age humans. We had a talk this afternoon about what it might be like to be a Stone Age kid, what would you use for toys, how would you get your food, what would your clothes be made from. We will be looking into this more in the coming weeks, and possibly having a toy free day sometime (plastic and manufactured toys) so they can experience that grass roots type of play that comes from pure imagination. We are excited to see what kind of play this brings out in our Tots.

07.01.2022 We have had a lovely calm day at Tots today, the children have enjoyed lots of quiet play activities. Sand playdough with shells, painting, catching bugs, Jack and the beanstalk imaginative play, cutting activities, made yummy pizza and generally had fun being in each others company.

06.01.2022 Our short day Tots just love to dress up and dance. They are always requesting this activity. The children enjoyed some pincer grip learning while enjoying some sensory through water play. The children had lots of fun today even though it wa such a hot one.

06.01.2022 I just realised I never put up a post on Friday. Obviously I had no brain cells left.

06.01.2022 We only had a small amount of children at tots today but we have a huge amount of fun. Lots of sensory experiences, lots of role play and home corner play and a lot of building and construction play inside. It's been a great day

06.01.2022 We had a fun time baking today and made some gingerbread cookies. Everyone loved eating them so they didn't run away like in the story. Miss Jo worked with our Tots on the letter X, learned about the planet Jupiter and read the Gingerbread Man story. A lot of our Tots were very tired today, we hope there isn't too many after school meltdowns happening this afternoon.

05.01.2022 Gosh it was a beautiful warm day today, our Tots were making the most of the weather. They weren't really interested in being inside at all. We had lots of music and dancing, physical play on the jump mats, sensory slime and some water play. We all commented today what lovely group of little people they are. Have a great weekend everyone!

05.01.2022 A wonderful Wednesday full of Christmas cheer and tinsel. We have made Xmas hats, painted, made marshmallow biscuits, played farms, swung and dug. Another glorious day!

04.01.2022 All purchases from issue 6 of Book Club will go in the draw for a $20 voucher for use in a future book club

03.01.2022 We have rolled, skipped and raced through our day. Cooking mucky cakes in the yard, banging drums and ringing bells. Thelma the unicorn made a special visit at story time too. The Tots have had another magic Monday

03.01.2022 Make sure you pack extra clothes and wet play gear over the next two weeks. Temps are set to soar and it's going to be hot!

03.01.2022 The children enjoyed lots of singing and dancing together, they used musical instruments and ribbons to play along with the music while they danced. There was also lots of building, jumping, digging, cooking, painting and working together to take turns and sharing the toys with each other. The social skills for this group of Tots is developing along great and they amaze us everyday. Have a great weekend everyone and we will see you next week.

03.01.2022 Congratulations Harley-Rose you have won our $20 voucher for this or the next book club issue

03.01.2022 What an adventurous day we had today! Our Tots made kites and streamers, made paper planes and tested them out, went deep sea fishing and caught a shark, and they engaged in a lot of sensory and craft play. We have noticed that everyone seems a lot more settled this week with the bikes being gone, so much so that they all earned a special treasure box day by being so kind to each other.

02.01.2022 Lots of investigating with the microscope today, the children were very intrigued with what they could see with the magnifying scope, and would find things in the playground to checkout. There was plenty of imaginative play in home corner, cooking each other dinner. The children were great at sharing and taking turns at cooking for each other. The Tots always love to have a go at the obstacle course, which they all did a great effort at. They then decided to change it up and create there own obstacle course for each other to try.

02.01.2022 Just a quick note for everyone at pick up times, we are concerned about children running off outside unattended among the general chaos. Not all parents come at the same time and we don't want any child escaping out the side gates as another family leaves. We are trying to cut down on children running around unattended inside the classroom as well, as this is just an accident waiting to happen. When we open the door and ask parents to come inside, don't be shy and please come right to the carpet to collect your child. We won't be releasing children from the carpet until someone is there to collect them. We are expecting that some of our Tots will not be happy about having to wait, but once they understand that it is part of the routine, they will accept that this is the way it has to be to keep everyone safe.

02.01.2022 Friday fun, with lots of dancing, water play, fishing, bathing babies, cooking in home corner, puzzles, dress ups and plenty of role play with their friends.

01.01.2022 Today was a fun filled day with bathing the babies, painting our aboriginal symbols on our material ready for our cushions, and the children made the Aboriginal symbols in the sand with the rakes. The Christmas tree decorating continued. Lots of cooking in the sandpit and with the coloured water and play dough. The children who attended transitions at school were all so excited to tell us about their morning.