Jul 31, 20236 min read

Five essential developmental skills for children through the power of play with TG's Child Care

Updated: Apr 10

✦ TG's Child Care supports the essential skills children need to grow to reach their potential, and it's all done with fun, joy and laughter!

Families always warmly welcome TG's Child Care into their communities. We know it takes a village to raise a child, and in our modern parenting lifestyles, TG's has totally stepped up to take on this role to support families. TG's is a home away from home, and it is the extended family both children and Educators love going to every day.

Many families express concern and doubts about parenting and they all want the best for their children. It is a relief knowing they have the support of experts in early childhood education who go above and beyond in committing to caring for their children.

TG's Child Care understands the essential developmental milestones necessary for children to experience. There are five key areas of development TG's focuses on. These are:

gross motor skills
fine motor skills
speech and language
cognitive and intellectual skills
social and emotional skills

These are blended into the Early Years Learning Framework curriculum which also has five learning outcomes.

Learning Outcome 1: Children have a strong sense of identity
Learning Outcome 2: Children are connected with and contribute to their world
Learning Outcome 3: Children have a strong sense of wellbeing
Learning Outcome 4: Children are confident and involved learners
Learning Outcome 5: Children are effective communicators

When a child steps into TG's, they go through these experiences in a safe, loving and nurturing environment. And the best part is, they are playing through it all, making learning a natural and lifelong process for them.

1. Gross Motor Skills

“Their minds were not built to sit and be taught. They were built to explore, play, and learn.” - Layla Gordon Lu

Let's go on a bear hunt! Children are natural explorers and their curious minds are always hungry to discover what's in each nook and cranny. It is in exploring that gross motor skills play a vital role in a child's physical development. Whether it's crawling, squelching in the mud, balancing on tree stumps or running on the sand, their little bodies are getting stronger and more agile even as they learn about the environment around them.

That is why TG's nature-based award-winning gardens are an important element of play. These natural outdoor environments have been carefully designed by Trevor and Gayle to be exciting and dynamic places for children. This is where the children can explore and develop in a way that challenges and supports both fine and gross motor skills. It also builds curiosity, social and emotional intelligence, encourages active and passive play and there is something to suit each child's unique interests and needs.

Playing is Learning for Life at TG's Award Winning Gardens

Designing TG’s Child Care Magical Gardens

At TG's Urangan, the children go on beach and bush kindys or go on excursions to the beautiful Hervey Bay Botanical Gardens where there is ample space in nature for them to help strengthen their muscles, improve coordination, and enhance their balance and spatial awareness. Under the Educators' care, the children are free to be little explorers and release their energy in a safe environment.

How TG’s Child Care Indigenous Program aligns with the Early Years Learning Framework

2. Fine Motor Skills

“It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge.” - Albert Einstein

Children naturally embrace the art of creating and manipulating objects, materials, textures, colours. Fine motor skills involve the development of precise hand and finger movements. These skills are crucial for tasks such as writing, drawing, buttoning shirts, and tying shoelaces. When children engage in activities like painting, coloring, puzzles, and building blocks, they enhance their hand-eye coordination, dexterity, and finger strength.

TG's Educators are always there to encourage and celebrate as the children go through their individual creative processes. Problem-solving skills, learning to handle frustration and disappointments are also very much found in creative processes. TG's Educators play an important role here as they provide the warm, loving, nurturing element for the children to feel safe to try and experiment. And as we all well know, FUN is always the order of the day in any activity at TG's!

3. Speech and Language

"The most basic of all human needs is the need to understand and be understood. The best way to understand people is to listen to them." - Ralph G. Nichols

At TG's, everyone's voice is valued and heard. This is where children learn their voice matters. Listening is key in creating a respectful, kind and loving environment at TG's. The ability to communicate effectively is a cornerstone of human interaction.

Speech and language development encompasses not only verbal expression but also listening, comprehension, and vocabulary expansion. Through reading aloud, engaging in conversations, and exposing children to a variety of words, Educators help build their language skills. Additionally, imaginative play, storytelling, and rhyme time sessions can stimulate their creativity and make language learning fun, paving the way for strong communication skills. You can be a pirate on an old boat in TG's gardens one day, and the next you can be a doctor looking after all the baby dolls in the room! There is no limit to a child's imagination, and TG's Educators hold this immense space for the children to let their imagination fly.

Educator reading the Speedy Sloth | TG's Child Care | Brilliant-Online

4. Cognitive and Intellectual Skills

"Wonder is the seed of knowledge." - Francis Bacon

Child reading | TG's Child Care | Brilliant-Online

The world is a fascinating place, especially for young minds eager to learn and discover. Cognitive and intellectual development involves problem-solving, critical thinking, memory, and logical reasoning.

At TG's, Educators stimulate the children's curiosity with age-appropriate puzzles, games, and activities that challenge their minds. The children are encouraged to explore nature, engage in experiments, and develop a love for reading. By nurturing a life-long love for learning, a healthy dose of curiosity and giving them the safe space to ask questions, TG's is nurturing future innovators and lifelong learners.

5. Social and Emotional Skills

“The way we talk to our children becomes their inner voice.” – Peggy O’Mara

At TG's, Building Relationships is one of the three TG's Foundation Stones in the TG's Way. TG's provides a safe, loving, kind and nurturing space for children to build healthy relationships with one another, with the Educators and with their communities.

From making friends to navigating emotions, social and emotional skills are essential for building healthy relationships and emotional well-being. TG's children are encouraged to interact with one another, participate in group activities, and develop empathy and kindness. Educators help the children to settle in, and to ease anxiety when they transition to a new room each year. Educators model for children ways to express their emotions in a healthy manner and support them in understanding and managing their feelings. Healthy Harold the Giraffe even came by to share some useful tools with the children to help them understand and manage their feelings and learn to use mindfulness tools.

Beautiful Transitions at TG's Child Care

Wellbeing for children with Healthy Harold at TG's Child Care

By creating a safe and nurturing environment at TG's, the children learn to develop confidence, resilience, and a sense of belonging.

As the stewardship of the children's future, TG's plays a crucial role in supporting the children's development. By focusing on these five key areas - gross motor skills, fine motor skills, speech and language, cognitive and intellectual skills, and social and emotional skills - TG's is providing a solid foundation for their growth.

At TG's, Educators value that every child is unique, and the journey of development is a beautiful and ever-evolving process. Every day at TG's is a gift, an opportunity to embrace the power of play, nurture every child's innate gifts, and watch them grow into valuable and reliable members of their communities.

Every step, every milestone of each child is celebrated at TG's. Would you like to be a part of the TG's Family where you can experience how the power of play makes a child's eyes simply light up?

Join the amazing team of TG's Educators! Apply here:

Join the award-winning TG's Family!