Muddy Puddles Family Day Care Proserpine

06/09/2026

02/09/2026

Wednesday 2nd September 2026.

01/09/2026

Tuesday 1st September 2026.

🔧🏗️ From Mechanics to Engineers! 🏗️🚂

Today our little engineers extended yesterday’s interest in tools and fixing cars into designing and constructing their own roads, train tracks and a bridge!

Using wooden blocks and a range of tools, the children sawed blocks, twisted nuts from screws by hand and with the cordless drill, hammered and carefully constructed their bridge. 🔨🪚🔩

They were busy planning, problem-solving, experimenting and working together, developing their fine motor skills, coordination and understanding of how tools and construction materials can be used to create something new.

From fixing cars to building their own world — what an amazing extension of learning! 🔧🏗️

31/08/2026

Monday 31st August 2026.

🔧🚗 Muddy Puddles FDC – Little Mechanics at Work! 🚗🔧

Today on the back patio, the children decided that their toy cars weren’t working properly and, of course, they knew exactly what was needed… TOOLS! 🛠️⚙️

The children collected the toy tools and got straight to work, carefully inspecting their cars and pretending to repair them. They named the tools they already knew, including screwdrivers, drills and hammers, and explored how each tool could be used. 🔩🔨

The children wore tool belts so they could carry their tools around as they moved between the cars and trike, just like real mechanics. They also turned a trike upside down so they could investigate the tyres and pretend to fix them. They used screwdrivers, drills and hammers as they worked together, carefully examining the wheels and making repairs.

The children then realised they needed to look underneath the cars as well. They asked for the cars to be lifted higher so they could investigate the underside and pretend to carry out repairs, just like real mechanics working on a vehicle. 🚗🔧

Safety was also an important part of the experience. The children wore safety goggles and safety vests while they worked, and one child dressed up in a firefighter outfit, adding another exciting element to their imaginative play. 👩‍🔧👨‍🔧🧑‍🔧🥽🦺

This wonderful imaginative play supported:

🔧 Problem-solving – thinking about what might be wrong and how to fix it
🧠 Cognitive development – exploring how tools are used and matching tools to purposes
🗣️ Language development – naming tools they recognised and communicating their ideas
✋ Fine motor skills – grasping, turning and manipulating toy tools
🤝 Social skills – sharing tools, working alongside one another and developing a shared play scenario
🎭 Imaginative play – taking on the roles of mechanics and creating their own real-world scenarios
⚠️ Safety awareness – recognising the importance of wearing safety equipment while working with tools

What started as a few toy cars quickly turned into a busy little Muddy Puddles mechanic workshop, complete with cars, a trike, lifted vehicles, tool belts, safety gear and a firefighter ready to help! 🚗🔧🥽🦺❤️

28/08/2026

Friday 28th August 2026.

🍂🌿 Friday Morning at Muddy Puddles FDC 🌿🍂

Our Friday morning was all about slowing down, enjoying nature and discovering the simple joys right in our own backyard! 🌳💨

As the wind blew leaves from our neighbour’s tree into our yard, we watched them dance through the air before landing on the grass. We gathered the fallen leaves into piles, lifted them up and sprinkled them back down to the ground — just like the wind had done! 🍃

Some leaves were collected and placed into the trike trailer, ready to be transported to a new spot around the yard. 🚲🍂

We talked about the different colours and patterns we could see — brown, green, yellow, and beautiful combinations of brown and yellow or green and brown. 🎨

🍂 Sensory development: Feeling, touching, lifting and sprinkling the leaves provided opportunities to explore their different textures, shapes and sounds.

🎨 Colour recognition: We identified and compared the different colours and natural patterns found in the leaves.

🤲 Fine motor development: Picking up, holding, sorting and sprinkling individual leaves encouraged small hand and finger movements.

🏃 Gross motor development: Gathering piles, carrying leaves and riding the trike encouraged whole-body movement, coordination and strength.

🌱 Sometimes the best learning opportunities are the ones nature provides for us! 💚

25/08/2026

Tuesday 25th August 2026.

📚✨ BOOK WEEK AT MUDDY PUDDLES FDC! ✨📚

Today we headed to Proserpine Library to celebrate Book Week with a very special Paw Patrol and Wiggles adventure! 🐾📖

We dressed up as our favourite Paw Patrol characters, while the librarians joined in the fun by dressing up as The Wiggles! ❤️💙💛💜

Our story today was “Auslan Alphabet – Wiggles Version”, giving us the opportunity to enjoy a story while exploring the Auslan alphabet through signs. 🤟📚

The highlight was discovering the cardboard Wiggles Red Car at the library, which was definitely a favourite play toy! 🚗The children had lots of fun climbing in and out and enjoying some imaginative play.

What a wonderful Book Week experience filled with books, dress-ups, Auslan, The Wiggles and imaginative play! 🌟📚

14/08/2026

Friday 14th August 2026.

🌿✨ A little beauty and creativity at Muddy Puddles FDC! ✨🌿

Following on from this months observations, today we enjoyed some special salon time—trying on rings, bangles, glasses, necklaces and scarves, having our hair brushed and combed, and choosing clips and headbands. We also looked at our reflections in the mirror and chatted about how we wash our hair at home. 💍🪮🪞

Outside, we found a shady spot under the tree and used Duplo blocks to stamp leaves onto paper. One child noticed the real leaves that had fallen onto the grass and added them to their paper tree—a lovely connection between our play and the natural environment. 🍃🎨

Along the way we enjoyed sensory experiences, creativity, developed fine motor skills and social interactions as well as extending our language development through hands-on play, conversations, sharing ideas and making choices.

12/08/2026

Wednesday 12th August 2026.
A Little Inspiration from The Makery 📦🩺

After rest time, we sat together to watch The Makery on ABC Kids. When the children saw a cardboard box being turned into an X-ray machine, they thought it looked really cool—and we decided to make our own!

We cut out spaces for the head and arms and the children painted the box black. I also drew a simple skeleton on paper, ready to glue on once our X-ray machine is dry.

This will be a fun addition to our doctors’ dramatic play, encouraging the children to use their imagination, explore ideas from the real world and extend their pretend play. 🩻👩‍⚕️👨‍⚕️

Ps: Thursday- Delilah loved the doctors rubbing special ointment on her back and stomach, I on the other hand, had a lot of needles from the four doctors on duty, they also used the new X-ray machine to find multiple broken bones in my right foot.

11/08/2026

Tuesday 11th August 2026.

🌋🧪 VOLCANO SCIENCE AT MUDDY PUDDLES FDC! 🧪🌋

This afternoon we took our science experiment out to the dirt patch and created our very own erupting volcano!

We mixed red food colouring, warm water and bicarbonate soda, added a splash of dishwashing liquid into the volcano then slowly poured in the vinegar through a funnel. As soon as the funnel was removed… WHOOSH! 🌋❤️ Red, bubbly lava came pouring out and down the volcano!

The children sat back and watched with excitement, observing the eruption and seeing what happened when the ingredients were combined.

🔎 Learning through our experiment: Children explored cause and effect, observation, prediction and scientific thinking, while developing curiosity and wonder about how and why things happen.

A quick but exciting afternoon of science through play! 🌋✨