Imagineland’s debut of Fuzzy Wuzzy, a hit with teachers and kids
Explore Imagineland, an Amazing People Music, online support,Ex learning resource for young children predominantly aged 2 – 6 years, recently made a test debut at the Strawberry Bush Early Learning Academy on the Gold Coast.
Early years consultant Vidy Ah-Sam led the class on a journey to discover one of Imagineland’s most popular characters, Fuzzy Wuzzy the bear.
The children were able to enjoy Fuzzy Wuzzy’s fully smartboard-integrated program, learn about the character and key character traits and understand the moral of his story.
“They were engrossed in the program and were excited to see where the story went,” said Ms Ah-Sam.
“They made connections with the character, they enjoyed moving to the songs and the memory match game was also a real favourite.”
According to Ms Ah-Sam, the kids loved how relatable Fuzzy Wuzzy was in more ways than one.
“He’s rainbow coloured, so immediately that makes him interesting and diverse,” she said.
“Because of that, the children carried on to talk about his different nature, and why that should be celebrated.”
Imagineland is developed alongside the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) and each of the lesson plans have been uniquely created by Early Years Specialist Nicole Hicks.
Ms Hicks, who ensures Imagineland’s relevance to the Australian Curriculum, says the program is both very enjoyable for children and is successful in supporting their development.
“It’s a great product which integrates music into learning,” she says.
“The lesson plans are based on prior knowledge of working with children and also knowing what educators need to get out of a program.”
Explore Imagineland is unique in the sense it is one of the best early learning programs of its kind designed for use on a smartboard.
Through the touchscreen program, children can explore the Imagineland map, click on the characters and engage in a way that makes the content multi-dimensional.
“None of the centres we have been to or spoken to have a specific learning program for the smartboard,” explains Ms Ah-Sam.
“Usually smartboards are used for YouTube or looking up things just like a big computer, but there aren’t any other fully integrated programs like this out there.”
Following Explore Imagineland’s successful trial at the Strawberry Bush Academy, the response from educators was overwhelmingly positive.
The teachers praised the program’s important connections to the EYLF and said it was an easy resource for newer educators to implement.
They also provided crucial feedback to help improve the Imagineland experience even more as it continues the trial phase.
If you would like to learn more about Imagineland or experience the program firsthand, please visit the official website here .
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